BOZEMAN — Gov. Steve Bullock has limited the ability of the Montana Department of Livestock to enter private property to haze bison.
In a letter to state Board of Livestock Chair Jan French, Bullock directed that riders with the agency may not enter without landowner permission “unless there is an imminent threat of disease transmission from bison to livestock or people.”
Bullock spokesman Dave Parker tells the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that the governor’s decision seeks to protect private property rights while protecting livestock from disease.
The letter comes two days after the Board of Livestock voted to delay action on an environmental assessment that would have allowed bison to remain in the West Yellowstone area outside Yellowstone National Park year-round.
Parker said the letter had nothing to do with the vote.