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Re: Comments solicited on Yellowstone Bison Slaughter

Buzz Avery/Lee Stone wrote:
> 

> The Yellowstone bison are the descendents of the survivors of the
> slaughter of the huge American herds in the 1870's and 1880's. This herd
> is the ONLY free-roaming herd surviving in the United States.
> 

Well, no. Up until last year, a herd roamed free in the Texas Panhandle.
There is another herd in New Mexico and another herd in Montana.
Yellowstone
is a pretty big herd, but it is broken up into smaller groups throughout
the park. 

Part of Yellowstone's genetics come from bison brought from other areas.

What makes Yellowstone significant is that it undergoes periodic dieoff
and has predator pressure, making yellowstone genetics "wild".

> The cause of the most recent slaughter is fear of a disease, brucellosis,
> being spread from bison to cattle, although no documented case of this
> disease being spread from wild bison to cattle exists.  The available
> evidence shows the risk of transmission of the disease is extremely
> unlikely. 

How did the bison get it inthe first place? It is an old-world disease.
However, there is evidence that bison are less susceptible to it than
cattle.

>It has been said that in the Grand Teton National Park bison
> and cattle which have been vaccinated against brucellosis have grazed the
> same areas for more than 40 years problem free. Should vaccination of the
> cattle be considered for cattle in Yellowstone public lands instead of
> the bison?

ALL cattle in the US must be calfhood vaccinated for brucellosis. Only
cattle from accreditied brucellosis-free herds cannot be vaccinated.

If we multiply the number of ranchers times the risk, then it is not
negligible. Just one case would be enough to stop beef going out of a
state and it would not be pretty. The successful cattle ranches have
significant tracts of grass and are doing better and better jobs
of managing it. To hurt them financially would be to put the 
grass at risk.


> Should the bison be allowed to roam on any public land in the Greater
> Yellowstone Ecosystem without restriction?  Under what conditions should
> these free-roaming animals be coralled or confined?  Would it be better
> to simply herd them back onto the park rather than shoot them for leaving
> it? Should the Plan consider the alternative of moving the cattle off the
> public land?

Herding untrained bison does not work. Period. When bison go hungry,
they wander. They cannot be stopped. 

The US government has legal and binding contracts with people 
who use these lands at this time, whose long-range plans
and livelihoods depend on the continued use of those lands. 

Fencing Yellowstone and maintaining the fences would
be very expensive. 


> Is this proposed bison management based on biological science?  Should

Its a political compromise, worked out between Yellowstone, the States,
the Indian tribes, the cattle ranchers, and the bison folk. There is
a very real group of people who want the entire bison herd liquidated.
The lands around the park are the no-mans land for the bison and
serve as a buffer to them. 

> management decisions should be based on an estimated carrying capacity
> for bison within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem? When bison leave
> Yellowstone National Park, frequently on trails opened by snowmobiles
> with Park permits, and enter public lands, they are not managed by the
> Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, but rather by the Montana
> Department of Livestock?  Should this be changed?

Bison are currently classified as "Game" animals by the US Governement.
Some bison owners want it changed to "livestock", but other bison
owners,
concerned about the feedlotting of bison and focused breeding programs
to make bison gain on grain stopped this. 

The real danger to bison is not in Yellowstone, but outside of it,
where people are beginning to manipulate the species and are
trying to turn it into another breed of cattle. This could
be the second and final extinction for bison. These people
are extremely shortsighted both ecologically and economically.

-Austin Moseley

-- 
Austin Moseley, Texas Bison Co, Caddo Mills, TX  903.527.2325
Vice-President, Northern Region, Texas Bison Association
Amoseley@csac.com 800.225.6204x245
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