Green group pays to move cattle off bison habitat

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

The National Wildlife Federation spent $120,000 to obtain a new grazing allotment for the Idaho ranching family that has been grazing cattle near Yellowstone National Park since 1961 in a place increasingly popular with bison.

It's a sign, according to one NWF official, that some people in the ongoing debate over Yellowstone bison are beginning to cooperate and find solutions.

If the trend continues, it could force government agencies to re-examine how much they tolerate bison outside the park.

The Munns brothers have run cows on the 2,400-acre Horse Butte allotment north of West Yellowstone since 1961. By all accounts, they've been good stewards of the land.

However, a federal judge ruled last year that cattle can't graze there until the Gallatin National Forest completes a formal environmental analysis of the grazing.

The problem is that the grazing land attracts large numbers of bison every spring to munch the early grasses there. Over time, that has meant lots of hazing operations, captures, slaughters and shootings of the shaggy giants because of fears they might spread brucellosis to cattle.

"By some scenarios, the Munns brothers were victims of changing times," said Hank Fischer, a NWF special projects coordinator who helped broker the deal.

He said his group wanted to make sure the brothers were treated fairly. It wasn't their fault they lost their allotment, so NWF and the U.S. Forest Service worked to find a new one in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Idaho.

NWF paid $120,000 to the holder of the Idaho grazing permit, which is part of a grazing association.

Delas Munns said moving to the new allotment will be "quite a change in our operation," partly because it's new terrain and partly because it means their cattle will be mixed with those of other ranchers in the grazing association.

The family retains about 700 acres of private land on Horse Butte and Munns said grazing will continue there.

Fischer said it's possible the family could switch from a cow-calf operation there to steers and horses, which are less susceptible to brucellosis.

Munns said in a telephone interview from his Rexburg home that his family has yet to get together and make those decisions.

Fischer also said his group hopes that either the Forest Service or a conservation buyer who welcomes bison will purchase the Munns' 700 acres, which are also home to grizzly bears, elk, eagles and other wildlife.

That's why his group ponied up the money to arrange the new allotment.

"There's a lot stronger likelihood (of a sale) if the Munns brothers are being treated fairly" on the allotment, Fischer said.

Munns said he has been approached with offers to buy the land, but there is "nothing new on that front."

If the Munns family does someday sell, it won't solve all cattle/bison conflicts in the area. Cattle graze south and west of Hebgen Lake, mostly on private land, said Claude Coffin, of the Gallatin's West Yellowstone office.

But finding a new summer pasture for the Munns cattle solves one part of the problem, Fischer said.

"It's an opportunity to take care of the public land component," he said.

A private party donated $30,000 to arrange the new allotment, Fischer said, and loaned the remaining $90,000 interest free.

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