Today Montana Judge E. Wayne Phillips shot down a lawsuit brought by powerful livestock interests to stop the State of Montana from allowing bison to use areas of Montana outside of Yellowstone National Park.
In the spring of 2011, after many years of unsuccessfully trying to keep bison from leaving the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park and entering Montana, the State of Montana announced a change to the Interagency Bison Management Plan which would allow bison to remain in certain areas outside of the Park for certain periods of the year. The changes allow bull bison to use US Forest Service lands north of the park boundary and south of the Yankee Jim Canyon between the ridge-tops on either side of the Yellowstone River.
This change in the IBMP didn’t sit well with the Montana Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) and the Park County Stockgrowers Association, Inc. (PCSA) who filed for injunctive relief in Montana Sixth Judicial District Court in Park County, Montana. The MFBF and PCSA argued that the changes violated the State’s regulatory duties to manage brucellosis and bison as set forth by Montana Code, the changes were not analyzed under an adequate or sufficient environmental review required by the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), and that the changes violated their member’s right to a “clean and healthful environment” as granted by the Montana Constitution.
In response to the lawsuit several groups, including Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project, intervened on behalf of the State of Montana, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, and the Montana Department of Livestock to defend the changes.
“Buffalo Field Campaign is heartened that migratory bison will have some room to roam their winter range in Gardiner Basin,” says Daniel Brister, Buffalo Field Campaign’s executive director. “This case underscores how important local support is for migrating bison. Judge Phillips relied on that local support for bison in his ruling today – an important victory for bison wintering in Gardiner Basin.”
“In this case, the plaintiffs represented a very vocal minority of livestock interests who tried to force the court to adopt their extreme position and prevent bison from occupying their native habitat in Montana,” says Summer Nelson, Montana Director for Western Watersheds Project and one of the attorneys representing Western Watersheds Project and Buffalo Field Campaign who intervened in the Stockgrowers Association lawsuit. “The court saw through their arguments and wild bison finally prevailed over that narrow interest. This is an important ruling in favor of the majority of Montanans, who value native, wild bison.”
