“The National Park Service has repeatedly and consistently failed to engage with the state in a meaningful and transparent manner as required by law throughout the planning process,” said Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte. “The National Park Service has not given us a fair shake and has ignored concerns raised by the state. We will always defend our state from federal overreach.”
Montana has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the National Park Service and Department of Interior’s plans for managing bison at Yellowstone National Park.
According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the lawsuit claims that the recently-announced bison management plan “fails to comply with the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) and is a violation of the National Park Service Organic Act (NPSOA) and Yellowstone National Park Protection Act (YNPPA).”
“Critically,” Montana claims, “[the plan] was developed without meaningful consultation and collaboration with one of its ‘cooperating agencies’ … the State of Montana.”
The Daily Montanan notes that the lawsuit broadly argues that Yellowstone officials intentionally “cut Montana out of management plans” to increase bison numbers—and, pot
entially, avoid vaccinating the herd against brucellosis, a disease that could threaten the interests of Montana’s large cattle-ranching industry.
“The National Park Service has repeatedly and consistently failed to engage with the state in a meaningful and transparent manner as required by law throughout the planning process,” said Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte. “The National Park Service has not given us a fair shake and has ignored concerns raised by the state. We will always defend our state from federal overreach.”
Attorneys for Gianforte say that, under the provisions of a 2000 agreement, Yellowstone must limit the size of its bison population to 3,000 or fewer animals.
“Over the last 20 years, Yellowstone National Park has utterly failed to manage to the specified target population or implement critical elements of its plan,” the lawsuit alleges.
Larger bison herds, the state says, raises the risk of bison wandering into “tolerance zones.”
And, if more bison roam into tolerance zones, it could make it much more difficult for Montana ranchers to certify that cattle raised within the state’s borders are brucellosis-free.
In its lawsuit, the state emphasized that its own decision to increase the area of bison tolerance zones should not be construed as tacit permission to increase the size of the Yellowstone herd.
“Montana’s 2015 tolerance expansion was a spatial expansion only, and did not create tolerance for increased population levels,” the lawsuit alleges. “In fact, the decision notice stated, multiple times, that even though the physical tolerance zone was increasing, the population target would remain unchanged at 3,000.”
Montana further claims that the new bison management plans largely scraps any requirement to vaccinate bison against brucellosis.
“After 24 years, the defendants have not only failed to initiate a remote-vaccination program, but now state they have no intention of conducting any bison vaccination, remote or other,” the lawsuit alleges. “Vaccination of bison is reflected in every annual operations plans from 2007-2022. Despite bison vaccination being a clear directive in existing management, each alternative in the Bison Management Plan’s Final Environmental Impact Statement drops vaccination, including the ‘no action’ alternative.”
Sources
Gianforte, Montana sue Yellowstone National Park over its bison management plan
Montana Gov. Gianforte sues Yellowstone National Park over bison plan
Montana sues Yellowstone National Park over bison management plan
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