BILLINGS, Mont. — For the first time in decades, the federal government is considering moving bison captured leaving Yellowstone National Park to public lands in Colorado, South Dakota and elsewhere as part of efforts to curb periodic slaughters of the animals.
However, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Wednesday the animals belong to his state and he will block any attempt to move them.
In a Tuesday letter obtained by The Associated Press, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Schweitzer his agency is looking at relocation sites that include Badlands National Park on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
The proposal came as state and federal officials have been trying to come up with alternatives to the periodic slaughter of bison leaving the park in search of food. Cattle ranchers say those migrations raise the chance of livestock being infected by diseased bison.
Many of Yellowstone’s 3,700 bison have been exposed to the disease brucellosis, yet the animals remain prized for their pure genetics. The bison to be transferred have been tested and are considered disease-free.
After receiving the letter, Schweitzer issued an order blocking any fish and wildlife shipments by the Interior Department in Montana. He said he was concerned in part that the Interior Department’s past actions have allowed animal diseases such as brucellosis and chronic wasting disease to spread across the region.
A relocation of animals to the Great Sand Dunes could be done in partnership with a conservation group, the Nature Conservancy, that owns the Zapata Ranch adjacent to the park, Salazar said.
