USFWS Considers Reintroducing Bison to Montana Refuge

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is considering reintroducing bison to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in central Montana, starting with a summer consultation with tribes and other stakeholders.

Bison in Montana

Bison (Bison bison) once roamed across Montana, but they were eradicated from the state in the late 1800s. In recent years, reintroduction of the species to the region has been a contentious issue. Some Montana tribes have bison herds on their territory, and a wild population of bison roams the Yellowstone National Park area.

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Bison Reintroduction

Last year, Montana's previous governor, Steve Bullock, approved a proposal to return bison to more parts of the state. The plan has been in progress for ten years. However, new Governor Gianforte declared last month that the state's bison management scheme will be terminated.

The proposal's cancellation was revealed as part of a legal deal between the state and a land rights association, which said the state had failed to properly recognize the impact of bison reintroductions on farmers and ranchers. According to E&E News, the arbitration deal, which has not been made public, will prohibit state wildlife authorities from implementing a similar bison rehabilitation plan in the next ten years.

The governor's decision was criticized by Native American lawmakers in the state, especially his inability to meet with tribes before scrapping the reintroduction proposal. Eight Native American state legislators wrote to Secretary of the Interior Deb. Haaland, a week after Gianforte's announcement, asking that the administration create a proposal to reintroduce bison to the Charles M. Russell refuge and federal public lands along the Blackfeet Indian Reservation as Glacier National Park.

Free Roaming Herds

According to the Department of the Interior, 30 million to 60 million bison once roamed North America, but today there are only around 11,000 wild bison on federal lands in 12 states. Conservation associations and private landowners own other herds in the region.

Bison Culling

Some ranchers in Montana are opposed to the reintroduction of more bison, expressing fears that the wild animals would transmit brucellosis to their livestock. Except in and near Yellowstone National Park, Brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can induce spontaneous abortion in contaminated animals, is largely eradicated in the United States. To save illness from spreading, the wild bison herd is culled daily. There has never been a recorded case of wild bison to cattle transmission.

The USFWS hasn't said anything about the possibility of reintroductions other than to say that the mechanism to discuss it will take some years. The department will begin working with tribes and other stakeholders on a draft agreement to reintroduce the animals this summer.

The organization did mention reintroducing bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), which currently live in the refuge; however, it is uncertain if such attempts will increase the species' distribution within the refuge or extend the existing population.

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