YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Yellowstone National Park published its bison management plan for the coming years this week to both praise and condemnation. Parks superintendent Cam Sholly is reacting to some strong criticism from Montana Governor Greg Gianforte.
“This comes down mostly to population,” said Sholly.
He added, “We’ve tried to strike a balance, listen to various stakeholders, cooperating agencies, tribes, the general public, to come up with a balanced plan that's by far not perfect.”
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Yellowstone bison, have always elicited a strong response from people. Some want to see a lot more, others want to see a lot less. The state of Montana is among the latter. It has almost always advocated for fewer bison.
Sholly says reducing the herd too much could jeopardize the population. He said, “People remember the 2022-23 season. We had almost 4,000 bison out of the park. We had to capture almost 1,000 and hold them for almost two months to prevent a massive starvation situation, which no one wants.”
That season the herd dropped from about 5,900 animals to about 3,700 in just a matter of months.
“If we had only 3,000 bison as a state as requested in the population and we had another migration out like that, then what?” Asked Sholly.
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said the state has legitimate concerns about the bison population and claims that the Park Service is refusing to listen. He said in a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland that Montana was shut out of the conversation. He wrote, “The NPS did not solicit meaningful input from, or collaborate with, my administration prior to the publication of its January 28, 2022, Notice outlining the alternatives for consideration.”
Sholly maintains that’s not what happened. He said, “I offered for the state to present its own alternative that we would include in the analysis that didn't happen.”
Sholly claims the park's efforts to protect Montana’s cattle from brucellosis are successful.
“There's been elk transmitting to cattle. There's not been a documented bison transmission. That's because we maintained that separation successfully,” said Sholly.
But Gianforte says facts are on his side. in the letter, he writes the state was, “Given only 15 days to review a 230 page document.” He added that on May 1 he was given until May 24th to schedule a meeting with the park. He wrote, “Unable to accommodate such a short and impromptu comment timeframe… I declined YNP’s offer to meet.” He also said the state asked for a 60-day extension of the comment period but the park only extended that time by 15 days. Sholly maintains the state's desire to have a fixed population of 3,000 bison is not realistic.
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“You can't manage a wild species to a static population target. Even the state just changed, from their elk objective of 2005, which was somewhere around 92,000, to a range last year, which is like 96,000 to 140,000, because they were over their objective in multiple areas in the state, including North of Yellowstone,” said Sholly.
Gianforte concluded his letter by writing there is a new day in the West and closed with an ominous note, when he wrote, “Repeated and continuous procedural abuses, like those outlined above have hardened those who once believed in fair play. Instead states like Montana will now show up prepared for marginalized participation, short-changed processes, dishonest brokerage and ultimately, litigation.”
“So it's pretty easy just to come out against everything. It's another thing to come up with solutions to managing the species successfully,” said Sholly.
Sholly said the park works successfully on bison management with many agencies, plus the public and Indian tribes.
