BOZEMAN – Cattle producers say allowing bison that aren’t tested for brucellosis to migrate onto Horse Butte Peninsula near Yellowstone National Park threatens the Montana beef industry.
The producers on Tuesday asked District Judge John Brown in Bozeman to force the state to remove bison from the area more quickly than in recent years. Brown has not ruled on the case.
The hearing focused on whether the Montana Stockgrowers Association and two ranchers in the West Yellowstone area can sue over how the state Department of Livestock implements the Interagency Bison Management Plan. The agreement between state and federal agencies sets protocols to prevent interaction between bison and cattle.
John Bloomquist, a lawyer for the Stockgrowers Association and the ranchers, said local cattle producers could be devastated if bison are given more leeway in southern Gallatin County.
“We have two livestock producers … whose herds, whose livelihoods and whose economic viability, whose entire operation, is at risk if the Department of Livestock does not properly manage bison,” he said.
The Stockgrowers Association wants to force the state to haze all bison back into Yellowstone by May 15 and only allow bison to migrate to the area if they have not been exposed to brucellosis, a disease that causes pregnant cattle, elk and bison to miscarry.
But lawyers for the state, two conservation groups and Horse Butte landowners asked Brown to dismiss parts of the lawsuit, saying the cattlemen can’t dictate how the state livestock department follows its own procedures.
State managers have been treating May 15 as a target rather than a deadline, and this year allowed untested bison to roam on the peninsula. Meanwhile, some private landowners on Horse Butte want the bison on their land.