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Alternative 4: Interim Plan with Limited Public Hunting and Quarantine

The interim plan (no action, or alternative 1 in this analysis) has served to ensure spatial separation of the bison herd from domestic cattle on the northern and western borders of Montana. However, it has given agencies few options when harsh winters force more than the average number of bison toward the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. For this reason, alternative 4 includes a quarantine facility to preserve seronegative bison captured at Stephens Creek. Bison completing the quarantine protocol would be released to tribes, requesting organizations, or to repopulate herds on public lands. The location of the facility has not been determined, and locating it on federal land or using federal money would mean subsequent NEPA analysis, including public input, would be required.

Hunting, should it be approved by the Montana Legislature, would be another tool proposed to help agencies control population numbers and distribution. A limited hunt, primarily for recreation, would be allowed in the West Yellowstone and Eagle Creek/Bear Creek areas.

Except for these differences, alternative 4 would be identical to the interim management plan, alternative 1.