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Judge limits buffalo kill outside Yellowstone
December 16, 1997
Wandering bison have been responsible for diseases that threaten cattle
Web posted at: 8:36 p.m. EST (0136 GMT)HELENA, Montana (AP) -- A judge Tuesday refused to block government agencies from killing bison that wander out of Yellowstone National Park, although he limited the number that can be shot in a program intended to prevent the animals from spreading disease to cattle.
No more than 100 bison can be killed without a court hearing, U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell said. He said he does not want a repeat of last winter, when almost 1,100 bison were shot or shipped to slaughter.
Lovell ruled in a lawsuit filed by several conservation groups and the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative challenging an interim management plan aimed at blocking bison from leaving the park.
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The plan is designed to keep the animals from spreading brucellosis to cattle. The disease causes cows to abort their calves. In humans, it causes undulant fever.
If buffalo are allowed to roam off the park land, Montana ranchers fear they could be required to spend millions to test their cattle and certify them disease-free before shipment to other states.
In a report last week, the National Academy of Sciences said the risk of infection to cattle was small, but real, and that the result of infection could be catastrophic.
The conservation and tribal groups argued that state and federal agencies should be required to do another environmental analysis of the program to better measure the potential impacts on the Yellowstone bison herd, which numbers about 2,000 animals.
In the meantime, the management plan should be shelved, said Jim Angell of Bozeman, attorney for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.
Justice Department lawyer Martin LaLonde said state and federal officials had agreed on changes to the plan that are intended to reduce the slaughter of bison.
Increased use of hazing to keep bison in the park, allowing more disease-free bison to remain outside the park in one area and a new location for a trapping facility near West Yellowstone will make a difference, he told Lovell.
Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Related stories:
- Agriculture secretary splashed with bison entrails - March 24, 1997
- Bison slaughter continues despite protests, prayers - March 7, 1997
- Yellowstone bison roam into killing fields - February 18, 1997
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