The Yellowstone
Net Newspaper Wednesday December 17, 1997 Vol. 1 No. 30 |
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by BRUCE T. GOURLEY YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- Today marks the beginning of the winter season in Yellowstone. Gasoline services are available at Canyon, Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge. In addition, the Old Faithful Visitor Center will be open, as will warming huts located throughout the Park. Winter activities in Yellowstone include snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. There are also special events planned at Mammoth and Old Faithful throughout the winter. The only road open to automobile traffic during the winter is the North Entrance (Gardiner, MT) to Northeast Entrance (Cooke City, MT) road. To make your winter reservations in Yellowstone, call 406-585-4230.
Park Service Welcomes Release of Bison Study NPS -- The National Park Service (NPS) and the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today welcomed completion of a National Academy of Science report on brucellosis in bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA). The review was commissioned last May by the Department of Interior to evaluate existing science related to the transmission risk of brucellosis to cattle. "The National Academy study generally provides a scholarly analysis of the science surrounding our understanding of brucellosis in bison and elk," said NPS Intermountain Regional Director John Cook. "It pulls together a great deal of information about the disease and provides some helpful findings and recommendations. The report points out the complex nature of this problem; the current lack of scientific information related to the management and eradication of the disease; and the need for additional scientific research, especially in vaccine development and delivery." The primary finding of the report was that risk management is critical to control of the disease in the GYA until the time that a proven effective vaccine and an effective way to deliver it to elk and bison are found. The report points out that "no good vaccine or vaccine delivery mechanism is available at present" and "it would be impossible to vaccinate all GYA elk." The report also emphasized that the problem of brucellosis is one that concerns both elk and bison, and encompasses the entire GYA, not simply Yellowstone National Park itself. The brucellosis problem stems from the concern that bison or elk could transmit the bacteria Brucella abortus to cattle. This organism can cause the disease brucellosis in cattle as well as some species of wildlife. Brucellosis can cause abortions in infected animals. The disease can affect humans, but as the NAS report states "[h]uman brucellosis is not a widespread health threat today in North America . . ." Fifty years ago, thousands of cattle herds in the U.S. were infected with brucellosis. A vigilant national regulatory effort has reduced that number to 14 herds. The goal of the national brucellosis eradication program, developed cooperatively by the states and the APHIS, is eradication of brucellosis from cattle in the U.S. by 1998. Reinfection of cattle from wildlife could have serious economic consequences, including the loss of a state's "Class Free" status and the imposition of herd testing, quarantine, and depopulation costs. Efforts to address the wildlife brucellosis problem have intensified in recent years, as brucellosis in cattle has diminished radically. The states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have been working with the NPS (especially Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks) , the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (National Elk Refuge), the U.S. Forest Service (six national forests in the GYA), the Bureau of Land Management, APHIS, and several research agencies to determine how to protect their cattle industries while sustaining, wild, free-ranging herds of bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Area. Representatives from these organizations form the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee which is working to secure funding for brucellosis research and development and coordinate the many brucellosis-related planning and management activities in the GYA. The NPS and APHIS are negotiating with the state of Montana to revise the Interim Bison Management Procedures which currently guide the management of bison inhabiting Yellowstone National Park and adjacent lands in Montana. According to Cook, "Revisions to the interim plan are aimed at maintaining the "class-free" status of Montana cattle while protecting the greatest number of bison possible. These proposed revisions are supported by the NAS science review." The NAS review determined that eradication of brucellosis from Yellowstone area wildlife is not now technically feasible. But research was identified which could lead to the development of techniques making eradication a real possibility in future years. Until that technology is available, the report recommended managing the risk of transmission through a variety of techniques. The most significant is separation of cattle from elk and bison -- a technique currently being used by the NPS and the state of Montana. Other recommendations include: enhanced research on vaccines; additional research on elk feeding grounds vaccination programs; and utilization of an "adaptive (flexible) management" framework, and recognition that both elk and bison must be managed at the same time. "We agree with the study's recommendation that control measures should be undertaken immediately, and we have taken this to heart in changes we've already made this year to our interim management plan," Cook said. "The study also points out that control of the disease in the wild will not be possible without addressing its presence in elk -- an issue which we are also giving serious consideration. We will be taking a hard look at all of the study's recommendations to see what they might offer in our efforts to bring this problem under control," Cook added. Cook also gave the NAS report high marks for its section on "natural regulation" and the implications the policy of natural regulation has on brucellosis management. The report can be found at http://www2.nas.edu/besthome/bisonelk.htm.
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A Weekly Column
After graduating from Jacksonville State in Alabama, I joined a major corporation as a sales representative trainee. On January 1, 1978 I was assigned my own territory near Houston, Texas. My plan was to get involved in politics once I was in the "real" world. Shortly after arriving in Texas, I was in my local Congress Member's office offering to be a volunteer. The following week Congressman Gammage came back to campaign in his district. I was impressed from the moment I met him. As a Texas State Representative and State Senator, he had been one of the major forces in cleaning up the corruption in Texas politics. Today's Texas history textbooks include the account of how Bob and a small group of fearless men and women reigned in Texas' political corruption. Within a month, I had been assigned as Bob's driver when he was home from Washington. Not long afterwards, I was representing Bob in functions all over Texas during the times he was in Washington. When I arrived at an event, the Mayor, Sheriff or Chamber of Commerce president would welcome me. I would always be led to the front of the line and given one of the best seats available at the head table. As Bob's representative, I gave speeches, answered questions and represented the views which Bob held on various issues. It would be an understatement to say that I felt I was important. As both my friendship with Bob and my ego grew over the weeks, little did I know how much I was deluding myself. The major event of the spring of 1978 was a dedication ceremony at the LBJ library in Austin, Texas. Bob was scheduled to attend and I was certain I would be chosen to accompany him. My sense of self-importance was affirmed when I was indeed called upon to drive the Congressman to Austin. We arrived well before the event but some 45 minutes after the buffet had opened. There were still over 100 people in line. We had been running a little late, so had not stopped to eat on the way over. In fact, much of our conversation in the car had to do with how hungry we were and how good we knew the food was going to be. Upon entering the main entrance to the library, the aroma of Texas BBQ and the sight of the huge buffet made my mouth water in anticipation. Walking side-by-side into the buffet area, I started veering left towards the front of the line, not noticing that Bob was heading the opposite direction. "Clinton, where are you going?" It was Bob calling to me. Knowing my own importance, as well as that of a U.S. Congressman, I did not break my stride as I replied, "I'm starving, Bob, let's go to the front of the line." Then I learned the best lesson Bob ever taught me. He looked at me and said, "I'm hungry too, but don't you think that if Lady Bird can stand in line then we could also stand in line?" I followed Bob's gaze, and there in the middle of the line was the former First Lady and hostess of the event. All of a sudden I realized that the reason I had always been taken to the front and given the best seat was because I was scheduled to speak, not because I was Mr. Big. The mayors and sheriffs and Chamber presidents had not been treating me as an important person, but rather had been concerned that I get something to eat prior to speaking. As Bob and stood in line waiting our turn at the buffet tables, I knew I would be having humble pie for dessert. Bob Gammage was later elected to the Texas Supreme Court. Today he is one of my closest and most dearest friends. That day in Austin was one of many life's lessons which I have learned from him.
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Every Wednesday Clint Wilkes will offer a story of interest to
everyone who loves Yellowstone and the surrounding area. Some stories will be humorous,
others will illustrate a point. You the reader are invited to 
