Yellowstone National Park - More Bison Management Questions (U.S. National Park Service)

Frequently Asked Questions about Bison
Questions about Brucellosis

Questions about the Interagency Bison Management Plan

Q: How long have Yellowstone’s bison been managed for brucellosis?
A: During the 1940s and 1950s, Yellowstone National Park managed bison with the goal of eliminating brucellosis from bison in the park. By the early 1960s, biologists recommended stopping the program because they determined the only way to eliminate the disease would be to eliminate the entire bison population. Brucellosis again became a major management focus in 1985 when the state of Montana attained brucellosis class-free status. Planning for bison management began in 1989, when state and federal agencies agreed to develop a long-term management plan to cooperatively manage bison.

Q: What agencies are involved in bison management?
A: Because the livestock industry’s concerns about brucellosis center on wildlife and their threat to domestic livestock, traditional boundaries between managing wildlife and domestic animals become blurred in bison management. In Yellowstone National Park and the state of Montana, bison management involves five federal and state agencies—each with differing mandates: U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Manages habitat on national forests but not the wildlife Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Manages all wildlife beyond national park borders National Park Service (NPS) Manages habitat and wildlife within national park borders Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) Controls and prevents the spread of communicable and contagious diseases of livestock, including brucellosis, in Montana U.S. Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Controls and prevents the spread of communicable and contagious diseases of livestock, including brucellosis, nationwide.

Q: When was the final bison management plan approved?
A: In 2000. The task was complicated by having to serve mandates of the agencies and needing to follow federal laws that determined how such plans could be developed.

Q: What happened between 1985 and 2000?
A: The federal and state agencies operated under interim plans. A 1990 management plan provided for limited NPS management of bison through hazing, monitoring, and shooting outside of park boundaries. The 1996 interim plan called for NPS to build a bison capture facility inside Yellowstone National Park at Stephens Creek, near the northern boundary. All captured bison would be tested for brucellosis; seropositive animals would be shipped to slaughter. Any bison migrating north of the park into the Eagle Creek/Bear Creek area would be monitored and not captured.

Q: Was there an Environmental Impact Study for bison management?
A: Yes. A draft EIS with seven alternatives was released in 1998. The draft plan received more than 67,500 public comments. A Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) for the State of Montana and Yellowstone National Park was released in August 2000. After a public comment period and slight modifications to the plan, the federal government and the state of Montana released separate Records of Decision in December 2000 describing the IBMP.

Q: What are the IBMP goals?
A: The IBMP has two primary goals:

Maintain a wild, free-ranging bison population
Address the risk of brucellosis transmission to protect the economic interest and viability of the livestock industry in Montana Because so much uncertainty remains about how to achieve these goals, the IBMP uses adaptive management, which allows for modifying the plan as scientists and managers learn more about bison behavior and migration, and about brucellosis.

Q: Does the IBMP allow bison outside Yellowstone?
A: Yes, in three steps. Step One, in effect from 2000 to 2008, allowed up to 100 seronegative bison in one management area outside the west boundary, November to mid-May. Step Two allows up to 100 seronegative bison outside the north boundary from November to mid-April. After bison managers are comfortable managing the bison in Step Two, the plan moves into Step Three, which allows up to 100 untested bison in both of these defined management areas during winter. In addition, an unlimited number of bison during all months of the year are allowed in the Eagle Creek/Bear Creek area outside the north boundary.

Q: Has adaptive management been applied to the IBMP?
A: It has been applied periodically since 2000. Examples include:

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) instituted bison hunts
Montana Department of Livestock began vaccinating bison in the western IBMP management area
FWP and APHIS began a quarantine study
National Park Service began vaccinating bison inside Yellowstone

The latest adjustments, described below, occurred in response to the GAO Report.

