Fortunately, it appears that shouldn’t be necessary. We have assurance that bison leaving Yellowstone will be allowed to migrate into the zones outside the Park that have already been set aside for their use; where they are supposed to be afforded some degree of tolerance. For those unfamiliar with this issue, the primary reason for this controversy is that a percentage of the bison (more or less, depending on who you talk to) carry brucellosis. That’s a serious disease, no doubt. It’s most prevalent effect is causing cattle to abort, but it can be transmitted to many other species, including humans, where it’s known as undulant fever. If the state were to lose its official Brucellosis-free status, that would be a severe blow to the cattle industry. We’re not insensitive to that, but given the extremely low numbers of cattle in the areas around the Park, we think the issue could easily be mitigated by simply delaying turning cattle out until say, July 1, when the bison calving period is well over. Besides, the majority of those cattle are grazing public land, where we feel native wildlife should be given priority. Several of the grazing allotments around the Park have been retired recently, and others are likely to. Legislation is in the works to provide a substantial cash incentive for permittees to retire their grazing allotments. We’re talking about a miniscule number of cattle, and the economic benefits of having free-ranging bison over even a relatively limited area of southwest MT would vastly outweigh running those few head of cows. And for friends of mine in the cattle business, yeah, I know the prices are good right now. How long has it been since that was the case, though….?

Even though we’d like to eventually see bison allowed to migrate into the upper Madison, and to the State-owned Wildlife Management Areas like Dome Mountain, north of Gardiner, in the short term it doesn’t look like that will happen. The brucellosis issue involves a host of State and Federal Agencies. While the Interagency Bison Management Plan’s mandate of maintaining "temporal and spatial separation" of bison and cattle could be quite easily accomplished, there are some significant political power struggles taking place behind the scenes, not to mention that a simple, common-sense solution could put a lot of agency folks out of work. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the primary Federal oversight agency for this issue, seems committed to eliminating brucellosis from the greater Yellowstone area. Since it’s also carried by a host of other species great and small, I really don’t see how that is achievable. We attended a meeting in Gardiner last winter sponsored by the Bear Creek Council, where Yellowstone’s chief biologist gave a presentation on work so far toward developing a means of delivering a vaccine. I’m sure he’s an intelligent, and seems to be a nice, guy. He’s in a bad spot, since higher powers are mandating that he implement the impossible, but his presentation was laughable. They’re using air guns to deliver vaccine pellets, and he admitted they have no real way of knowing which bison have already been vaccinated and which haven’t, and even disregarding that, the effectiveness of the vaccine is quite low. There’s ongoing research on bison contraceptives and dozens of other erstwhile boondoggles, and from this layman’s standpoint, it’s just not going to get resolved anytime soon.

FWP agrees, it appears. Their efforts are going toward re-establishing brucellosis-free populations of bison in areas away from Yellowstone. They’ve converted a former game farm north of Gardiner into a quarantine facility. This is no overnight project, either. The brucella bacterium can apparently go dormant for quite some time, and it will require three years of quarantine before bison can be certified disease-free. They’ll spend probably the first year of that at the Gardiner facility, and then be transferred to another (or series of) intermediate facilities elsewhere in the state. Eventually, those bison will be re-introduced, presumably in areas like the Missouri Breaks as well as some Indian Reservations.

So, eventually, we will have herds of free-ranging wild bison on public lands in Montana. For the moment, though, that is only going to occur in a very limited fashion just outside Yellowstone. The proposed public hunt won’t take place until the fall and winter of ’04-’05, at the earliest, as it has to go through the whole chain of Environmental Assessments, public comment periods, and commission approval by FWP and DOL. It sounds like the number of permits is not going to be just too great. Unofficially, maybe ten or so bull permits for the fall, (Sept.-Dec.). Then a somewhat greater number of either-sex permits during the winter months. Still, we’re likely looking at less than 50 permits, and they don’t really expect all permit holders to successfully harvest a buffalo. I suppose not, although given my experience with bison hunts on private land, I’d think you should be able to get one!

The potential problem is that bison numbers in Yellowstone are getting way up there again, reportedly in the 4500 range. When numbers exceed 3000, DOL can slaughter bison that leave the Park without even testing for brucellosis. We are way overdue for a severe winter. Should it occur, bison will be leaving the Park in droves, with predictable consequences.

I know I’ve harped on this bison issue before, and perhaps some readers are getting sick of it! What brought it to mind was a discussion last evening about the benefits of wild meat. Now I am not just anti-beef. I like a good beefsteak from time to time, and the ones you get at places like the Land of Magic in Logan, or Sir Scott’s Oasis in Manhattan, not to mention a host of other steakhouses, are great! Sometimes, though…. We were in Livingston, and stopped for a bite at a roadhouse that shall remain anonymous. It was crowded, & obviously popular. Had a lot of reasonably priced items on the menu, and I’m sure they’re great. We had a prime rib special, though, and I’m telling you, it was just nasty! Sort of rubbery, bland, and fatty. By the time it was getting cooled down, it was downright vile, and left you with that unmistakable feeling that you were consuming something that just isn’t very good for you! It gave me flashbacks to my childhood. Beef was the staple food around our house, and my parents (God love ‘em, and may they RIP) actually liked fatty beef! It gave me the heebie-jeebies from the earliest age. My Dad cut our meat, and was prone to leaving a substantial frame of fat around the steaks, which I suppose was sort of the norm in those days. Still, they’d sit there and eat that pure fat with apparent relish. Gack! Still makes me shudder just to think about!!

Around our house wild game is the staple protein source (elk, primarily, along with an assortment of other species). We love it, and even our kids regularly comment about how good it is. Your body just tells you that you’re putting something healthy in the fuel tank. A few years back a good friend and rabid beef enthusiast made a comment to my wife regarding our diet that still just amuses us intensely. Our economic lot had taken a bit of an upturn (although it was nowhere near as dire as she apparently thought), and she made a comment to the effect of "now you’ll be able to afford beef!" We laughed till we cried….

So anyway, here’s luck to the folks heading afield in search of wild meat this fall. I know; the meat can almost be viewed as a side benefit, as the other mental and physical benefits are near incalculable. And besides, if you consider the investment on a price per pound basis, it’s probably no bargain for a lot of folks. Well worth it, though, IMO. If your opportunity to harvest some venison is limited, or Lady Luck is having a PMS day when you’re afield, remember we have those bison hunts available on private land, where you’ll get a freezer full of delicious, low-fat, all natural grass fed buffalo. The price/lb on those is downright reasonable. As my ads say, "Price competitive with beef, better for you, and a heck of a lot more fun!"

As an aside, we’ve already got fresh meat in the freezer, as my son successfully harvested a bighorn ewe last weekend. Next up is antelope, then elk, and deer, and birds and fish, and Man! It feels like the proverbial horn of plenty. Life is good….