Vol 3, # 49

   Monday, May 10, 1999

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- From time to time we publish editorials from other writers.   Today we want to share with you an editorial by Virginia Ravndal, a wildlife ecologist who lives in Gardiner, Montana, and who is recognized as an expert in regards to the bison and brucellosis issue.  The following editorial regarding the bison controversy originally appeared in the Billings Gazette on May 6, and is reprinted by permission of Ms. Ravndal:

Whatever else might be wrong with killing some of the nation's few remaining wild bison, it doesn't make sense economically. The stated reason for killing Yellowstone bison is that there could be economic consequences to Montana if they transmit brucellosis, a disease they have carried for the past 80 years, to cattle. Well, say it happens. Pretend all those experts who say the risk of transmission is so small that it is unlikely to ever happen are just plain wrong. What will the consequences be?

In this case, there are two types of costs that could be incurred by Montana; costs of brucellosis- related sanctions imposed on Montana by other states, and costs associated with losing the classification of "brucellosis-free", a designation currently assigned to the state by the federal government.

The government has already spent millions of tax dollars, and plans to spend at least $50 million more, to avoid these potential costs, yet surprisingly little has been done to estimate them. According to Dr. Gertonson, Montana State Veterinarian, "There have been no formal studies to estimate costs associated with sanctions imposed." Over the years, a grand total of five states have imposed sanctions on Montana because of Yellowstone bison. One of these, Alabama, imported only three cows from Montana. Do these sanctions really cost us enough to justify avoiding them by spending millions to capture, corral, confine, quarantine, kill and ship to slaughterhouses, some of the last remaining wild bison?

It is unlikely that Montana would incur the second potential cost, i.e., costs associated with losing its "brucellosis-free" classification, since the only way it can lose this status is if there is an outbreak of the disease in livestock. If this happens, the cost to the state of losing its "brucellosis-free" status would be $6.45 million according to the only study done by Montana's Department of Livestock.

The question we should be asking is what would cost us more, taking steps to address the problem once it happens, or taking steps to try to prevent it from happening. Prevention is usually cheaper than the cure. But, that depends on the approach to prevention that is adopted.

In the case of Yellowstone bison, striving to eliminate the already minimal risk that bison pose to cattle does not appear to be either reasonable or cost-effective.

Millions have already been spent over the past nine years elaborating and implementing an "interim bison management plan." This has fully occupied many government officials, who might have been more productively employed, and has entailed killing several thousand bison, without attempting to seriously estimate the costs that these actions are supposedly being taken to avoid. It would be shameful to allow the government to spend an additional $50 million tax dollars (which represents the costs of only the first of a multi-phase program) to prevent a potential, but unlikely, cost of about $6 million.

And what about the social and cultural costs? The National Park Service and the other four government agencies who came up with the plan that has led several thousand Yellowstone bison to the slaughterhouse or to be shot in the field by Montana Department of Livestock personnel, have given only the most precursory attention to the concerns of those tribes whose cultural affiliation with bison is so strong that some define themselves as "buffalo people." The government's solution is to give these tribes the carcasses of the bison that get shot. But not all the bodies get dumped on the tribes. The bodies of the bison that get taken to the slaughterhouse are not given away, they are auctioned to the highest bidder, and, perhaps not surprisingly, the receipts are kept by none other than the Montana Department of Livestock.

Is the killing of Yellowstone bison really about economics, as the government claims? If the government can't do it, maybe its time for the taxpayer to do the math.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS

Ralph Maughan
Kim Steinbacher
Kevin Sanders
Steve Brashear
Clint Wilkes
Tim Gourley
Hon. Bob Gammage
Ruth Colter-Frick
Lee Whittlesey
Tom Mazzarisi
Russ Finley
David Monteith
Denise Elmer
Dr. Bob Bara

The nation's largest member-supported conservation education and advocacy group, the National Wildlife Federation unites people from all walks of life to protect nature, wildlife and the world we all share. The federation has educated and inspired families to uphold America's conservation tradition since 1936.

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The Montana Department of Livestock announced that they hazed 96 bison back into Yellowstone National Park last week.  The total hazed back into the Park this month stands at 131.  Thus far this winter, 90 Yellowstone bison have been shipped to slaughter, according to the DOL.  The DOL continues to be the only government agency that insists there is no alternative to the slaughter of Yellowstone bison which carry the disease brucellosis (see Protecting Yellowstone above).

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According to the National Park Service, two men from Butte, Montana, pleaded guilty last week to collecting and removing elk antlers from Yellowstone National Park.  Gregory Barnes and Shane Lowney were arrested with over 100 pounds of elk antlers in their possession, and even more pounds in a cache awaiting retrieval.  Both men were fined and placed on probation, and will be unable to enter Yellowstone during their probation.

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