Public Bison Hunting in Wyoming

[klsm54]

The courts have cleared the way for Bison hunting on the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole. Too late for this year, but should continue for some time. Of course the courts had to pave the way through protests from the anti's.
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Published September 02, 2007

State plans to allow hunting of bison herd

By BEN NEARY




CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A federal judge has cleared the way for the state of Wyoming to hold a bison hunt at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole and officials say hunting could begin as soon as mid-September.

Doug Brimeyer, Jackson wildlife biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said Friday that the state plans to allow hunters to kill about 300 bison this fall. He said hunters had to apply early this year to be eligible for bison permits.

Brimeyer said the state ultimately plans to reduce the bison herd from its present size of more than 1,200 animals down to 400 or 500 over the next 5 to 7 years.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal earlier this month had called on Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to resolve a federal lawsuit that had been lingering since the 1990s so that hunting at the refuge could proceed.

The Fund for Animals filed the lawsuit in 1998 claiming federal agencies had failed to conduct adequate environmental analysis of hunting. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington, D.C., agreed with that argument.

As a result of the lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was forced to conduct an environmental study addressing management of the refuge. The study was recently completed. Relying on the study, the federal agency asked the state to hold a bison hunt on the refuge.

However, wrapping up the lawsuit required resolving a dispute over legal expenses between the Fund for Animals and the federal government. In the settlement agreement, the federal government agreed to pay the Fund for Animals more than $68,000 to cover fees and costs.

Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank said Friday that Judge Urbina signed off on a final settlement on Monday.

"We're glad that they did that, and that we can begin to reduce some of those bison numbers up there," Crank said. "There are far too many bison up there in a very kind of fragile area."

Crank said he believes Freudenthal's request to the federal government to resolve the lawsuit spurred resolution of the issue.

Jonathan Lovvorn, lawyer for the Fund for Animals, said Friday that although his group agreed to termination of the case, it still opposes hunting bison on the refuge.

[Purebred Redneck]

People better start putting in applications because it will probably be 50 years before you draw...

Surely this is limited to WY residents only???

[deputydon]

WHAT WE are paying the losing sides legal fees??? Thats B.S. Maybe if they paid they're own fees they wouldn't be sooooo quick to file!!!!!

[bounce]

I feel the same as D*D Paying for their sute is just not right!!!!!! It's worse than being feed bison SH_T!!!!

[klsm54]

I guess it's time to write our senators and representatives. The whole concept of the government paying the legal costs is something I can't comprehend.... ....The Fund for Animals filed the lawsuit.....they should pay....duh!.......

[Purebred Redneck]

Wait a minute

Read it (what very little info there is) very carefully. If read correctly, you'll understand why the government paid the legal fees --- because the goverment lost the court case claiming that a "adequate environmental analysis" was not taken.

As a result, the government settled (meaning lost) and did a "adequate environmental analysis" and payed the court fees for the winning side.

This is a very common thing.
While you guys don't agree with the outcome, I just don't think you guys read it right.

[klsm54]

After re-reading the article, you may have something, Red...

But.... I still think it is a bullshit lawsuit. We're talking about a buffalo hunt here, not a freakin' open pit mine. Evironmental study? ... ......the study probably cost taxpayers 2-3 times what the legal fes did. What environmental risks are there in a bison hunt?......

[Purebred Redneck]

It's a matter of "are the numbers of buffalo higher than they should be relative to the amount of food available"

I think the issue is a very big deal --- and has merit going back 100 years in protecting the number of wild buffalo. This particular herd in as little as 5 years could be knocked down to a 1/3 of what it presently is. And with only 400 buffalo, what would happen during a record winter You could have as few as 100 survive. And then for the next 20 years the state will be working to get the numbers back up.

I don't know a thing about the National Elk Refuge in terms of size. However, I believe there should be an solid environmental study done by the government to see what numbers the herd really needs to be at.

[klsm54]

Obviosly there had been a study done, that why they wanted a season... Just because the study wasn't up to bunny hugger standards doesn't make it invalid. These whacko's kill me, they want the public to believe that state wildlife agencies are out to make wildlife extinct.. ...That doesn't make much sense as there would then be no need for a wildlife agency.

The whacko's made Pennsylvania do an environmental study when they wanted to rebuild the restrooms in a state park campground. Why? Get this, to make sure they didn't harm habitat deemed ideal for some endangered bat species. Oh, did I forget to mention that the species of bat is not, nor never was, a native of Pennsylvania.... And, there are tens of thousands of acres of the same habitat within the state, all barren of the phantom bats. Freakin' ridiculous.

[Purebred Redneck]

I can very well see it as a political stunt by ranchers, the city, and the pro-hunting industry to get the season or to at least push the season.

