While Montana has a rich tradition of abundant wild places and wildlife, this has sadly not been true for wild bison.
As bison enter the state of Montana, they fall under the lethal jurisdiction of the Department of Livestock, due to Montana Law 81-2-120, which needs to be repealed.
There has never been a documented case of naturally occurring wild bison to cattle transmission of brucellosis, ever. Even when cattle were run next to bison for nearly 50 years now, in Jackson Hole, WY. Cattle ranchers there even wrote a letter to then Pres. Clinton, protesting APHIS trying to get control over the wildlife and the ramifications it would have on the bison and elk.
Now that APHIS and DOL know that it has actually been the elk responsible for some of the infections in MT (as well as the other GYA states of WY and ID), APHIS and MT DOL are targeting the elk, but not letting loose of their grasp of the bison. Because, this is not really about the small transmission risk of brucellosis. This is really about grass and how to market those grass fed cattle.Removing the wildlife competing ungulates from the landscape, even off of public lands where they have the priority, is greed, plain and simple. Then they have to sell the public and international buyers why they should buy this beef - "Ours is Brucellosis Class Free."
Science has been dismissed in these matters, instead politics, greedy, special interest politics at that, have instead ruled our government and compromised our wildlife management agency: Fish, Wildlife & Parks, through our governor, via APHIS/DOL with the brucellosis eradication agenda.
We need to hold our government accountable to the public, hold them accountable to the science and get those 'No Science Monkeys' out of our government.
Kathryn QannaYahu
www.emwh.org
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