Future of Horse Butte bison in question

With the ink barely dry on a new plan concerning the management of bison on Horse Butte, the Montana cattle industry is protesting the plan by amending a lawsuit filed earlier this year. Many of Yellowstone's bison leave park boundaries in the winter, searching for food and a slightly more hospitable winter habitat. The new plan allows unlimited access to Horse Butte for female bison from November through the middle of May.

The cattle industry fears the plan will increase transmission of brucellosis, a disease that causes cows to prematurely abort their fetuses. While there have been no documented cases of bison transmitting brucellosis to cows, the cattle industry fears that giving bison increased access to land outside the park will increase the chances of bison spreading the disease.

"We're offering a reward to anyone who can figure it out" jokes Buffalo Field Campaign Habit Coordinator Darryl Geist of the new plan, "it's a huge document." The new plan was set forth by the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), which is made up of several state and federal organizations. "It was a very arduous process, a lot of meetings and a lot of work went into it," says Christian MacKay of the Montana Department of Livestock, "and we'll continue our work to protect cattle from disease transmission".

The Stockgrowers Association is contesting that not enough environmental research has been done on the effects of the new plan, and that the plan violates the Montana State constitution's guarantee of a clean and healthy environment. The stockgrowers hope to be awarded an injunction stopping the new plan from being followed.

The environmental law firm Earthjustice will be opposing the stockgrowers attempt to repeal the new plan. Tim Preso, an attorney for Earthjustice says "The stockgrowers are trying to roll back these new reforms to take us back into the old straight jacket of hazing, slaughter and abuse of bison, even though there are no cows out there." While cattle are no longer being raised on Horse Butte, there are ranches nearby that fear allowing bison unfettered access to Horse Butte would raise the risk of their cows catching brucellosis.

With the snow beginning to pile up, it's easy to picture Yellowstone's bison beginning their yearly trek to Horse Butte. With the wheels of our legal system turning slowly, only time will tell how the bison will be treated when they arrive.

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