If a hunt is political (which it ussually is when opening up special seasons such as this), I think there needs to be an official evaluation by the state in the public eye as opposed to what could be a halfass study done by the state in which they knew what the results were going to be in the first place because they already signed up for the idea.

I obvouisly haven't seen anything regarding the case. It's obvouisly been a long legal battle that made it's way to the US district court. This kinda tells me though that the Cody or the state didn't have everything worked out in the first place though

[bounce]

I can emagin the folk in Cody geting a little worked up when city folk want to tell them what is in their and the buffalo best inerest. Don't take much study to tell when an area of land is over graized and over populated.

[klsm54]

Right on , Bounce. .. .. The fact that the study, forced by the bunny huggers, only proved what the wildlife department had already known, and stated, should have negated any monetary claims by the FFA... If there is any "politickin" in this case it was by the anti's. Thank goodness the hunt is going forward, maybe it was worth the money, even if it is highway robbery.

[Purebred Redneck]

Groups challenge bison hunt
By WHITNEY ROYSTER
Star-Tribune environmental reporter Friday, September 21, 2007



JACKSON -- Two groups and an individual are calling on the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and National Elk Refuge to suspend a bison hunt on the refuge that began Saturday.

The Animal Welfare Institute, Buffalo Field Campaign and Walt Farmer, a Teton County resident, sent an 11-page letter to refuge Manager Steve Kallin and Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland Tuesday challenging the legality of the bison hunt. The parties said if the hunt was not suspended, they "will evaluate alternative means of forcing the agencies to address these issues."

D.J. Schubert, wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute, said the groups wanted to submit the letter earlier but were delayed in part because information about the hunt was not available until recently.

Levi Martin, senior assistant attorney general for Wyoming and counsel for Game and Fish, said his office received the letter Tuesday and is reviewing it.

"After reviewing it, we are going to determine what action, if any, needs to be taken," he said. He did not know how long a review would take.

The groups cited seven reasons questioning the legality of the hunt. They said the number of bison eyed for hunting -- 300 -- was excessive and arbitrary, and went beyond an environmental review of the herd calling for 140 to 150 bison killed annually.

Earlier this year, a bison and elk management plan for the Jackson Hole area was released, calling for a bison population of 500 animals -- down from 1,200 there now.

"Though the (record of decision) does not specify how many bison can be killed by hunters on the NER per year, it also does not provide any authorization for the agencies to arbitrarily increase the bison kill rate beyond that disclosed and evaluated in the" analysis, the groups said.

"The AWI, BFC, and Mr. Farmer oppose the sport hunting of any bison on the NER," the letter said. "However, if the agencies deem a reduction in population size necessary, they should be mindful that there are less cruel alternatives available for meeting this goal. At a minimum, the agencies are obligated to restructure this year's hunt to terminate bison hunting on the NER if or when 150 bison have been killed."

The groups also said the hunt was authorized before Game and Fish set a bison herd objective. The agency has said work to set that objective will begin later this year.

"By not engaging in this review before initiating a hunt, the WGFD is clearly predetermining the outcome of the process and making a mockery of the public participation phase inherent to the decision-making exercise," the letter said.

Martin said allegations made against the Game and Fish Department "appear to be missing some facts."

The groups also questioned the legality of the hunt expansion area, the duration of the bison hunt, and the fairness and ethics of the hunt in their letter. They also repeatedly hammered the agencies for a feeding program which they say artificially keeps bison populations high.

Refuge managers have said they do not want to feed bison, but can't push them off of feedlines.

So far, the hunt on the refuge has seen one bull and one cow bison killed. There have been five bulls and six cows killed in total on the refuge and neighboring national forest land this year.

There are three two-week periods for hunters to kill animals on the refuge. The first started Saturday. Agency officials have said they will wait to see the results of the first six weeks of hunting before determining how and if to continue.

Environmental reporter

[klsm54]

It is nigh on impossible to do anything these days without some whacked out weird-o's from the fringes of our society trying to stir up trouble.... It's too damn bad that the whole bunch of huggers don't get caught in a buffalo stampede... That might change their ideas about having a hunt. At least for those who lived through it....

What the general public doesn't realize about these animal rights groups is, for the most part they put animal wefare above human wefare. In many cases they value the life of a freakin' ground squirrel over that of a human.... Once again the "ME" generation has to stick their big fat noses into something that should be of no concern to them. Nobody is planning on shooting any bunny huggers during the bison hunt, nor is there any plan to eradicate the bison herd. Maybe hunters should band together and demonstrate at every restaurant that serves tofu. I think that turkey hunters should demand a halt to the production of tofurkey, it is an insult to the real birds...

[Purebred Redneck]

Sad part is --- I still agree with them...