Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

The Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) press release of 2/7/01 contains factual errors that need to be addressed. DOL's claims on the number of bison that they have "successfully" hazed are highly inflated and their accusation that protesters have caused the failure of recent operations is unfounded.

Hazing bison back into Yellowstone during winter is a completely futile effort, and has been known to be so for years. While snow remains in the park, bison will immediately return to the area they were hazed from. In many cases, DOL repeatedly hazes a group of animals, seriously threatening their ability to survive the winter by depleting fat reserves. DOL claims that they have successfully hazed these animals, i.e. if they haze 10 bison for 5 days, they claim to have hazed 50 bison back to the Park. All of the bison that DOL has hazed this season are currently outside of Yellowstone.

The federal plan for bison management describes in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) the negative effects which hazing has on wild animals. "Repeated hazing in early winter may produce weight loss and poor body condition, which decreases the animal's ability to endure the remaining winter" (FEIS, Volume I, page 762).

According to BFC spokesperson Peter Leusch, "Elk, deer, moose, and endangered bald eagles and gray wolves are all threatened when DOL agents conduct a bison hazing operation. By continually running snowmobiles over these areas, DOL makes it impossible for ungulates to get through the compacted snow to forage."

DOL's claims that their recent hazing operations have failed because of actions by protesters are not backed by any evidence. DOL's hazing operations along the Madison river this winter have failed because low snow levels have allowed the bison to outrun the snowmobiles and lose the DOL in the forest along the river. During the winter of 2000, DOL failed on five separate operations to haze one bull back to Yellowstone. There is absolutely no reason to haze bison in this area as it is never used for cattle grazing and is prime wildlife habitat.

DOL says that it is following a management plan that "includes actions to protect private property, reduce the risk of brucellosis from bison to cattle, and maintain a viable, free ranging population of Yellowstone Bison."

In reference to the management plan, Peter Leusch states, "The actions that they are taking will accomplish none of their objectives, and will cost the American taxpayer $45 million. This is a prime example of big government bureaucracy at its worst.

Contact Peter Leusch & Summer Nelson by phone: 406-646-0070.