| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
|
| News
Article 2/14/07 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Nez
Perce Tribe to limit hunting to elk, buffalo
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
2/14/07 |
HELENA
(AP) - The Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho recognizes
the sensitivity of some wildlife populations and will
not authorize tribal hunting of animals other than bison and
elk in Montana this season, a lawyer for the tribe said
Tuesday.
Ryan Sudbury made the comment in a telephone
call from Lapwai, Idaho, several hours after the Montana
Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission heard from a state
lawyer about the prospect of expanded Nez Perce hunting
in Montana. Chris Tweeten of the Montana attorney general's
office recommended communication, not court action, to
commissioners concerned the Nez Perce might hunt excessively
in the state.
The Nez Perce have been hunting bison near
Yellowstone National Park and earlier this winter the
tribe stated that its members exercising treaty rights
might also take other animals, perhaps up to 50 per species.
That raised concern about hunting that could far surpass
state quotas that apply to nontribal hunters.
''From the outset, the tribe put down
more of a position than necessarily an intent to hunt
the other species,'' Sudbury told The Associated Press.''The
tribe recognizes that for some of those species, the population
levels are not in good shape.''
He said tribal members hunt within treaty
rights and future hunting prospects will be evaluated
season-by-season, with regard for the well-being of wildlife
populations.
''Obviously, we all have concerns about
the impact (of tribal hunting) on species that we're working
so hard to manage,'' said Shane Colton, a member of the
Montana wildlife commission.
That management is based on science
and a desire to sustain wildlife populations, said Jeff
Hagener, director of the Department of Fish, Wildlife
and Parks. State regulations strictly limit the hunting
of certain species. In a hunting district near Yellowstone,
for example, the bighorn sheep limit is one animal for
the season.
The tribe has treaty rights and although
there may be public pressure to seek courtordered restriction
of hunting, that would not be wise, Tweeten said.
''The public would like that (court
action), but the public wouldn't get that,'' he said.
''As a matter of federal law, this tribe has a right to
hunt in Montana.''
Hagener said Nez Perce hunters have
been in Montana to seek bison on the weekends since
mid-January. The migration of bison from Yellowstone
into Montana, where they can be hunted, has been relatively
light and therefore, so has the hunting, he said.
Sudbury said he knows of no Nez Perce
hunting in Montana for species besides bison and
elk.
Top
of Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
