Montana governor defying court order; Senators conduct bison circle jerk

With the quiet cooperation of Montana's Fish Wildlife and Parks, the Department of Livestock (wildlife managed by a livestock agency?) has loaded bison, including several newborn, onto trucks and returned them to Yellowstone Park. The cows were part of those that routinely migrate from the preserve to calf.

Earlier in May, a Montana judge issued a retraining order blocking FWP from moving Yellowstone bison within the state after the wildlife agency bravely albeit surreptitiously moved animals to the Fork Peck Indian Reservation. From Northern Ag Network:

Cory Swanson, Attorney for the Plaintiffs, explained to Northern Ag Network that this decision means that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks cannot:

Enter into any agreements or memorandums of understanding with any other tribal, public, or private entity to transplant or move Yellowstone National Park bison,

Move bison at Fort Peck to Fort Belknap;

Transfer or move any Yellowstone National Park bison from existing quarantine pastures or facilities.

That the bison enter(ed) private land to calf constitutes an implied agreement with a party other than DOL. Individuals were trapped in a Department of Livestock loading area. If the trucks used for transfer are other than DOL vehicles it constitutes entering an agreement with entities other than DOL.

Rulings on contempt of court charges surrounding other bison transfers have yet to see the light of day.

Another Montana judge recently blocked the use of helicopters to move the bison to within park boundaries.

Video h/t @jhwygirl:





A bizarre coalition of senators led by Wyoming's Mike Uzi has sponsored S. 3248: The Bison Legacy Act which seeks to recognize "North American bison." The AP's Matthew Brown wrote "Plains bison" in a Missoulian article.

Thomas does not note whether genetically pure Plains Bison are lumped in with the hybrid mongrels that inhabit feedlots, Custer State Park, and the National Bison Range.

Very suspicious: this thing is on a slippery slope for a future of mixing the species in the wild.

Interesting that two states with genetically pure herds, Montana and Utah are not on Thomas' sponsor list where it's also noted that the bill has poor chance of becoming law (21%).