Bison solutions

Kudos to Gov. Brian Schweitzer for recognizing "better and cheaper" alternatives for bison management exist in Montana. His call to amend the Bison Plan with common-sense habitat solutions is welcome news to many. It's long overdue.

However, the Chronicle's Jan. 24 article about the expanding bison quarantine "research" project near Gardiner is troubling. We already know quarantined bison can be cleansed of brucellosis. It's been done at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. What has not been done is finding a place to put brucellosis-free wild bison, where they can be managed as public wildlife. That is the real question worthy of research.

It's high time we start treating these bison as an asset, instead of a problem! To date, support from the agencies for managing bison as wildlife (even in areas of no livestock conflict) has been curiously lacking. But hey, with millions to spend (for now) on hazing and quarantine "research," why not? Remember, the immediate benefit of the quarantine program is as a population control measure, as most of those bison will go to slaughter.

What about applying what we already know? Brucellosis is a seasonally contagious, manageable disease with the primary window for transmission being March 15 to June 15. State Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Chief of Research Keith Aune proved this years ago in his (still unpublished) research findings regarding the persistence of brucellosis in the greater Yellowstone area. Protect or manage a few susceptible cows around this window and we have a low-cost win/win arrangement for stockmen, wildlife enthusiasts, bison, elk, and the public in general.

Conflict-free habitat solutions make sense. We sincerely hope that amendments to the Bison Plan will empower FWP to manage bison like elk, respecting the tremendous resource these wild animals represent to the state of Montana.

Bill O'Connell

Bozeman

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