New West Network

CUT Land Deal No Bargain for Wild Bison

By LetBuffaloRoam, New West Unfiltered 8-02-07

Purchasing grazing rights from the Church Universal and Triumphant along the Yellowstone River in the Gardiner Basin is a long overdue promise in the government's multi-million dollar taxpayer funded Interagency Bison Management Plan to "maintain a wild, free-ranging bison herd" in Yellowstone.

Sounds like a good deal for America's last wild bison herd, right?

But every wild bison migrating along the Yellowstone River in search of winter range would have to be captured, held and tested to get a government pass onto the Royal Teton Ranch - and the public lands beyond that are part of the bison herd's historic range.

The deal is flawed for it reverts to a state and federal plan that has yet to truly benefit wild, free-roaming bison.

Will the bison get a government issued ear-tag, a painted hide, or an implanted telemetry device to prove they've run the gauntlet? Wild bison not among the 25 or 100 to get a pass through the Royal Teton Ranch will likely be slaughtered.

And the government wants conservation groups to help fund this?

Over $13,000,000 in taxpayer funds appropriated by Congress in 1998 to conserve wildlife habitat on the 6,770 acre Royal Teton Ranch has failed in its promise to provide a "safe haven" for wild bison.

Taxpayer money now earmarked by Montana Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus for this fundamentally flawed plan needs to be re-directed to habitat conservation that truly benefits wild bison by restoring migratory corridors and year-round habitat, and treating bison as a valued native wildlife species in Montana.

Darrell Geist, Buffalo Field Campaign
West Yellowstone, MT