Bison hunt bill will harm sport if not amended

By Tim Border

As written, House Bill 395, the bison hunt bill, is not the answer for the privilege of shooting bison again. However, friendly amendments presented by the Gallatin Wildlife Association would correct this bill. It's proven that shooting bison in the borrow pit as they come out of Yellowstone is not good policy. The anti-hunting message will be reinforced by the antis and will move the vast undecided population against hunting in general.

I recently saw one such clip on national media. There are thousands of acres of public lands adjacent to Yellowstone National Park that would allow ample opportunity to pursue bison in a more sporting way. GWA encourages the migration of these public bison to some of these public lands. These are not just Yellowstone bison but bison that belong to everyone.

The economic benefits of the current subsidized grazing that is occurring on these public lands would pale to that of free-roaming bison. The demand for and the revenue generated to the state by the sale of tags, plus hunting related spending and the benefit derived from wildlife watching, will be significant.

The brucellosis issue regarding bison is a red herring; elk are just as infected and have proven to transmit the disease to cows. The cattle industry of Montana is responsible for the public's polluted wildlife herds and must pay for the cleanup. GWA believes that short of having this bill amended, the bison hunt should wait until it can be conducted in an ethical and fair chase method with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks administrating it.

The opportunity to create a paradigm shift in the outdated economic models used to justify the Department of Livestock killing of our bison is at hand. Let your legislator know that HB 395 needs amending.

Tim Border, director

Gallatin Wildlife Association

P.O. Box 5276

Bozeman

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