By Becky Bohrer
Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. — A federal judge on Thursday ordered a halt to livestock grazing on a stretch of land on Yellowstone National Park's western border until the U.S. Forest Service studies how the activity affects bison that leave the park.

U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina adopted the recommendation made by a federal magistrate earlier this month.

Conservation groups called the decision a big win in their effort to stop cattle grazing on a stretch of land known as the Horse Butte area, an area near West Yellowstone, Mont., that is frequently used by bison that leave the park each winter in search of food.

Fears that the bison may spread the disease brucellosis to cattle herds in the area led to a management plan that sometimes calls for the capture and killing of infected bison, a practice many conservation groups oppose.

"With this ruling, there should be no reason to continue killing bison," said Michael Scott, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. "It sends the message that the public's land is available for the public's wildlife."

The ruling "basically gives the bison some breathing room," attorney Doug Honnold with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund said Thursday. "It removes any justification and any arguments — any basis — for bison hazing and slaughter on federal lands in the Horse Butte area."

Rich Inman, deputy supervisor of the Gallatin National Forest, said the agency would comply with the injunction. He said the district ranger met Thursday with the grazing permit holders to discuss the order.

A coalition of conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice, sued the Forest Service last year. They argued the Forest Service never completed a required environmental assessment before re-issuing a 10-year grazing permit for the Horse Butte allotment.

The Forest Service argued its environmental review was delayed by a backlog but would be completed. The agency argued it was required to re-issue the permit in the meantime.

In his order, the Washington, D.C., judge agreed with the magistrate's findings that the Forest Service did not meet its required deadline to complete the study.

Inman said the environmental review on the roughly 2,000-acre allotment is underway and expected to be completed by 2004.

Conservation groups say cattle grazing in Horse Butte is the main reason bison that leave the park and enter Montana each winter are captured and sometimes killed.

Many bison in Yellowstone carry the disease brucellosis, which can cause pregnant cows to abort. Ranchers fear bison that leave the park will spread the disease to their cattle herds.

Under a joint state-federal management plan, officials try to keep the bison and cattle apart. Bison that cannot be hazed into the park are captured and tested for brucellosis, with those testing positive being sent to slaughter.

May 31, 2002

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