How many bison are too many bison in Yellowstone National Park?
That’s the central question raised in the latest legal skirmish between Yellowstone and the state of Montana.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court, alleging the National Park Service is not effectively managing Yellowstone’s bison population.
The overall number of bison in the park, where they roam outside the park and the potential transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle are concerns raised in the complaint filed by Gianforte’s team of five attorneys representing his office, the Montana Department of Livestock and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
They are among complaints Gianforte has been raising for nearly two years. Caught in the crossfire of this ongoing legal skirmish are bison-loving tourists, the tribal nations partnering with Yellowstone National Park and the bison themselves.
The Gianforte administration wants Yellowstone to cap its bison population at 3,000. The current management plan allows for twice that many bison.
Yellowstone Park Superintendent Cam Sholly has consistently maintained that the plan, adopted after careful study of both the bison population and the surrounding habitat, is sound.
Sholly said it “addresses many of the state's concerns while solidifying much of the progress made,” according to a July 22 letter he sent in response to initial complaints from the Governor’s Office.
If Gianforte prevails with this lawsuit, will Yellowstone be forced to relocate or harvest half its bison population? The Governor’s Office won’t say.
Cowboy State Daily contacted Gianforte’s Press Secretary Kaitlin Price, who responded to questions by referring to arguments the administration had already laid out in a Dec. 31 news release, court documents and past correspondence with Yellowstone.
“The National Park Service has repeatedly and consistently failed to engage with the state in a meaningful and transparent manner as required by law throughout the planning process,” Gianforte said in the Dec. 31 press release. “NPS has not given us a fair shake and has ignored concerns raised by the state. We will always defend our state from federal overreach.”
Too Many Bison, Too Far Outside Park?
The main concern expressed in Montana’s recently filed complaint appears to be there’s too many bison roaming too far outside the park. That’s a problem, according to the Montana Department of Livestock.
“The Department of Livestock is committed to preventing, controlling and eradicating animal disease,” DOL Director Mike Honeycutt stated in the Dec. 31 statement. “Given the way NPS has ignored feedback from Montana, we have major concerns about potential threats to animal health from the possible spread of brucellosis.”
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Christy Clark added, “Bison represent a complex and contentious issue with both livestock producers and wildlife advocates. We had hoped for and asked for a better and more transparent process. Those requests were ignored.”
In the lawsuit, Gianforte’s attorneys assert that by maintaining a bison population over 3,000, YNP is violating its “Year-round Habitat for Yellowstone Bison Environmental Assessment (2015 Expansion Decision)” that, “Did say, multiple times, that the population target of 3,000 would not be changed, regardless of the spatial expansion.”
Yellowstone then came out with a different population target in its 2024 bison management plan: “3,500-6,000 on the assumption that Montana’s tolerance zones will accommodate that population,” according to the complaint.
“Tolerance zones” is the dystopian sounding name government bureaucracies assigned to areas outside the park around Gardiner and West Yellowstone, Montana, where the park’s bison are allowed to roam.
The lawsuit includes maps of the tolerance zones and argues that as these zones were expanded, Yellowstone did not hold up its end of the bargain by also expanding its brucellosis testing and vaccination program. The state of Montana pointed to an agreement from 2000, where if Yellowstone’s testing and vaccination program was “deemed inadequate by Montana, Montana would cease tolerating untested bison outside YNP.”
The complaint goes on to claim the park failed to seriously consider reducing the size of the tolerance zones.
Yellowstone National Park Responds
Yellowstone spokesperson Linda Veress told Cowboy State Daily that, “The NPS is unable to comment on litigation.”
However, in his July 22 letter responding to concerns raised by Montana, Sholly acknowledged the ongoing complexities of bison management. The letter states, "We recognize the challenges that the growing bison population poses to both the park's resources and the surrounding communities.
“We are aware that the decisions we make regarding bison management can have far-reaching impacts. Our goal is to ensure that bison are managed in a way that is sustainable and beneficial for all stakeholders involved."
Those stakeholders include tribal nations that harvest and relocate bison from YNP.
The 2024 management plan, wrote Sholly, “Increased bison conservation and restoration opportunities in Yellowstone and across the country, including tribal lands, while simultaneously protecting the genetic integrity of the species.”
Sholly also insisted the 2024 management plan, “Uses the best science and allows for adaptive management to shape decision making in the future.”
As for the threat to brucellosis spreading from bison roaming the tolerance zones outside the park, Sholly noted the 2024 management plan “has allowed us to successfully maintain spatial and temporal separation between bison and cattle outside the park, resulting in zero brucellosis transmissions to date,” while also maintaining a population range that supports the “ecological balance of the park.”
Does a population cap of 6,000 bison upset that balance, as the state’s lawsuit suggests?
Sholly doesn’t agree.
“Regarding the state's insistence on maintaining the bison population at 3,000 … the population increased to 5,900 in 2022 (due to multiple factors), it was reduced to 3,800 in a single winter, primarily through tribal harvests and NPS capture operations,” he said. “Had we started the winter of 2022-2023 with 3,000 bison as the state has demanded, the population would have decreased to less than 1,500, which is unacceptable.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
