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[article provided by Pat Morris. Thanks!]

Mon, 21 Feb 2000

Slick governor disguises Yellowstone bison slaughter
by Mark Tokarski - High Country News

I received a mailing today from an environmental group
urging me to forward a post card showing grazing bison to
Montana Governor Marc Racicot (pronounced "rosko"). The card
asks the governor to stop killing bison.
The card is a gimmick -- politicians rightly ignore such
preprinted campaigns. I could trash it or forward it to
Racicot. It would make no difference. But I am tempted to
mail it. Montana's policy towards bison wandering into our
state from Yellowstone National Park is to haze, prod, haul,
pen, zap and shoot them till they come here no more. Racicot
and the Montana cattle industry have behaved with all the
delicacy of Henry VIII towards his many wives.
Gov. Racicot, however, is a politician of unusual skill.
Though as many as 1,200 bison have been slaughtered on his
watch, Racicot remains one of our most popular governors. He
is considered a candidate for higher office,perhaps
Secretary of the Interior, a possibility that makes
environmentalists in this state cringe.
On the surface, the bison issue appears to be a matter of
science and the protection of public health. Some of the
bison and elk of Yellowstone National Park carry strains of
Brucellosis, a disease that causes spontaneous abortions in
cattle and ungulate fever in humans. Ironically, the disease
was originally given to elk and bison by cattle.
The Racicot bison-slaughter policy is predicated on the fear
that bison can give it back to cows. It's a policy of
perception, not science: There has never been a documented
case of transmission from bison to cow, and bison leaving
the park in winter are miles away from cattle.
Racicot, though, has bent over backwards to assure the
cattle industry that there is no contact between cattle and
bison. He has also gone to great pains to keep the public
from seeing the actual killing of bison. His administration
was the first to dispatch the great beasts in private pens
away from cameras.
The secrecy is being challenged by a small group of
activists, under the banner of the Buffalo Field Campaign.
Their cameras show us the guns, snowmobiles and helicopters
of the Montana Department of Livestock. You might wonder why
this game of cat and mouse is being played in a state where
agriculture and cattle are giving way to tourism and
high-tech industry.
Our rivers, lakes and mountains bring people here not just
to visit, but to live. Electronic commerce is not the
future; it is happening now. But political power changes
slower than the economy. Those who have it will not give it
up easily, and will exercise it with brute force for as long
as they can. Ranchers still pull the political reins of
Racicot, even as the world changes around him.
So, we are in a quandary. We have a bad policy enforced by a
very popular governor. If Racicot had but a half-measure of
political fortitude, he could explore other solutions. Bison
leaving Yellowstone usually end up in the Gallatin National
Forest, which has a policy of keeping cows out for 30 to 60
days following the presence of bison. This is the simple
solution to the bison problem: Enforce an existing policy
and keep cows away from bison. Yet it is stubbornly avoided.

In late 1999, the Federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) and the National Park Service gave up the
fight. They abandoned cooperative efforts with Montana to
formulate a rational plan, opting to go it alone.
"We don't feel ... there's a need to kill every bison that
comes out of the park," said Patrick Collins, APHIS
spokesman. Racicot reacted with characteristic detachment,
citing a joint goal of formulating a "thoughtful and
sensitive" plan. He also told ABC's Nightline that the
problem is "almost solved." His meaning is not clear.

Our few remaining bison are the remnants of the great herds
that once occupied our prairies. They are a national
treasure. Maybe I'll send that card after all.

"Dear Governor Racicot: See the peaceful bison. See them
eating. See them wandering. See that they cannot read signs,
and do not understand political boundaries. They are a
national treasure. We entrust their safety to you. Governor
Racicot, please stop killing them."

---
Mark Tokarski is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a
service of High Country News (www.hcn.org). He lives in
Billings, Montana.
<http://www.hcn.org/wotr/dir/WOTR_000215_Tokarski.html>

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