Hunt will be good for state's bison

Montana's first bison hunt in 15 years appears to be going off well, without incidents or confrontations, and a good hunt could help bison in the long run.

How can a hunt be good for bison? Simply put, having Montana hunters vested in the Yellowstone herd will have benefits for a population that in recent years has been treated as a disease-carrying menace in Montana.

Eventually, bison will be helped by having hunters on their side. It was a good decision to call off last year's hunt because it involved permits for only 10 bison to be harvested over a relatively small area for a shorter period of time.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission wanted a hunt that would be more than a token management gesture. So the hunt was expanded to allow 50 bison to be harvested this fall and during a winter hunt. And depending on the herd's population, the number of permits issued is likely to grow in coming years.

To echo Schweitzer's sentiments, it is desirable to have a harvest that keeps the herd's population at a level that is sustainable, keeping in mind the reality that hard winters have proven to be the leading cause of death for Yellowstone bison. In short, management through hunting is expected to curb death by starvation.

Critics of Montana's policies toward bison management have been mainly concerned with the state Department of Livestock's practice of hazing or capturing bison and then putting them in quarantine or having them slaughtered.

The state's containment policies are based on a legitimate concern about bison spreading brucellosis to cattle, and thus compromising the disease-free status of the state's cattle industry. But it seems the state should be able to provide better solutions than that.

Critics want the state to pursue creative ways of separating cattle and bison in areas north of the park's boundaries to allow more tolerance for bison in Montana. The concept is not that far-fetched. And it would be even more plausible as more hunters provide license-supported research habitat and other management support from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.