By Matthew Brown
Billings, Montana (AP) 11-09
 Dozens of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park would be relocated to a Montana ranch owned by billionaire Ted Turner, under a recommendation made by state and federal officials Nov. 10.
The animals were spared from a slaughter program intended to protect Montana’s cattle industry from a disease carried by many bison. The plan was to use those animals – considered disease-free – to repopulate public and tribal lands across the West with free-roaming bison.
But after other offers to take the animals fell through or were judged
insufficient, state and federal officials said that Turner’s private
ranch was the best option.
A smaller group of eight to 14 bison would go to Guernsey State Park in Wyoming.
Turner already owns about 50,000 bison, most of them domesticated, and
his restaurant chain Ted’s Montana Grill serves buffalo burgers.
Some conservationists and at least one federal agency oppose the plan
to supplement Turner’s herd with Yellowstone’s genetically pure bison.
It still needs approval from the director of Montana’s wildlife agency.
“Essentially you’re privatizing public wildlife,” said Ben Lamb,
conservation director for the Montana Wildlife Federation. “That’s a
very bad precedent to set.”
A U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian also criticized the move,
saying it went against the original intent of the bison relocation
program launched in 2005.
Turner Enterprises general manager Russell Miller said that the
Yellowstone bison would not be harvested for their meat. However, their
offspring could be sold as seed stock for new herds or bred with other
Turner-owned bison to improve their genetics.
“The real value of these animals is more inherent – it’s the genetics,” he said.
Under the recommendation made by officials from six government
agencies, an estimated 75 to 80 bison would be moved in the next
several months to Turner’s 113,000-acre Flying D Ranch. They would be
kept on a 12,000-acre parcel and separated from other animals.
The herd would be expected to grow to about 300 animals over the next
several years. Miller said roughly 150 bison would be returned to
Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department after a five-year study
expired.
The remainder would become Turner’s property. Miller said keeping those
bison was necessary to offset an estimated $480,000 in costs including
veterinary care, disease testing, fencing and lost grazing
opportunities.
Members of central Montana’s Fort Belknap Reservation also sought the
bison, which have been held since the winter of 2005-2006 in a fenced
quarantine compound north of Yellowstone.
State and federal officials said the reservation’s bid to take the
animals lacked enough detail. But they promised that Fort Belknap would
get first preference next year, when another batch of quarantined bison
are due to be relocated.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks administrator Ken McDonald said giving up
bison to Turner’s ranch was not his preferred choice, and that his
agency already is getting “a lot of backlash over the whole
privatization thing.”
But he said other options had dried up. An attempt to move the animals
onto Wyoming’s Wind River Reservation fell through in the spring.
“There’s a limited pool of applicants for these animals,” McDonald said.
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