November 2011 CUJ - Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ...

Employees of the MonthCecil GuardipeeSupportHotel UtilityBest porter everalways on top of hisduties and never complainswhen we ask forhelp!VOTE FORJULIE TAYLORBoard of TrusteesAt-Large MemberNovember 15, 2011Your VOICEYour VOTE counts!Debra WohlckeSupervisorHot Rock CaféShe fills in whereverneeded. She trys herbest to keep everyonehappy!Paid Political AdTessa MinthornFront LineKenoTessa is the veryembodiment of aGreat WRC Employee.She scores anA+ for each of WRCKey Success!Future of Montana bisonmigrations headed to trialBy MATTHEW BROWNAssociated PressBILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - Montana’snewfound tolerance toward wild bisonis heading to trial as cattle ranchers andcounty officials seek to prevent a repeat oflast year’s mass migration of hundreds ofthe animals out of Yellowstone NationalPark.State District Judge Wayne Phillipshas been asked to settle a fundamentalquestion: Are bison in Montana freeroamingwildlife, or should they be keptin the park to protect private propertyand public safety?Deep snows last winter prompted anestimated 1,400 bison to spill out of thepark in search of food at lower elevationsin Montana. Many were captured andreleased in the spring, but hundreds ofthe animals, also known as buffalo, fora time roamed at will in the 75,000-acreGardiner Basin.That appeared to mark an end to thestate’s longstanding practice of shootingor slaughtering bison that leave the park,which claimed almost 4,000 of the animalsover the last decade. But now ParkCounty and the Park County StockgrowersAssociation want to revive restrictionson bison movement.``I’m not anti-wildlife,’’ said JoeSperano, a 69-year-old member of thestockgrowers’ group who lives northof Gardiner and runs a small numberof horses and cattle. ``The buffalo area different deal. There was never anyproblem with one or two. When we’vegot 30 or 40 coming through my placeat one time, they want to go through thefences, rub on my house, destroy my irrigationpipes.’’Sperano said he suffered $2,000 indamages to irrigation pipes that werecrushed by bison and additional damageto his house and an electrified fence.Lawsuits filed by Park County and thestockgrowers would overturn an agreementsigned in April by federal and stateagencies and several Indian groups thatallowed bison into the Gardiner Basinduring winter.Although some bison previously werepermitted in limited areas outside thepark, the agreement allowed them intoareas where bison had been barred fordecades.The suits contend free-roaming bisondestroy private property, threaten thesafety of county residents, and increasethe chances that a disease carried by theanimals, brucellosis, could be transmittedto cattle.An initial hearing is scheduled forWednesday in Livingston.Attorneys for Gov. Brian Schweitzerand two state agencies are seeking todisqualify one of the stockgrowers’ attorneys,John Bloomquist, because herepresented the state in past lawsuits overGeneral Council MeetingNov. 17 at 2 p.m.Nixyaawii GovernanceCenterthe animals. Hearings on more substantiveissues were postponed pending thedisqualification hearing.Even if Phillips sides in favor of thestate on the larger question of allowingbison into Montana, Park CountyAttorney Brett Linneweber pledged inan interview with The Associated Pressthat last year’s migration would not berepeated.``The county’s not going to roll overand say there’s nothing we can do aboutit. People have a right to be safe,’’ he said.``There are steps we can take outside thelegal arena, but we would prefer not to.’’Linneweber declined further explanation.Last spring, a Park County residentwho claimed his dog was being threatenedby bison shot and killed two of theanimals and wounded several others. Nocharges were filed.Experts say tens of millions of bisononce roamed across most of NorthAmerica. At the turn of the last century,when the species had been nearly drivento extinction by overhunting, Yellowstoneoffered one of the last refuges forthe iconic animal.The park’s 3,500 bison today make upone of the largest wild concentrations ofthe animals in the world.While they’re clearly wild in the park_ where careless visitors are occasionallygored by the animals - the stockgrowers’lawsuit challenges that status for anybison stepping into Montana. The groupcontends they should be managed differentlythan other wildlife.Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlifeand Parks dispute the group’s assertion,saying state law has classified bison aswildlife at least since 1995.``They are, in the end, wild animals,’’said agency attorney Rebecca Jakes Dockter.``Sometimes you can predict whattheir behavior will be and sometimesyou can’t ... That’s what you have to takealong with the privilege of living withwildlife on our landscape.’’Since the April agreement allowingbison into the Gardiner Basin, Dockter’sagency has agreed to further study theissue before deciding what actions to takethis coming winter. That will include anopportunity for public comment - somethingnot sought before the agreementwas reached.To address concerns over privateproperty damage, state officials workingwith several conservation groups haveinstalled an estimated 1,500 feet of fencingto keep bison away from GardinerBasin landowners who don’t want them.The pushback from Park Countyand local ranchers mirrors resistanceto a related effort by wildlife officialsto relocate up to 160 Yellowstone bisononto state wildlife management areas ortribal lands.Those animals have been kept inquarantine for several years to ensurethey are not carrying the disease brucellosis.When earlier relocation efforts fellthrough, the animals were placed temporarilyon a ranch outside Bozeman ownedby media mogul and philanthropist TedTurner.A decision on the relocation proposalis due next month.40 Confederated Umatilla JournalNovember 2011