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Work Under Way To Reduce Yellowstone's Bison Herds By 600-900 Animals

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Bison culling operations have begun in Yellowstone National Park/Kurt Repanshek file

Bison culling operations have begun in Yellowstone National Park/Kurt Repanshek file

Work has begun at Yellowstone National Park to cull 600-900 animals from the park's bison herds, a process deemed necessary to keep the bison population in check but which is highly controversial.

There are an estimated 4,900 bison in Yellowstone, and back in December the Interagency Bison Management Plan partners recommended the culling number for this winter. The operation began Sunday, when bison started to move out of the park into the Gardiner Basin just to the north in Montana. The operation could continue through late March, park staff said Monday.

Last year 460 bison were culled.

The park's bison herds are to be reduced using three methods: 1) public and tribal hunting outside the park; 2) capturing bison near the park boundary and then transferring them to Native American tribes for processing and distribution of meat and hides to their members, and; 3) a quarantine program that results in brucellosis-free bison being moved to tribal lands.

Located in the northern section of the park near Gardiner, Montana, the Stephens Creek administrative area includes park corral operations, equipment storage, a native plant nursery, and the bison capture and quarantine facilities. The administrative area is closed to the public year-round.

Well aware of the negative publicity the culling operations can have, and of the objections of groups that don't see the need for culling, Yellowstone officials added in the culling release that unmanned aircraft (drones) are prohibited in the park.

On Yellowstone's website staff outlined why the culling is needed:

  • Bison are killed because they do not have enough room to roam. Yellowstone encompasses a limited amount of habitat and Montana allows very limited numbers of bison in small areas adjacent to the park.
  • Allowing the bison population to grow indefinitely could cause overgrazing in some areas and possibly mass starvation of animals in Yellowstone, as well as larger migrations and greater conflict outside the park.
  • Yellowstone bison reproduce and survive at relatively high rates compared to many other large, wild, mammal species. The bison population currently increases by 10 to 17% per year.
  • Currently, predation by bears and wolves has little effect in reducing the bison numbers. Bison are massive animals that defend themselves as a group, making them more difficult to attack than animals such as elk.
  • Hunting outside the park has not been effective at limiting bison numbers because concentrated hunting pressure along the park boundary often causes bison to return to the security of the national park where hunting is prohibited.

Comments

Just let nature takes its course and let starvation and disease control the herd size? Human predators were natural to Yellowstone area as well as bison so, why not let human predators hunt them in the Park?

 


So sad to see that Yellowstone National Park sees the slaughter of our national wildlife as "work underway," as if they're paving a road. I am ashamed that my taxpayer dollars support this type of propaganda on top of the slaughter of habituated bison who travel outside the park to eat during the winter months when the snow gets too deep.

 

Yes, these are the same trusting bison who have spent the rest of the year patiently in front of thousands of tourist cameras. I have enjoyed their company for many years and feel that it is my duty to speak up for them. It is a sad day in America, especially since there is no real science supporting the fact that there isn't enough room in the park.

 

I think a more honest interpretation of what is happening can be found on the Buffalo Field Campaign web site. I am not an employee, but I do support them. I wish my tax money would support their organization instead of this propaganda that the park is publishing.

 

Here is a link to their interpretation of this "work" that the park is doing.

https://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/update-from-the-field-hunting-and-p...

 

Here is their web site.

https://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/

 


This is a manufactured crisis created by old boy political players at the behest of an unaccountable ranching industry. Bison populations are increasing in the Yellowstone National Park because they are not allowed to roam outside the park to suitable habitat outside the park without being blown away. This is supposedly based on the totally fraudulent claim that bison threaten livestock with brucellosis. In reality, ranchers simply do not want bison (or any other wildlife) to compete with their cattle for forage.

Unfortuntely, most of the lands outside Yellowstone National Park are under the adminstration of the U.S. Forest Service, which follows the obsolete "multiple use" concept, which makes resource extraction and exploitation the top priority. Under this corrupt management approach, taxpayers are forced to subsidize the cost of livestock grazing on public lands, which is far below normal market rates. The welfare ranchers who benefit from these subsidies have not only promoted the killing of bison, but also wolves, grizzlies, mountain lions, coyotes, and other keystone species that they do not like. I can guarantee that all of the ranchers who enjoy these Soviet-style subsidies are big supporters of Trump and vehement opponents of "socialists" like Bernie Sanders.

We need to triple the size of Yellowstone National Park to encompass adjacent national forest and BLM lands. This would eliminate livestock grazing, logging, mining, and other destructive extractive uses. It would also protect wildlife from being killed by ranching interests and trophy hunters. In the meantime, while I strongly disagree with the National Park Service's actions here, I understand that they are doing this under duress and knowing that there is no legitimate scientific justification for killing these genetically unique bison to please selfish ranchers and their political enablers.


Maybe you guys should learn about conservation and how overpopulation can harm any animal species. 


This is a hard one. I support conservation but people are on the landscape as well. Livestock and Grazing issues all have to be managed appropriately but the wildlife is on the move. Here's what I would do over the next 20 years to help wildlife and economic interests for the Gardiner Valley and Horse Butte on Hebgen Lake. 
1.  Once full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is at hand and signed by President Trump at 900 million a year start to buy land, grazing rights, and water rights from willing sellers in these areas from Gardiner to Jim Yankee Canyon. Focus on a buy out of most or all of Church Universal Triumphant Lands north of Gardiner with LWCF Funds. 
2.  Once these lands are in Ferderal control from Gardiner to Jim Yankee Canyon pass legislation to re-designate Yellowstone National Park as Yellowstone National Park and Preserve. Allow hunting in the Preserve section of Yellowstone that would encompass everything from Gardiner to Jim Yankee Canyon. 
3.  Buyout all remaining and existing grazing leases on Horse Butte near Hedgen Lake from willing sellers.

This can be accomplished just like many of the mining rights were bought out around Yellowstone. 


Come on people!!! THERE ARE TOOO MANY. IF you've been there then you should know, way too many.  Let them do what they need to do... At least they will use the meat to FEED THE PEOPLE!


Montana cattle ranches put food in our tables. Bison cannot and should not intermingled with cattle for food and to keep disease at bay. Would you rather have the Bison starve to death in the cold winters in Yellowstone, suffering, absolutely not. Allowing locals indigenous tribes to hunt is the right thing to do, putting food on their tables and allowing them to practice their ancestral heritage.


ever see an animal starve to death because of over population?  I have and it is a slow agonizing death for the animal.  Let the park to what it needs to do to maintain a healthy heard


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