Needless Hazing of Yellowstone Bison Made for a Busy Spring
Posted June 4, 2010 in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Over the past month, hundreds of wild Yellowstone bison have been needlessly hazed from Montana back into Yellowstone National Park. To harass the largest land mammal in North America against its will, government agents used ATVs, riders on horseback, trucks, and a helicopter.
It’s a good thing our economy is humming, Wall Street’s kicking arse, and a mindboggling goat riot of an oil spill isn’t unfolding in the Gulf – because spending the time, resources, and taxpayer dollars to haze bison from non-existent cattle is wildly wasteful.
I spent several days around West Yellowstone, Montana, during the hazing with different journalists covering the boondoggle. We met with local landowners, the Montana Stockgrowers Association, bison activists, a Wildlife Conservation Society scientist, and a Native American bison advocate. We also witnessed some hazing.
Several stories have been published by the journalists that traveled to West Yellowstone to learn more about why America’s only continuously wild bison population – the only direct link to the tens of millions of wild bison that once thundered across the Great Plains – is needlessly hazed each spring back into Yellowstone.
Here is some of the coverage:
L.A. Times video:
Helena Independent Record: “Interagency Bison Management Plan draws mixed reviews”
High Country News: “Yellowstone bison: Hazed and confused”
Helena Independent Record: “Buffaloed by brucellosis”
Powell Tribune: “Plight of the bison”
Powell Tribune: “Bison hazing triggers locked horns, conflict”
Bozeman Chronicle: “Haze wrapping up in West Yellowstone”
Helena Independent Record: “Hazed and confused”
New York Times: “Deal Puts Yellowstone Bison on Ted Turner’s Range”
LA Times: “Experiment aims to return wild bison to open range”
(For more on Yellowstone bison and hazing, see these previous blog posts of mine: here, here, here, and here.)
