If Montana continues its current approach to bison that leave Yellowstone National Park, eventually Brucellosis will be transmitted to cattle, according to Gov. Brian Schweitzer.
"I don't want to be the governor of Montana when we lose our Brucellosis-free status," Schweitzer said.
So, Schweitzer doesn't want to be the Governor that loses Montana's Brucellosis-free status. His solution so that it doesn't happen? Let more Brucellosis infected bison wander around in the state potentially spreading the disease. How is this going to accomplish anything but infect Montana cattle with Brucellosis. IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE BRIAN. You're talking out of both sides of your mouth as usual.
I see a new proposal in this article that I have never seen before.
He has also suggested that a quarantine area could be set up for cattle outside Gardiner where cows would have to be tested for the disease as they enter and as they leave and would not be used for breeding in Montana or any other state.
So, set up a Brucellosis check station and confirm to all the world that Montana believes there is Brucellosis in the state. All this will accomplish is other states not accepting Montana cattle without being tested for Brucellosis. We will be Brucellosis-free state while at the same time, spending all the money for testing as if we weren't Brucellosis-free state. This accomplishes nothing and hurts the whole cattle industry in the state.
Another question, how is he going to make sure these cows aren't going to be used for breeding? Who made Schweitzer God and able to tell people with perfectly healthy cattle what they cannot do with them. I thought our government was supposed to protect private property, not confiscate it and tell us what we can and cannot do with it if there is no health risk associated with it.
The solution for this problem is for the Federal Government to acknowledge that they have a problem with their animals and to do something about it. That's not going to happen though. They require us private citizens to maintain a Brucellosis-free herd under penalty of law, but they don't have to follow that same requirement. Typical Government hypocrisy. Responsibility is the solution, to bad the government isn't responsible.
Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. Ronald Reagan
Electronically, at least.
The fact of the matter is there are next to no cattle adjacent to Yellowstone as it is. And those are primarily owned by the Church Universal & Triumphant, who admit in recent talks with Schweitzer they'd like to keep a few cows around "for ambiance".
So you tell me: do you really want your B-Free status as a bona-fide rancher put at risk by THAT?
This issue goes so far beyond that, though... We have an opportunity to vastly improve bison management, save a wad of money, and turn the situation into an enormous asset. And, do a heck of a lot better job of protecting your B-free status in the process!
I've long maintained we don't have to get rid of the handful of cattle in the area, just implement some common-sense management, like you practice every day on your place.
Although, perhaps the Governor is right to make it economically attractive for this handful of folks to NOT run cows with a bunch of wolves and grizzly bears, not to mention buffalo. It de-fangs APHIS' threat to yank our status.
I personally don't want the Feds managing the situation in MT. Now THAT's alarming...
Both the Federal Government and the State Government are screwing this one up. I live in the area that is in the center of this heated battle. I am a hunter and my family is one of those that have cattle in the area. There really is a simple answer; POPULATION CONTROL. There was a time that the state allowed the hunting of bison in such a way that it controled both the population problem and the Brucellosis problem, not to mention it made the state money. The way it worked was simple, there was a drawing, tags were issued, people that drew dags paid their fee to the state, and if a bison came out of the park a hunter was called; if ten bison came out ten hunters were called, zero bison zero hunters. Now I know that people said this wasn't a fair hunt, but the reality is, neither is what they are doing now. Bison are not exactly elusive creatures. It really doesn't matter if Fish and Game agents lead a hunter to a bison, if a local outfitter leads them, or if they are smart enough to drive the road and find one themselves, the outcome is the same. The way the state is running the hunt now does nothing but cost us lots of money and makes the state, as a whole, look like a spineless whimp that will give into what ever special intrest group makes the most noise.
I love the beauty of the area that I live in, but I am personally fed up. My family has had land here for 5 generations, with the sixth generation currently being raised in the area. Who is tell me what I can and can't do with the property that I, or my family, bought with their hard earned money. We have had cattle on the place for many, many years. It is a way of life that I treasure. My dad passed it on to me and I want to be able to pass it onto my children. There is no better way to teach a child responsibility, hard work and love of nature, than early morning chores, long summer horseback rides and haying season. I truely belive that the state needs to protect its brucellosis free status. Ranchers in the state depend on it, but I also know there is a way to do it without infringing on my God given rights. In my opinon no one has the right to step alover the way of life that I am so proud of, and that my family worked so hard for. Only someone with the same way of life can know how much blood, sweat and tears it takes, and I want my children to learn the value of that. It's a way of living that is on the virge of extinction, and once it's lost it will gone for good.
Beth
I hear you, Beth. I come from homesteader stock also, grew up farming on the Hi-Line, was out of ag briefly (6 years) and now back in it again. I have kids, too. I'm trying to be sensitive, here, but at some point you have to teach them to move forward, to make the dream sustainable, instead of clinging to the past. Oh, I value my ancestors and their work as much as anyone, but if you're doing things the same way Grandpa did, chances are it's not going to keep on working indefinitely. The only constant is change, & all that...
Also, I fully support your private property rights. You are aware that existing laws on the books right now clarify your right to protect your property from wandering bison? That's right; kill 'em. We have no problem with that. I just think it's ridiculous to have that line be the Park boundary. We're overlooking a great thing, a potentially enormous asset. Admittedly, I have a different perspective, as I work with bison (mostly dead ones or their byproducts) on a near-daily basis.
I grew up around cows. I'm sorry, they don't hold any romance for me. If they do for you, fine, but that shouldn't preclude the state of MT from turning the situation into a revenue-producing asset. Hunting is a big part of that, but it doesn't mean whacking them when they step across the line in an attempt to access publicly owned winter range, that is as free of livestock conflict as anywhere in the world buffalo might conceiveably roam.
It goes beyond that, they chose a couple of the highest conflict points and made those the Zone 2's (Munn's on the west, and... is that you, Bill?)
The Plan is way overdue for improvement, from all sides, we all know that.