HELENA — When Brian Schweitzer awoke for his second full day as Montana's new governor, he knew very little about the state's planned bison hunt, just 11 days away. By day's end, he had concluded it was wrong.

Within days, he had made sure the hunt — the first time in 14 years hunters were to kill bison that left Yellowstone National Park — would not happen this year.

Critics have ridiculed his opposition to the planned hunt, and the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission's decision to cancel it. But Schweitzer maintains the decision was the right one under the circumstances, and demonstrates his style toward dealing with such issues: deliberate, decide, then do it.

Schweitzer said he awoke on Jan. 5 and decided he needed to know more about the bison hunt issue. The state fish and wildlife commission in December approved a limited hunt of bison that leave Yellowstone. Commissioners agreed to auction 10 permits for a monthlong hunt.

Schweitzer ordered a staff member to set up meetings with state wildlife and livestock officials, as well as with a representative of the livestock industry. By quitting time, he had concluded that the hunt was a bad idea, and that Montana would be better off waiting a year and holding a longer, three-month hunt over a larger area and with more licenses. By the next morning, he had decided how to stop this year's hunt.

He quickly appointed three men to vacancies on the five-member fish and wildlife commission. Although he insisted he never asked their opinion on the hunt, Schweitzer made his position clear to them. Hours later, the new commission met in a conference call and agreed to reconsider earlier approval of the hunt.

After a weekend to look over background information about the matter, the commission met and canceled the hunt. Members expressed the same concerns that Schweitzer did, the week before.

Schweitzer said he felt shooting 10 bison, as approved by the previous commission last month, would do little to control the size of the swollen Yellowstone herd, and would do nothing to decrease the chance of the animals transmitting the disease brucellosis to cattle. Many Yellowstone bison carry the disease, which can cause cattle to abort.

Schweitzer said he feared the monthlong season would heap ridicule upon the state, as happened when bison were last hunted in 1990. He foresaw a national outcry again, if pictures of the beasts dropping dead in the snow after being shot were televised across the country.
‘‘It could take the tool of bison hunting away from us for another 15 years,'' he said.
The 2003 Legislature authorized reviving the bison hunt, as another option to help control the animals when they leave the park in search of forage.

Most of the efforts to manage bison involve hazing them back into Yellowstone. If that doesn't work, they are captured and tested for brucellosis. Those testing positive are sent to slaughter.
The fish and wildlife commission approved a monthlong hunt that was to have started Saturday, in an area north of the park near Gardiner.

He sees the initial hunt as flawed because it was not part of any larger plan to deal with the overflowing park bison. Such a plan still is needed, he said.

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