Possible relocation of bison may affect National Bison Range

MOIESE - Over the course of the next several years bison herds may once again roam across portions of their expansive historical habitats.

The United States Department of the Interior released a report on Monday, June 30 raising the possibility of relocating bison from Yellowstone National Park to public lands across the American West.

Federal officials proposed 20 areas of public land across ten different states, which potentially would be suitable for some form of transplanting a portion of the National Park’s famous bison herd.

One of these locations is the National Bison Range in Moiese on the border of Sanders and Lake counties.

Stephen Torbit, the Assistant Regional Director for Region 6 of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service explained the report examined where bison are currently located, where current populations could be augmented and where new populations could potentially be introduced in areas across the western U.S.  

The report was a multi-year effort initiated by former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer’s efforts to relocate bison populations three years ago and subsequent proposals by former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to further investigate the feasibility of transplanting bison populations.

The recently released federal report notes it will likely be years before any bison are moved from Yellowstone to their potential new habitats.

“A lot would need to be done before we could consider relocating any bison,” Bob Rebarchik, deputy project leader at the National Bison Range, said.

The DOI report listed two sights in Montana, which could be used to host an expatriated bison population in the future.

Both the National Bison Range on the border between Sanders and Lake County and the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Glasgow were identified as potentially suitable public lands for relocated bison to take up residence in.

Torbit noted the National Bison Range would likely not receive an increase to its current populations due to multiple factors.

“The National Bison Range is already at capacity and there are no plans to move there unless we decide we need to augment the genetic profile of our current population,” Torbit said.

Bison once roamed freely across a larger swath of the continental United States but were hunted to the brink of extinction in the final portion of the 19th century.

The herd of bison inhabiting the lands of Yellowstone National Park has long been the strongest and largest remaining wild herd in the nation.

With the Yellowstone herd increasing in size, the animals regularly spill out of the national park’s boundaries, creating conflict with ranchers whose lands sit on the edge of the park.

A transfer of a small portion of the Yellowstone herd is seen as a positive way to relieve regional stress in northern Wyoming and southern Montana, while making initial steps to return bison to their traditional habitats across the Great Plains.

One of the main concerns among ranchers in western Montana with relocating bison herds is two-fold.

Some fear the bison may compete with domestic cattle for food and real estate, while spreading dangerous diseases to vulnerable cattle populations.

Of particular concern is the spread of brucellosis, a potentially fatal disease, which can be transmitted from elk and bison to domestic cattle herds.

Brucellosis can also affect other bison herds.

As a way of minimizing the danger of spreading brucellosis from bison to cattle Yellowstone National Park has proposed initiating a quarantine program, which will create a population of brucellosis free bison over the course of a few years.

Additionally, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks have conducted ongoing quarantine feasibility studies in the past in order to evaluate the possibility of relocating disease-free bison within the state of Montana.

FWP worked with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Heat Inspection Service at a 400-acre quarantine facility north of Yellowstone over the past several years.

In the past animal populations who found refuge in Yellowstone National Park have been used to restore elk and antelope populations across the nation.