NPS extends Yellowstone bison management draft comment period

UPDATE: Yellowstone National Park announced Thursday that the public comment period has been extended through Oct. 10, giving the public a full 60 days to weigh in.

Yellowstone National Park Press Release

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. — The National Park Service (NPS) announced Thursday that it has released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a Bison Management Plan at Yellowstone National Park (YNP).

“The purpose of the EIS is to preserve an ecologically sustainable population of wild, wide-ranging bison while continuing to work with other agencies to address issues related to brucellosis transmission, human safety, property damage and to support Tribal hunting outside the park,” the NPS press release says.

The EIS suggests a number of options for bison management within YNP, with a focus on reducing the number of bison sent to slaughter and strengthening working relationships with Tribal Nations and agency partners. The draft also includes contingencies that consider bison management that happens externally, beyond the borders of YNP, such as hunting.

Below are the bison management options presented in the draft EIS, as laid out in the NPS press release:

Alternative 1: The NPS would continue management of bison pursuant to the existing Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), approved in 2000. This would maintain a population range of bison similar to the last two decades (3,500 to 5,000 bison after calving), continue hunt-trap coordination to balance population regulation in the park by using culling and hunting opportunities outside the park, increase the number of brucellosis-free bison relocated to Tribal lands via the Bison Conservation Transfer Program (BCTP) and work with the State of Montana to manage the already low risk of brucellosis spreading from bison to cattle.

Alternative 2: Bison would be managed within a population range of about 3,500 to 6,000 animals after calving with an emphasis on using the BCTP to restore bison to Tribal lands and Tribal treaty hunting outside the park to regulate numbers.

Alternative 3: The NPS would rely on natural selection, bison dispersal and public and Tribal harvests in Montana as the primary tools to regulate numbers, which would likely range from 3,500 to 7,000 or more animals after calving.

Public comments on the draft will be accepted through Sept. 25. The preferred method for submitting comments during the comment period is online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/YellowstonebisonEIS.

Comments may also be mailed or hand-delivered to: Superintendent, Attn: Bison Management Plan, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190.

There will also be two public meetings held during the public comment period: