| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| News
Article - 2/29/00 |
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| No
open season on bison, judge rules
By Scott McMillion, Bozman Daily Chronicle
2/29/00
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There
is no open season on bison in Montana, a Bozeman judge
ruled Friday, and a West Yellowstone man who killed one
in his pasture last September must go to trial.
Dale Koelzer, 80, shot a bull bison Sept. 27 on his land
just outside Yellowstone National Park. He said the animal
had threatened to charge his pickup and made him mad so
he killed it.
Though he initially denied killing the animal, he later
admitted to the deed and game wardens gave him three citations
for shooting the animal, wasting its carcass and illegally
possessing the head and cape.
His lawyer, Bill Bartlett, sought to have the charges
dismissed. He maintained that a loophole in state law
essentially creates an open season on bison.
"It appears that buffalo are unregulated vermin in
Montana and have the same status as gophers, which are
shot up by the buckets full each springs," Bartlett
said in December.
Deputy Gallatin County Attorney Todd Whipple argued in
a court hearing Friday that state law is clear: although
different state agencies have different authorities over
bison management, the animals are a game animal and that
means you can't just go out and shoot one. Justice of
the Peace Scott Wyckman agreed.
"I don't find that the argument you've placed here,
Mr. Bartlett, has merit," Wyckman ruled from the
bench.
He said the 1995 Montana Legislature, when it transferred
most authority over bison from the Montana Department
of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to the Montana Department
of Livestock, clearly did not intend to create an open
season on the lumbering giants.
State officials have shot or shipped to slaughterhouses
more than 3,000 bison over the past 15 years. However,
that doesn't mean private citizens can shoot at will,
Wyckman ruled.
He scheduled a jury trial for March 22.
Bartlett said he will confer with his client and may appeal
the ruling.
He said history keeps repeating itself in the complicated
politics and bureaucracy surrounding the bison controversy,
and that leaves people like his client stuck in the middle.
He said state laws fail to set "a clear and understandable
policy."
State law allows private landowners to shoot a bison in
some circumstances, if it is threatening them or their
property, and Bartlett said that will be a major part
of his defense strategy.
"The buffalo was harassing Mr. Koelzer and he shot
it," Bartlett said, though he acknowledged that he
didn't admit his actions when first contacted by game
wardens. By law, anybody shooting a bison must report
the action.
"Maybe he stepped over the line," Bartlett said.
"I don't know. That's for the jury to decide."
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