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Bison Changes Proposed
By JOE KOLMAN
Gazette Bozeman Bureau
ŠThe Billings Gazette
BOZEMAN - The powers that be in Washington,
D.C., do not want a repeat of last winter's mass slaughter of Yellowstone National Park
bison and are asking Montana to allow some bison to forage for food on public lands in the
state without being killed, a spokesman for one of the agencies involved in the
controversy said Thursday.
In return, Patrick Collins of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the
federal government would lean on states that import Montana cattle to not boycott the
state out of fear bison infected the cattle with brucellosis, a disease that causes cows
to abort their calves.
"We want to work with you guys and put the heat on these guys to be reasonable,"
Collins told an informal gathering of state and federal officials here Thursday.
However, state officials questioned how much clout the agency would have with states and
asked that the federal government pick up the tab for any testing of Montana cattle
required by other states - a bill that could run between several thousand and several
million dollars.
Under a proposal floated last month by the heads of APHIS, the National Park Service and
the Forest Service, bison that pose a low risk of spreading brucellosis could winter on
public land in Montana without harming the state's brucellosis-free status, which the
livestock industry spent millions of dollars on vaccinations to earn.
Low risk bison would be bulls, yearlings, calves and cows that have successfully birthed.
"You call it low risk," state Livestock Director Larry Petersen said. "But
we are the ones assuming the risk."
Last winter, as the number of bison killed hit a record high, the federal government said
bison could roam on public land in Montana without threatening the state's status, but
Petersen said he had calls from 15 states that questioned the health of Montana cattle.
"It's our neck on the chopping block," Petersen said, in one of several heated
exchanges that took place.
"It's APHIS's head on the chopping block too," retorted Darlene Bolinger, a
lawyer for the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the agency.
"What's at risk, your popularity?" Petersen shot back.
About 1,100 bison were killed last winter, which was unusually harsh, and another 1,000
starved. Latest estimates put the bison population at 2,200. State officials say they
don't want bison killed either, but are forced to in order to retain the brucellosis-free
status. The matter is further complicated, state officials say, be the park's policy to
let the bison roam.
As government officials argued inside the controversy that has stretched on for years,
cool temperatures and snow on the mountaintops outside reminded them that winter, and
another season of roaming bison, is not far away.
Some officials and others questioned whether any of the proposed changes in last year's
plan would take effect before bison started wandering out of park.
The time is already past for a quarantine facility to be built this year that would allow
bison testing negative for brucellosis to be kept alive, officials said.
"They keep putting it off and putting it off and putting it off and they're going to
get caught again," said Joan Montange, a member of the American Buffalo Foundation
who attended the meeting.
"We're getting critically short on time to make this thing work," said Rich
Inman of the Forest Service, who said he hoped administrators at the "cosmic"
level who do not have first-hand knowledge on bison management did not muck up plans.
But Collins said officials at the highest level of the federal government have orders to
work with Montana and he would be back soon with concrete plans to deal with other states
if bison are allowed to feed in Montana.
"Then we're ready to rock and roll," Collins said.
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Winter Road Closures
NPS Press Release
YELLOWSTONE - Yellowstone National Park
Superintendent Michael Finley announced Thursday the park's fall road schedule. The first
section of road inside the park to close for the fall is Dunraven Pass (Tower Fall via
Dunraven Pass to Canyon) which is scheduled to close at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, October 14. The
Beartooth Pass (outside the Northeast Entrance of the park) will also close at 8 a.m. on
Tuesday, October 14.
The remainder of the park roads (with the exception of the road from the North Entrance at
Gardiner, Montana, to the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, Montana) will close for the
season to the public at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 3. Beginning November 3, snow will be
allowed to accumulate on park roadways in preparation for the winter season.
At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, December 17, 1997, Yellowstone will open for the winter season to
oversnow vehicles. Winter oversnow road openings are dependent on sufficient snow. Groomed
roads will begin to close to oversnow vehicle use at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 2, with the
closure of the Mammoth-to-Norris road. On Wednesday, March 4, Norris Junction to Madison
Junction, and Norris Junction to Canyon will close. All remaining groomed roads will close
to oversnow vehicle use at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 9, 1998.
The road from the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, to the Northeast Entrance at Cooke
City, Montana, remains open year-round to automobile traffic; this road is subject to
temporary closures, and chains or snow tires may be required at times due to hazardous
winter driving conditions.
Park visitors are reminded that with the closing of park roads, the fishing season in
Yellowstone also closes (at 10 p.m. on Sunday, November 2) in ALL portions of the park.
When the interior park roads close to automobile traffic on November 3, non-motorized
travel in the form of bicycles, roller blades and roller skis, will be allowed as long as
weather permits. Specific information on these types of activities can be obtained by
contacting the park.
Travelers to the area are urged to contact park headquarters at (307) 344-7381 for current
road and weather conditions.
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Workshop in
Yellowstone
NPS Press Release
YELLOWSTONE - Yellowstone National Park
Superintendent Michael Finley announced Thursday that a special workshop, Biodiversity and
Bioprospecting in the National Parks: The Yellowstone Experience, will be held on
Wednesday, October 15, 1997, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel
Pavilion in Yellowstone.
Discussion participants will include: John D. Varley, National Park Service, Yellowstone
National Park; Preston T. Scott, World Foundation for Environment and Development,
Washington, D.C.; Stephen J. McCormack, American Type Culture Collection, Rockville,
Maryland; Michael Scott, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Bozeman, Montana; Mark Peterson,
National Parks and Conservation Association, Washington, D.C.; and Robert B. Keiter,
University of Utah College of Law, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Anyone interested in this new, emerging concept is invited to attend the workshop. It is
being sponsored by Yellowstone
National Park and the World Foundation for Environment and Development.
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