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Bison battle Wildlife groups offer to pay ranchers for vaccinating cattle against disease By JENNIFER McKEE Of The Gazette Staff A national conservation group announced Monday it will pay to vaccinate cattle near Yellowstone National Park in an effort to end the Montana practice of shooting bison when the picturesque and possibly diseased animals wander beyond the park boundary.
The federation promised to reimburse Montana ranchers who graze cattle near Yellowstone for the cost of vaccinating their cattle against brucellosis, a disease found in Yellowstone Park bison and elk which, some fear, could be transmitted to domestic livestock. Brucellosis causes cows to abort their first calf and can cause undulant fever in humans. No case of Yellowstone bison infecting nearby cattle has ever been documented, but Torbit said the NWF aimed the program both to protect livestock and to convince other states that Montana raises healthy cattle. "It's taking the situation from a very low risk situation to no risk," he said. The disease gained national notoriety and brought bison management to the forefront in the winter of 1995 when the Montana Department of Livestock shot and killed more than 1,000 bison as the animals left Yellowstone in search of food. The state no longer shoots every bison that leaves the park. The animals are hazed back into Yellowstone or rounded up in capture facilities where officials test them for brucellosis. Diseased animals are shipped to slaughter while healthy animals are marked and released. Montana officials destroyed 91 bison so far this season, said state veterinarian Arnold Gertonson. The vaccination plan is little more than an "olive branch," said Jim Peterson, executive vice president of the Montana Stock Growers Association, that doesn't do much to address the big picture problem of eradicating brucellosis for good. "The proposal does not address the real issue," he said. "It says cattle are the problem. Cattle aren't the problem, the bison are." Cattleman across the country have spent millions since the 1930s to wipe out brucellosis, he said. Canadian stock growers have eradicated the disease completely from that country, he said, and no longer vaccinate against brucellosis. That's the hope of American cattleman, too. "Continuing to vaccinate doesn't solve the problem long term," he said. Besides, he said, most ranchers in the area already vaccinate their cattle. They routinely test them for brucellosis, too, and slaughter animals that test positive. Problems with brucellosis don't end there. Although Gertonson said he believes Montana cattle are very healthy, convincing officials in other states that they can trust Montana beef is still an issue. State veterinarians can refuse to import cattle raised in Montana if they fear the animals may have the disease. The state of Oregon temporarily refused to buy Montana cattle for that reason in 1995. A smattering of other states threatened the same, Gertonson said. That's when the Montana Legislature transferred management of bison from the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to the Department of Livestock. Torbit said he's not deaf to the economic concerns of Montana ranchers. The National Wildlife Federation is sending a letter outlining the plan to the state veterinarians of every other in an effort to reaffirm the health of Montana cattle. The plan also calls for booster vaccines, a rare practice, to safeguard the animals even more. With the booster, the vaccine should be more than 90 percent effective at preventing the disease, Torbit said. But brucellosis is about more than cattle, said Stan Frasier, former head of the Montana Wildlife Federation, who also spoke at the news conference. The disease has become a wedge between wildlife groups and cattleman. This gesture, while it won't cure Yellowstone of brucellosis, shows that the two sides can work together. "It's time to declare a cease-fire," Frasier said. "We sincerely believe there is room in the area for wildlife and livestock."
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"We're holding out our checkbook," said Steve Torbit, a wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Federation in a telephone news conference during which the group announced the plan. "There's no reason for ranchers to be held economic hostage."