HELENA, Mont.—A plan to turn bison management over to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks was shot down Thursday.
A Montana House committee rejected the plan on a 10-8 vote, opting instead to keep management under the Department of Livestock.
Bison advocates and some property owners near Yellowstone National Park complain that livestock interests are doing a poor job of managing bison. They argue the current policies have failed to prevent transmission of brucellosis to domestic animals.
But opponents of House Bill 253, mainly ranchers, said the proposal to shift management to the hunting agency puts them at risk.
Montana ranchers lost their brucellosis-free status after wildlife—likely elk—transmitted the disease to domestic cattle. It is now more difficult to export livestock.
