Ranchers sue over bison management

By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer

Two ranchers and a statewide ranching group are taking the Montana Department of Livestock to court, insisting that it remove all bison from the Horse Butte Peninsula north of West Yellowstone.

CHRIS KERR/CHRONICLE A bison calf forages near the protective watch of its mother along the banks of the Madison River on May 22 in Yellowstone National Park. They say they’re concerned about bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle, even though there are no cattle on the peninsula, which is separated from cattle grazing areas by wide arms of Hebgen Lake.

The action comes after a winter that saw the Yellowstone National Park bison herd reduced by more than half, from an estimated 4,700 animals to about 2,300. Most of those deaths came in slaughterhouses, where bison were shipped to protect the livestock industry.

The Montana Stockgrowers Association, the Sitz Ranch of Harrison, and Bill Myers of Reedpoint filed the suit Wednesday in district court in Virginia City, the seat of Madison County. The Sitz family leases grazing land south of the peninsula. Myers leases land to the north.

Horse Butte has seen numerous bison controversies over the past 20 years. But U.S. Forest Service grazing allotments there have been retired and the new owners of the last private, grazing property there run no cows and say they welcome bison.

The legal action seeks a court order that would force DOL “to immediately remove bison that are grazing and calving on property whose new owners have demanded that the diseased bison be allowed to stay.”

“A mere 1,000 yards” separates calving bison from the incoming cattle, Rice said, though most of that span is open water.

Rice said his group wants to force DOL to comply with an Interagency Bison Management Plan written in 2000. That plan calls for all bison to be removed from the area by May 15, a target that hasn’t been met for the past two years.

“We want them to get the bison out of Horse Butte,” he said Wednesday. “The plan is the plan. The duties are the duties. The plan has been disregarded.”

The plan calls for hazing bison if possible. If that doesn’t work, they can be killed.

Brucellosis has never been transmitted from bison to cattle in field conditions, though they have occasionally mingled over the years, and Rice said he would not address what practical threats the bison on the peninsula might pose at this time.

“I’ll leave it to the scientists to quantify the risk,” he said. But he blasted the DOL for not adhering to the May 15 deadline.

“The Board of Livestock has an obligation and they’re not upholding their end of the deal,” he said.

Brucellosis is typically transmitted by contact with infected birthing materials, aborted fetuses or infected milk. The bacteria usually dies quickly with exposure to sunlight, though it can last longer in winter conditions.

“It’s just ludicrous,” Amy MacNamara, of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said of the Stockgrowers’ legal move. “They’re saying that separation (of cattle and bison) isn’t good enough. They simply don’t want bison outside the park.”

Bob Sitz, of the Sitz Ranch, said the state needs to be particularly careful about brucellosis because of the outbreak in a cattle herd at Bridger last year. Elk were the suspected carriers in that incident, but the state will remain under close perusal by federal disease inspectors for another year because of that outbreak, he said. If another case is found, the entire state loses its brucellosis-free status, according to federal rules.

Sitz, whose family runs a respected purebred Angus operation, said his reputation and marketing opportunities could be harmed by a second case of brucellosis in the state.

He plans to run steers on the leased ground this summer, but might have to run cows and doesn’t want to expose them to disease, he said. Steers aren’t considered a threat of spreading the disease because it’s transmitted mostly through reproductive organs.

About 135 bison are on the peninsula now, said Steve Merritt, spokesman for DOL. He said DOL plans bison operations this week, possibly hazing them with a helicopter, but would give no details. He said officials don’t plan to enter land where they aren’t welcome.

Sitz said he wants to see the state comply with the bison plan.

“We’re putting pressure on the state to start doing what has to get done,” he said.

But McNamara noted that many things have changed since the agreement was signed eight years ago, principally removal of cattle from the peninsula, and that the agreement allows changes through “adaptive management.”

“I don’t think they’re being reasonable,” she said. “To suggest that we’re still living in the year 2000 is completely unreasonable.”

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