Home on the range: Bison released from Stephens Creek

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thanks to warm weather and melting snow, nearly 200 bison being held in a corral near Stephens Creek were set free Tuesday by Yellowstone National Park employees.

By evaluating snow conditions and new plant growth and taking into account that bison are heading into their birthing season, park spokeswoman Stacy Vallie said officials decided it was the right time to release the animals.

Operating under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, the park captured 464 bison on their way out of the park near Gardiner this year. But the Stephens Creek corral holds only 198 animals and has been filled to capacity since mid-March.

That means 207 bison that tested positive for brucellosis were sent to slaughter, along with 57 bison that were not tested but were killed because of lack of room in the corral, Vallie said.

Along the western boundary of the park, Montana Department of Livestock officials captured and tested 18 bison for brucellosis Feb. 8. Ten of those animals tested positive and were killed, eight tested negative and were released, said Karen Cooper spokeswoman for the DOL.

All of this created outcry from the public, concerned about the treatment of Yellowstone's bison. But Cooper said the agencies will continue to follow the interagency plan next year.

"I think that if people understood the Interagency Bison Management Plan and the goals of that plan, they would understand it has been very successful," Cooper said.

Those goals include: reducing the risk of transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle; preserving a wild population of Yellowstone bison; protecting Montana's brucellosis-free status; and protecting private property, she said.

"All of those things have been accomplished," Cooper said.

The plan was signed by five state and federal government agencies in December 2000.

But Cooper stressed that although the bison held at Stephens Creek have been released, it does not mean the work to keep the animals inside park boundaries is through for the year.

The Department of Livestock has been hazing bison near West Yellowstone -- which is at a higher elevation than Gardiner -- and will continue that work into May.

Vallie also said hazing will continue, if necessary, along the north boundary.

"In the Interagency Bison Management Plan, the date is May 15 when all the bison need to be back in the park," Cooper said. "We're still working on the west boundary."

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