Bison could wander freely outside Yellowstone, despite brucellosis concerns

Bison could roam year-round in large areas adjacent to Yellowstone National Park under a proposal released Monday by Montana officials who want to further ease restrictions on the iconic, burly animals. For decades migrating bison have been slaughtered or hazed back into the park to prevent them from passing the disease brucellosis to cattle. The plan announced Monday would allow the animals to remain year-round in the Hebgen Basin and surrounding areas of the Gallatin National Forest. To the north, some bison would be allowed year-round in the Gardiner Basin. Current rules allow some bison to migrate to grazing areas in Montana each winter. But they must return to the park each spring -- a perennial source of friction between conservationists who want more room for bison and ranchers who say they are a disease threat. The proposed changes are certain to stoke the argument. Some in the livestock industry already are lining up in opposition. "They try to talk it down and say we've downgraded the disease," said John Youngberg with the Montana Farm Bureau Federation. "There's still brucellosis in those bison up there. It hasn't gone away." Under the administration of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the state has steadily ratcheted back its restrictions against the animals. That's allowed the animals to enter new areas and stretched out the date by which they are returned to the park. Now the state wants to take that a step further, eliminating the May 15 deadline for bison to be returned to Yellowstone's west side and, for bulls, the May 1 date for the north side...more