Ted Turner wins bison transfer court challenge

[cmc]

Who's bright idea was it to turn public trust animals over to a private ranch in the first place? What setup the state for such an ordeal. I'm guessing I'm missing a lot of the history behind this but I'm baffled how the original idea of the transfer was dreamed up and put in place.

From AZstarnet.com

Billionaire Ted Turner can keep his Yellowstone National Park bison calves.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/YDARva) in a story published Sunday that Gallatin County Judge Holly Brown dismissed a request by a coalition of wildlife advocates to overturn an agreement Turner made with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The agreement transferred dozens of bison to Turner's private ranch near Bozeman to be taken care of for five years. In exchange, Turner gets 75 percent of their offspring, or about 150 animals.

Four wildlife groups that opposed the transfer filed a lawsuit contending the animals are a public resource that should be shielded from privatization. The suit's plaintiffs said the state should either move the animals onto public land or pay Turner to take care of them rather than give up their young as compensation.

Brown in her decision three weeks ago said state lawmakers gave the state wildlife agency broad decision making authority in the management of bison.

"The court cannot substitute its judgment for that of the agency by determining whether the department's decision was correct," she wrote.

The plaintiffs, Western Watersheds Project, the Buffalo Field Campaign, the Gallatin Wildlife Association and the Yellowstone Buffalo Foundation, said they will appeal.

Tens of millions of bison once roamed North America, but they were driven to near-extinction in the late 19th century. Yellowstone's 3,000 bison comprise one of the largest remaining populations in the world.

"The simple truth is that management of Yellowstone bison is no easy task, from either a logistical standpoint or a public relations one," Brown wrote. "Yellowstone bison arouse great passions from individuals and groups across the spectrum."

 

[belly-deep]

Its not that simple.

 

[LopeHunter]

Anyone who can explain the political ecosystem around bison? I read some posts here about ranchers fearing disease if bison are near the cattle. I know there are a few tags awarded for bison that wander out of Yellowstone. Now looks like the state of MT is "storing" some of the bison outside the park. Confusing to me.

 

[Straight Arrow]

The bison focused on in this lawsuit are on Turner's Flying D Ranch and are the herd that was rounded up after leaving the park and were fenced in a quarantine area north of Gardiner for several years. They were tested and are brucellosis free. The ones that tested positive were immediately slaughtered. Montana attempted to relocate / give away these Yellowstone gene wild bison with extensive outreach to the Native American tribes, the fed govt, and other appropriate parties in accordance with policy of public trust. Nobody wanted them, so the Flying D offered to keep them separate and to "store" them until such time as Montana can find an appropriate home for them. The compensation for doing so is in the form of 75% of the Yellowstone gene offspring. Another complicating factor is the bison paranoia that has spawned bison hatred, law suits, injunctions against relocating bison, and much other crazy stuff, including some unacceptable anti-wildlife bills fortunately defeated or vetoed this past legislative session. Presently there is a bison management plan being developed and other actions which may eventually resolve many of the issues. As stated previously, it aint simple and there are many diametrically opposed factions peeing all over each other with their radical views on each side.
We can only wish that the State of Montana, FWP, and associated level heads somehow sort this out and come up with a successful plan.

 

[LopeHunter]

Seems odd existing bison owners would not take these bison. Assume genetic diversity would be useful. Was there a restriction on what could be done once you accepted the bison?

 

[Straight Arrow]

Yes, the original Yellowstone bison are to ultimately be translocated to an appropriate accepting tribe, agency, or other entity to maintain the wildlife in public trust.

No commercial bison ranches were even in consideration. The Flying D only stepped up because they have the ability to keep this herd separately intact .... and because Ted Turner wants bison calfs with the genetically pure strain (ie; Yellowstone Park bison).

 

[cmc]

But Ted is a commercial bison rancher so how is it he was approved? Was it because he had the suitable property to house them?

 

[Straight Arrow]

The Flying D agreed to the provisions established and saw an opportunity to gain this more pure strain of bison, something Turner saw as a positive incentive. No others stepped up to offer "housing" as far as what has been reported. As pointed out earlier, this is not a simple issue and it ensued for months and months with no solutions even close to being viable until the Flying D stepped up. It was and continues to be a real conundrum for the State of Montana.

I am a VietNam veteran, so naturally feel some animosity toward Turner for his relationship with Hanoi Jane ... however, at the same time I recognize Turner's many programs that benefit wildlife and fisheries on his ranches and elsewhere. He is interested in financially self-sustaining operations, but he also "puts his money where his big mouth is" with regard to weed control. fisheries, wildlife habitat, healthy conservation and other important matters. It's easy to dislike Turner individually, but you have to be blind not to recognize his good works in Montana. Like most things ... it aint that simple.

 

[Ben Lamb]

The Flying D agreed to the provisions established and saw an opportunity to gain this more pure strain of bison, something Turner saw as a positive incentive. No others stepped up to offer "housing" as far as what has been reported. As pointed out earlier, this is not a simple issue and it ensued for months and months with no solutions even close to being viable until the Flying D stepped up. It was and continues to be a real conundrum for the State of Montana.

I am a VietNam veteran, so naturally feel some animosity toward Turner for his relationship with Hanoi Jane ... however, at the same time I recognize Turner's many programs that benefit wildlife and fisheries on his ranches and elsewhere. He is interested in financially self-sustaining operations, but he also "puts his money where his big mouth is" with regard to weed control. fisheries, wildlife habitat, healthy conservation and other important matters. It's easy to dislike Turner individually, but you have to be blind not to recognize his good works in Montana. Like most things ... it aint that simple.

I think that the tribes were willing to take them, but Schweitzer said no due to fencing, etc. APR doesn't want YNP bison because of the controversy surrounding them, and Moise can't handle more of them. When FWP tried to find a place for bison on WMA's people across the board went apoplectic.

It is a tough situation. Made tougher by armchair quarterbacks trying to force extermination of the critters.

 

[cmc]

Thanks for the info guys.... Much appreciated and helpful for those of us that didn't track this from the beginning.