Bison going to Turner ranch

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks will place 88 Yellowstone National Park bison from an experimental quarantine program on Ted Turner’s ranch west of Bozeman, the agency said Tuesday. The herd is now in a 400-acre holding facility in Corwin Springs, north of Yellowstone. In sending the 88 bison to Turner’s Green Ranch, which straddles the Madison River and Norris Road, FWP decided against an alternative plan to send part of the herd to a Wyoming state park, a plan that drew protest from Wyoming ranchers. The bison will be housed on Turner’s 12,000-acre ranch, which is adjacent to his Flying D Ranch, for up to five years. During that time they will be tested regularly for brucellosis to see whether quarantine is an effective way to combat the disease. The animals have already tested negative for the disease, which causes many species to abort, but biologists say more testing is needed to prove quarantine works. As part of the plan, Turner will be allowed to keep 75 percent of the bison’s offspring to reimburse the ranch for the estimated $480,000 of costs associated with keeping the bison for five years...read more