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State permit violations confirmed By JOE KOLMAN Gazette Bozeman Bureau WEST YELLOWSTONE - The Forest Service reprimanded the state Department of Livestock this week for hazing bison too close to bald eagle habitat one day last month.
Acting District Ranger Gene Hardin in West Yellowstone said Thursday that the March 31 incident was a "minor" violation of the permit the Forest Service issued to the state to build and operate a bison capture facility in the Horse Butte area northwest of town. The permit provided that state officials not conduct hazing operations before 10 a.m. within a quarter mile of open water. In the early morning hours of that day state agents on snowmobiles rounded up 29 bison, which are then tested for the disease brucellosis under an interim management plan. Members of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a volunteer group opposed to the capture of Yellowstone National Park bison, told Forest Service officials that state agents had violated the permit. At the time, officials of the federal agency said it did not appear there were any violations. But Hardin said upon further review, including actually pacing off the distance, it appeared that snowmobiles were about 300 feet inside the permitted distance. He added that the April 5 letter asked that state officials cooperate in the future. Department of Livestock officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.
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