Q: What is the GAO Report?
A: In March 2008, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an audit on the IBMP. It stated the partner agencies were not fulfilling adaptive management practices as defined by law. GAO recommended the IBMP be revised as follows:

Clearly define measurable objectives and refine, revise, or replace the plan and procedures as needed
Define specific scientific and management questions to be answered and incorporate the results into the IBMP
Make all documents reflecting decisions and actions easily accessible to the public
Report annually to Congress on the progress and expenditures related to the plan

Q: Has the IBMP been revised?
A: Between August and December 2008, the leaders and managers of the five state and federal agencies involved in managing bison met seven times to begin implementing changes recommended by the GAO. These meetings were open to the public and agencies accepted public comment. The primary changes to the IBMP included:

Establish www.ibmp.info to provide bison management documents to the public
Provide greater tolerance for untested bison on the Horse Butte peninsula, which is part of a bison management area outside the park’s west boundary
Allow bison beyond the northern boundary in a limited area to learn how bison may use this new winter range
Allow adult male bison outside the west boundary, with management based on minimizing private property damage and providing public safety
Work with private land owners to prevent or resolve wildlife conflicts
Consider fencing as a tool to help create separation between cattle and bison
As a result of the changes made in 2008, the IBMP is now in Step Two, which increases tolerance of bison on the IBMP management areas outside Yellowstone National Park.

Q: How many bison have been killed in management actions?
A: Since 1996, more than 3000 bison have been killed as they migrated from Yellowstone. Most winters, fewer than 100 bison have been killed. But in the winters of 1996–97, 2005–6, and 2007–08, more than 1000 bison died each winter either through management actions or hunting.

Q: Are bison hunted in the Yellowstone area?
A: In 2005, after a hiatus of 20 years, bison hunting began in Montana on public lands outside Yellowstone National Park. Through the hunt, the state hopes to manage bison on low elevation winter ranges and increase public support for expanding bison habitat outside the park. The Nez Perce and Confederated Salish-Kootenai tribes are also hunting bison in these same areas inaccordance with their 1855 treaties with the United States. They are cooperating with state and federal agencies to ensure the hunts are ethical and safe and follow conservation goals both inside and outside Yellowstone.

Q: Will bison be hunted in Yellowstone National Park in the future?
A: The National Park Service does not allow any hunting inside the park.

Q: Did the federal government recently acquire more land for bison?
A: In 2008, Gallatin National Forest and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks negotiated an agreement with the Church Universal Triumphant to remove cattle from the church’s Royal Teton Ranch for 30 years, which provides a travel corridor for bison to winter grazing on the Gallatin NationalForest north of Yellowstone National Park. The corridor is on private, county, and federal land.

Q: Why are bison behind fences along U.S. 89 north of Gardiner?
A: Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and APHIS are conducting a study to find out if a quarantine process can lead to bison that are certain to be brucellosis-free. Bison calves that would otherwise be sent to slaughter are in the study; the first group has successfully completed the protocol and is ready to be released to private, public, or tribal partners. They will be followed for five years; if they remain brucellosis free, then the study will have demonstrated a successful protocol for certifying disease-free bison.

Q: What kind of challenges do bison managers face?
A: Managers face the challenging task of keeping a migratory animal within a defined conservation area (Yellowstone National Park and bison management areas adjacent to the park) while still allowing the natural migratory tendencies of the species to occur. They must monitor and manage bison movement September through early June, in two different locations (west and north boundary), with varying degrees of involvement by the partner agencies, and with varying predictability. Over the years, Yellowstone’s rangers have learned bison can be led back into the park several times, but then the animals begin resist hazing. This often leads to the animals becoming more difficult to manage and at times being captured and sent to slaughter.

Q: Are tribes involved in managing bison?
A: The 26 tribes who are directly associated with Yellowstone National Park contribute to management discussions through periodic meetings with the park’s managers.

Q: What is the outlook for bison in Yellowstone National Park?
A: Brucellosis is not a major factor in determining herd survival for either elk or bison, but will remain a cause of concern to the livestock industry. Therefore, state and federal agencies will continue to work together using the Interagency Bison Management Plan as their primary tool to prevent bison-to-livestock transmission. Each agency plays a separate role in managing this population, which now has approximately 80,000 acres of habitat in Montana outside Yellowstone National Park.