State not budging in opposition to more lenient bison policy

HELENA (AP) - Montana livestock officials say the state will not relax its policy on managing bison that wander from Yellowstone National Park, rejecting a change that would have prevented the killing of some of the animals.

State Veterinarian Arnold Gertonson said reports that the federal government had modified its view of "low-risk" bison were incorrect and Montana maintains its objection to the existing federal policy.

He told members of the state Board of Livestock the policy of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service remains the same as it has been since late 1997.

"At this point, we're at the same place we've been," said Chairman John Paugh of Bozeman. "The interim operating plan is in place and that's what we're abiding by."

State policy requires brucellosis testing of all bison that leave the park and cannot be hazed back within Yellowstone's boundaries. Those carrying the disease are shipped to slaughter. Only those testing negative for the disease are considered low-risk and released.

Federal officials consider low-risk bison to be untested bulls, yearlings, calves and cows that have completely passed a placenta. If the state adopted that definition, it would allow many more bison to remain outside the park unmolested.

Brucellosis, which can cause animals to abort their fetuses and can cause undulant fever in humans, is passed primarily through contact with infected birthing materials or aborted fetuses.

Under a federal-state agreement, the Livestock Department is responsible for controlling bison when they migrate out of the snow-covered park in search of winter forage. The goal is to prevent infected animals from spreading the disease to cattle. Many are killed.

Critics are harsh, calling the killing a brutal and needless slaughter of a national treasure. They say it is ridiculous to think the bison pose any threat to cattle, who will not even enter the pastures near Yellowstone for months.

But the National Academy of Sciences, after studying the issue, called the risk of the bison passing the disease small but real, and said the result to the cattle industry could be catastrophic if transmission indeed occurred.

The state has refused to adopt the more liberal federal policy on low-risk bison unless the federal government promises to reimburse the livestock industry for losses that would occur if other states, concerned about more bison being allowed to roam outside the park, demand testing of all Montana cattle crossing their borders.

The state also wants a national organization of state veterinarians to endorse the federal policy before it will be accepted by Montana livestock officials. The U.S. Animal Health Association opposes the federal policy.

In a letter to Gov. Marc Racicot this week, Marc Bridges, acting executive officer for the Livestock Board, said those conditions have not been met.

The department will continue to manage bison through a combination of hazing, capture and slaughter, he said.

The issue of Yellowstone bison management has been hotly debated for years, but intensified after the harsh winter of 1996-97 when almost 1,100 bison were shot or shipped to slaughter during a mass migration.

So far this winter, 364 bison have been hazed back into the park. Two capture operations earlier this month near West Yellowstone netted 19 animals. Thirteen of those tested positive for brucellosis and were sent to slaughter; the others were released.

Another trap is under construction nearby and is expected to be operating by the end of next week, said Rob Tierney, acting head of the agency's brands inspection division and supervisor of bison operations in the West Yellowstone area.

The portable 100-by-300-foot trap will be on Gallatin National Forest land and cost between $5,000 to $10,000.

Gertonson said the state expects to get $225,000 from the federal government to help pay operating costs of the capture facility.