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Notice of Record of Decision for Final Environmental Impact Statement and Bison Management Plan for the State of Montana and Yellowstone National Park

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: January 22, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 14)]
[Notices]
[Page 6665-6666]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22ja01-173]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Record of Decision for Final Environmental Impact
Statement and Bison Management Plan for the State of Montana and
Yellowstone National Park

    The U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service and Forest Service have signed a Record of Decision (December
20, 2000) on a Joint Management Plan for bison in Yellowstone National
Park and Montana.
    The Plan is designed to preserve the largest wild, free-ranging
population of bison in the United States while minimizing the risk of
brucellosis disease transmission (between bison and cattle) to protect
the economic interest and viability of the livestock industry in the
State of Montana.
    While the Joint Management Plan is not intended to be a brucellosis
eradication plan, it employs many tools to manage and reduce the
potential risk of brucellosis transmission from bison to cattle.
Limited numbers of bison will

[[Page 6666]]

be allowed on public lands outside the park during winter when cattle
are not present. Bison will not be allowed to intermingle with cattle
and will be hazed back into the park when the weather typically
moderates in the spring (mid-April on the north side and mid-May on the
west side). The agencies will capture or remove bison still remaining
outside the park that cannot be hazed. Any possible risk to cattle will
be further minimized before cattle are allowed to return to public
lands by waiting a sufficient amount of time to ensure that the
bacteria which causes the disease is no longer alive outside the park.
    The agencies will further manage the risk of transmission of
brucellosis to cattle by limiting the number of bison outside the park
in the north (Reese Creek) and west (West Yellowstone) management areas
through intensive monitoring and hazing, and when necessary, capture,
test, and slaughter of seropositive bison. Management activity will be
increased as bison move toward the edges of management zones outside
the park. The plan also provides that the agencies will maintain a
spring bison population of up to 3,000 animals. The agencies also agree
to increase implementation of non-lethal management measures should
severe winter conditions result in a large management removal or
natural winter die off.
    In an effort to further reduce the risk of transmission and protect
cattle, the agencies will require vaccination if 100% of all
vaccination-eligible cattle in north and west management zones are not
vaccinated within one year. APHIS will pay for all direct vaccination
costs. Allowing untested bison outside the park in the north and west
boundary management zones will begin after the agencies have had
experience with seronegative bison in certain areas outside the park
during winter and when the National Park Service initiates vaccination
of bison with a safe and effective vaccine utilizing a safe remote
delivery system inside the park.
    With the implementation of this plan, the federal agencies and the
State of Montana recognize that bison are an essential component of the
greater Yellowstone ecosystem and that the cooperation of several
agencies is needed to fully manage the herd to reduce the risk of
transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle and maintain a wild,
free-ranging population of Yellowstone bison.
    The Joint Management Plan, included in the Record of Decision, is a
slightly altered version of the existing plan presented in the federal
agencies' final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The State of
Montana incorporated and adopted the federal agencies' FEIS into its
own FEIS for bison management and has recently signed their Record of
Decision, which implements the same Joint Management Plan as the
federal agencies.
    A copy of the Record of Decision on Bison Management for
Yellowstone National Park and the State of Montana can be obtained via
the internet by visiting the National Park Service web site at http://
www.nps.gov/planning or by calling (307) 344-2159.

Jack Neckels,
Acting Director, Intermountain Region.
[FR Doc. 01-1574 Filed 1-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P

 
 

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