Bison-Herding Copters Don't Bug Bears, 9th Says

State and federal wildlife officials properly allow helicopters to "haze" wild bison back into Yellowstone National Park in the spring, the 9th Circuit ruled, finding little proof that the operation harms grizzly bears. Yellowstone's bison are allowed to range outside the park's boundaries in the winter, but must be herded back in mid-May to prevent the spread of brucellosis to local cattle herds. The Montana Department of Livestock employs cowboys on horseback and off-highway vehicles, as well as in helicopters, to convince the wild bison to move out of Montana and back into the park. Fearing that the helicopters were harming endangered Yellowstone grizzly bears, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies challenged the Interagency Bison Management Plan that authorized the herding technique...more