Bison Restrictions Overturned
It appears the Gardiner Basin just north of Yellowstone will continue to be a home for the buffalo to roam – at least for now. Montana District Judge E. Wayne Phillips yesterday rejected challenges to a new state policy allowing wild bison to roam outside the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. The ruling turned down demands by some livestock producers and their allies that the bison be aggressively hazed and slaughtered if they enter the Gardiner Basin area from Yellowstone National Park in the winter and early spring in search of forage. Judge Phillips quoted an earlier Supreme Court Ruling in his decision that the presence of bison in that area is (quoting now) “a consequence of living in Montana and with her abundant wildlife.” The ranchers are concerned that the presence of bison increases the risk of diseases like brucellosis to domestic cattle herds.
