Montana hits Yellowstone with lawsuit over bison plan

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and two agencies have raised a lawsuit to challenge the Yellowstone National Park’s way of managing its bison herd, arguing that it violates federal laws.

Newsweek has contacted the Yellowstone National Park’s press office for comment via email outside normal business hours.

Why It Matters

The clash between Montana and the National Park Service, among other officials and entities that maintain the sprawling park, stems from state authorities’ belief that the park’s plan to manage its bison herd doesn’t do enough to reduce the risk of brucellosis transmission.

Though a bacterial disease that mainly infects cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dogs, brucellosis can be transferred to humans if a human has direct contact with an infected animal, or if they eat or drink contaminated animal products.

What To Know

On December 31, Gianforte’s office, Montana’s Department of Livestock and its Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks filed a lawsuit over Yellowstone National Park’s bison management plan.

In a news release about the lawsuit, the state government said its concerns had been ongoing since 2022, when the national park first announced its intent to draft the plan.

In 2023, Gianforte criticized the park’s bison management, citing Yellowstone National Park’s “failure to meet its own mandates,” a lack of cooperation of the park with the state of Montana, and deficient and misstated analysis.

According to the lawsuit, the size of Yellowstone National Park’s bison herd has been a “source of constant strife” in the state, as the boom in the bison population has increased the spread of brucellosis.

Yellowstone National Park and Montana adopted bison management plans in 2000 to tackle the issue, the lawsuit added, with a goal of keeping the bison herd to 3,000 while combating the spread of the disease.

“Over the last 20 years, YNP has utterly failed to manage to the specified population target or implement critical elements of its plan,” the lawsuit said.

It added that the new plan developed by the park in 2024 “fails to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and is a violation of the National Park Service Organic Act (NPSOA) and Yellowstone National Park Protection Act (YNPPA).”

The new plan was also “developed without meaningful consultation and collaboration with one of its “cooperating agencies”…the State of Montana,” the lawsuit said.

What Is Yellowstone National Park’s Bison Management Plan

When Yellowstone National Park announced its new bison management plan last year, it said the Record of Decision, a culmination of the Environmental Impact Statement and National Environmental Policy Act process, allowed the National Park Service to manage the bison based on new scientific information that suggested the 2000 plan needed updating.

The new information related to how brucellosis could be regulated, the park announced in July. It added that the decision “continues the original purpose of the [Interagency Bison Management Plan from 2000] to maintain a wild, free ranging bison population and reduce the risk of brucellosis transmission from bison to cattle.”

The 2024 plan said the bison herd population would be managed in a range between 3,500 and 6,000, up from the goal of 3,000 in the 2000 plan.

The new plan also called for expanded bison hunting and greater bison freedom, allowing them to roam beyond the tolerance zones along the park’s northern and western edges, Montana Free Press reported.

According to the outlet, Tom McDonald, the vice chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, supported this element of the new plan.

McDonald told Montana Free Press that expanding where Yellowstone bison could go would help make tribal and state hunting safer, which is a method used to regulate the bison population.

What People Are Saying

Mike Honeycutt, the director of Montana’s Department of Livestock, said in a December 31 news release: “The Department of Livestock is committed to preventing, controlling and eradicating animal disease. Given the way NPS has ignored feedback from Montana, we have major concerns about potential threats to animal health from the possible spread of brucellosis.”

Christy Clark, the director of Montana’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said in the release: “Bison represent a complex and contentious issue with both livestock producers and wildlife advocates. We had hoped for and asked for a better and more transparent process in developing this EIS. Those requests were ignored.”

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said in the release: “The National Park Service has repeatedly and consistently failed to engage with the State in a meaningful and transparent manner as required by law throughout the planning process. NPS has not given us a fair shake and has ignored concerns raised by the State. We will always defend our state from federal overreach.”

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in July of the park’s 2024 bison management plan: “We have come a very long way since the last bison management plan was signed in 2000. This new plan solidifies much of the progress made over the past two decades and provides a foundation for future decision making. We appreciate the significant engagement on this plan by our affiliated Tribes, partners, and the general public.”

What Happens Next

The lawsuit requests that the Montana district court rule on whether Yellowstone National Park has violated federal law with its 2024 plan.

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