Gov. Brian Schweitzer at a pipe ceremony on Fort Peck
accommodate this offshoot of the Yellowstone herd. Until the fencing improvements are made, the new herd will have to remain in their small paddock.
RUN OVER Not everyone is thrilled to see wild bison come to Fort Peck. Cory Swanson, a Helena attorney representing landowners who are suing Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks over the relocation, says their opposition was never about keeping bison away from the tribes. Ranchers last
year decried similar proposals to relocate bison to state land at the Marias River and Spotted Dog wildlife management areas. “It was about sending bison all over the state with what many believe is an ill-conceived plan specifically because you want wild, free-roaming bison,” Swanson says. “That’s the issue.” The March 19 relocation was rushed and hushed; Swanson has called it “a sneak attack.” Last December, FWP commissioners said they wanted to review any management plan before bison were moved from Yellowstone, Swanson says,
Left: Iris Grey Bull next to the Fort Peck bison pen; right: Llewellyn Gray Hawk, Fort Peck’s bison manager
Missoula Independent Page 16 March 29 – April 5, 2012
adding, “That clearly didn’t happen. It was signed and, boom, off we went with bison shipment.” Landowners are concerned about fence standards and brucellosis test protocol being met, Swanson says, and about bison breaking out of their pasture and wandering onto private property. They don’t feel their concerns have been heard. “Had [the state] done this the right way, I don’t even know if there’d be a lawsuit today,” he says. “We might be supporting the tribes’ right to own bison. Instead, we’ve been run over at every turn.”
The bison that were moved from Yellowstone to Fort Peck have been tested repeatedly for brucellosis at the quarantine facility in Corwin Springs; none have tested positive. The Department of the Interior has altered its position several times in the recent past on whether the Yellowstone herds are brucellosis-free, while Schweitzer is fond of pointing out that “these bison are less likely to have brucellosis than any other animal in Montana, including my dog, Jag.” Ranchers are still upset that they’re here. Swanson’s plaintiffs finally saw their request for a restraining order against additional bison shipments granted March 22—the same morning that four more bison left Corwin Springs for Fort Peck. The tribes have argued that the bison are now on sovereign soil, so the state can’t ship any of them back. It’s hard sometimes to believe these passive animals could have caused such a stir. Yet as recently as last spring, lawmakers tried to restrict bison relocation statewide. Even Schweitzer nearly derailed this move in December, when he refused to allow any bison to be moved anywhere in the state. His announcement came in the midst of a spat with the Department of the Interior over placing some Yellowstone bison on the National Bison Range in Moiese, the same week the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commission approved the move to Fort Peck. Schweitzer backed off within days.
CIRCLE OF LIFE Almost everyone wants to get close to them. Out at the bison ranch, Schweitzer leans against the new enclosure and stares at the herd. “That’s a big bull,” he says to no one in particular. Jag, his border collie, crouches nearby, his eyes fixed on the bison, his body tensed.