What weighs 4 pounds, boasts stunning watercolor
illustrations of wildlife, and purports to regulate brucellosis in
free-ranging bison? The new 400-page Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Interagency Bison Management Plan for the State
of Montana and Yellowstone National Park, of course. The statement,
a collaboration by the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest
Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the
state of Montana, considers seven alternatives, from slaughter at
the park borders to a near restoration of historic bison range. The
agencies prefer the economy-friendly plan of maintaining the herd
at the current low level of about 2,000. They say a smaller herd
will decrease migration and the possible spread of brucellosis into
Montana ranchland. However, the agencies admit that this approach
will harm threatened predator species such as the bald eagle,
grizzly bear and gray wolf. The proposal to continue killing bison
has drawn criticism from David Dittloff of the Wyoming Wildlife
Federation, who stresses that science has never documented
brucellosis transmission from wild bison to cattle. To read the
executive summary, visit the National Park Service Web site at
www.nps.gov/planning/current.htm. Send comments until Oct. 16 to
Bison Management Plan EIS Team, National Park Service – Sarah
Bransom, DSC-RP, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287
(303/969-2310).
*Taffeta
Elliott
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The illustrated adventures of bison.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
