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Yellowstone Bison Slaughter Blocked; More Legal Wrangling Ahead?

By Kate Whittle, 2-18-11

A bison grazes near the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Flickr user rplzzz.

Bison that wandered out of Yellowstone National this winter won’t go to slaughter, if an executive order from Montana’s governor isn’t challenged.

After a federal judge ruled Feb. 14 that he wouldn’t stop the plan, Gov. Brian Schweitzer issued an order this week halting the shipment of Yellowstone National Park bison to slaughter, saying he worries about brucellosis spreading.

Currently, nearly 600 bison that wandered outside park boundaries are corralled at the park’s Stephens Creek capture facility. Park officials had planned to ship the brucellosis-positive bison to slaughter and donate the meat to tribal groups and food banks, but the governor’s order requires that they stay at Stephens Creek for 90 days.

Schweitzer said there’s a chance that brucellosis-infected bison could spread the disease while being shipped to slaughter. Brucellosis is most commonly spread when an animal encounters infected tissue from a miscarried pregnancy, and Schweitzer said if an animal aborted along the route, the aborted tissue could fall out of the truck and into a pasture.

“A cow comes along, smells it, and voila-- how did we get brucellosis in Custer?” he said.

Schweitzer said he wants to challenge the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which was created before he was elected. He disagrees with the current method of hazing bison that leave the park searching for food in winter. “When that fails, as it most assuredly will and does, then you say to [the state of] Montana, haul ‘em to slaughter,” he said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Yellowstone National Park spokesman Al Nash said they will continue to hold and feed the Stephen’s Creek bison while discussing their options with their legal counsel. For now, Nash said, they’re using about five tons of hay each day to feed the bison.

While he couldn’t speak to the governor’s brucellosis worries, Nash said that in his Feb. 14 ruling, federal judge Charles Lovell “recognized that the [Interagency Bison Management Plan] has been successful, and that includes the occasions where our partners have transported bison to slaughter.”

The governor’s executive order lasts for 90 days, at which point the issue may have resolved itself. Typically, spring green appears in the northern parts of the park by mid-April, at which point officials can release bison back into the park where they’ll stay, Nash said.

Some bison activists are happy with Schweitzer’s order.  “We’re just really grateful that these bison won’t go to slaughter,” Buffalo Field Campaign Executive Director Dan Brister said.

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