katqanna
Well-known member
While not as good as if we could repeal 81-2-120, getting DOL out of wild bison management and repealing 87-2-730, so we can get FWP control over wild bison hunting in Montana, at least this is a step in the right direction - doing a new NEPA and MEPA process . I hope y'all will be weighing when they initiate the scoping process.
For DOL to say they have been preventing brucellosis transmission from wild bison to cattle by shooting them, even when they are no where near cattle, like on our Dome Mountain WMA (for wildlife!), is like my saying that I have been diligently protecting y'all from a North Korean incursion into Montana. The fact that you have seen no North Korean invaders is proof of my diligence! Bull$hit.
Different Brucella genetics, which may be playing a significant part in why it is the elk transmitting, rather than the bison. The Brucella abortus in elk and cattle is almost identical. Not to mention the DOL has been playing loose with their reporting of what is doing the infecting. Like the 2008 Corriente heifer from Park County. 5 Brucella abortus biovar 1 isolates were recovered from her, several of which were from cattle and one elk isolate, yet they chose to report it as an elk transmission. In the GYA states, and Texas, there routinely crop up infections from their RB51 and Strain 19 cattle vaccines, as well as infections from cattle isolates, but all you hear them talk about is our wildlife infecting their cattle with their livestock disease.
There is no independent confirmation of testing by a non APHIS lab. There is no system of checks and balances here. Yet we are supposed to take APHIS and DOL's word for it and therefore their demands for the rights to wipe out our wildlife. This is like playing lethal poker and no one is calling their hand.
Interagency News Release
For Immediate Release – March 28, 2014
Media Contacts: Al Nash, Yellowstone National Park, (307) 344-2015
Steve Merritt, Montana Department of Livestock, (406) 444-9431
Andrea Jones, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (406) 994-6931
State of Montana and National Park Service to jointly develop new Bison Management Plan
The National Park Service (NPS) and the State of Montana (State) have agreed to prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to consider possible changes for managing wild Yellowstone bison and the non-native disease brucellosis. The process will allow the NPS and the State to account for substantial new information and changed circumstances since the implementation of the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) began in 2001, and could result in the creation of a plan to replace the IBMP.
The NPS and the State will be working within the guidelines of both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) in preparing the EIS.
A notice will be published in the Federal Register later this year announcing the start of public scoping, which is an opportunity early in the planning and EIS process for the public, organizations, and other agencies to suggest issues and alternatives that should be considered by the NPS and the State.
The purpose of management is to conserve a viable wild population of Yellowstone bison while continuing to reduce the risk of brucellosis transmission to cattle, damage to property, and threats to human safety.
The NPS and the State will continue to implement the current IBMP with agreed upon adaptive management changes until new Federal and State Records of Decision are signed at the conclusion of this environmental planning and review process.
Montana Department of Livestock
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
For DOL to say they have been preventing brucellosis transmission from wild bison to cattle by shooting them, even when they are no where near cattle, like on our Dome Mountain WMA (for wildlife!), is like my saying that I have been diligently protecting y'all from a North Korean incursion into Montana. The fact that you have seen no North Korean invaders is proof of my diligence! Bull$hit.
Different Brucella genetics, which may be playing a significant part in why it is the elk transmitting, rather than the bison. The Brucella abortus in elk and cattle is almost identical. Not to mention the DOL has been playing loose with their reporting of what is doing the infecting. Like the 2008 Corriente heifer from Park County. 5 Brucella abortus biovar 1 isolates were recovered from her, several of which were from cattle and one elk isolate, yet they chose to report it as an elk transmission. In the GYA states, and Texas, there routinely crop up infections from their RB51 and Strain 19 cattle vaccines, as well as infections from cattle isolates, but all you hear them talk about is our wildlife infecting their cattle with their livestock disease.
There is no independent confirmation of testing by a non APHIS lab. There is no system of checks and balances here. Yet we are supposed to take APHIS and DOL's word for it and therefore their demands for the rights to wipe out our wildlife. This is like playing lethal poker and no one is calling their hand.
Interagency News Release
For Immediate Release – March 28, 2014
Media Contacts: Al Nash, Yellowstone National Park, (307) 344-2015
Steve Merritt, Montana Department of Livestock, (406) 444-9431
Andrea Jones, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (406) 994-6931
State of Montana and National Park Service to jointly develop new Bison Management Plan
The National Park Service (NPS) and the State of Montana (State) have agreed to prepare a joint Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to consider possible changes for managing wild Yellowstone bison and the non-native disease brucellosis. The process will allow the NPS and the State to account for substantial new information and changed circumstances since the implementation of the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) began in 2001, and could result in the creation of a plan to replace the IBMP.
The NPS and the State will be working within the guidelines of both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) in preparing the EIS.
A notice will be published in the Federal Register later this year announcing the start of public scoping, which is an opportunity early in the planning and EIS process for the public, organizations, and other agencies to suggest issues and alternatives that should be considered by the NPS and the State.
The purpose of management is to conserve a viable wild population of Yellowstone bison while continuing to reduce the risk of brucellosis transmission to cattle, damage to property, and threats to human safety.
The NPS and the State will continue to implement the current IBMP with agreed upon adaptive management changes until new Federal and State Records of Decision are signed at the conclusion of this environmental planning and review process.
Montana Department of Livestock
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
