Ruling that blocked bison moves appealed

BILLINGS — Environmental groups say they will ask the Montana Supreme Court to overturn a district court ruling that temporarily halts transfers of Yellowstone National Park bison to tribal and public lands.

Attorneys for Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Federation appealed the ruling Monday.

They are challenging a restraining order issued by Judge John McKeon after about 60 Yellowstone bison were moved to Montana's Fort Peck Indian Reservation in March.

Half of those bison were supposed to be transferred to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, once that reservation had built required containment and reached an agreement with the state government.

The groups want bison transfers to continue, including the Fort Belknap transfer that was put on hold after McKeon's ruling.

The relocations are part of an attempt to establish new bison herds while curbing the periodic slaughter of the animals when they leave Yellowstone. Many ranchers fear the bison could spread disease and compete with cattle for grazing.

Ranchers with land adjacent to the reservations fear the damage that escaped bison can cause to fences, as some have seen from Fort Belknap's existing commercial herd. They have seen it before and have not, they feel, been adequately compensated.

FWP's co-defendants argued at a hearing that these new agreements would offer these landowners more protections than they currently have, with policies on fence standards and a promise that FWP will remove escaped bison, killing them if necessary, especially particularly troublesome ones.

Blaine County ranchers at the April hearing said they fear the implications of these new bison being classified as wildlife, as opposed to the commercial livestock designation given to bison currently on the reservation. They were concerned that they would be legally prevented from capturing escaped wild bison.