Bison Belong
The National Parks Conservation Association believes that - just like elk, wolves, deer, and bears - bison belong in the Yellowstone National Park wildlife ecosystem. But bison are not treated the same as these other species because of an unreasonable fear that if allowed to roam, they may transmit brucellosis to Montana's cattle.
Every winter, since the passage in 2000 of the Interagency Bison Management Plan, bison that wander out of the park seeking forage at lower elevations are repeatedly chased or "hazed" back into the park. If they continue to wander close to or across the park boundary, these wild creatures are rounded up like livestock and sent to slaughter.
NPCA is opposed to the management plan in its current form. We are also working in concert with a number of conservation partners to encourage public advocacy on behalf of Yellowstone's bison, to research scientific and economic alternatives to current bison management.
Bison Belong Campaign Position Statement:
- Yellowstone bison are a vanishing symbol of the once wild West and a genetically unique and free-roaming herd. Yellowstone bison are not livestock. The Yellowstone bison herd should be managed by the National Park Service and traditional wildlife agencies, as are deer, elk, and wild sheep, and not by the Montana Department of Livestock.
- Yellowstone's bison must be allowed to roam freely on surrounding public lands, especially when seeking winter food. The interests of a few private cattle ranches are taking precedence over the survival needs of wildlife.
- Alternatives to hazing, removal, and slaughter must be sought and considered by decision-makers. The current bison plan is a waste of taxpayer dollars, a waste of a national icon and symbol of the American west, and a tragic loss to the ecological integrity of the Greater Yellowstone region.
- The slaughter of Yellowstone bison steals a part of our natural heritage. In the early 1800s, millions of bison grazed the Great Plains. By 1894, hunting had left only 300 of the animals alive. The last of the wild, free-roaming bison were those of Yellowstone, reduced to perhaps as few as only 25 animals. Today, their descendants constitute the largest free-roaming, wild herd in North America.
For more information on NPCA's Bison Belong Campaign and our work with the Greater Yellowstone Wildlife Alliance, contact Tony Jewett, Senior Regional Director, Northern Rockies Region; 406.495.1560 or tjewett@npca.org.
