By LawInspectsYellowstone Bison Herd Lawsuit involves the National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park and the state of Montana. The lawsuit concerns the bison management plan adopted by the Yellowstone National Park which faces opposition from the state of Montana. Purpose of the lawsuit filed by the Governor of Montana and other state agencies is to halt the implementation of the bison management plant by the Yellowstone National Park.
While the state is opposing the bison management plan, the National Park Service and Yellowstone National Park are firmly backing the plan which, they claim, has been adopted after a careful study of the bison population and the surrounding habitat. While the state of Montana wants YNP to cap its bison population at 3000, the new plan allows for twice that number. Currently, the lawsuit is pending in a district court in the city of Helena, Montana.
Features of the Bison Management Plan
In July 2024, National Park Service announced that it had adopted a new bison management plan for the Yellowstone National Park to replace the plan which had been in effect since the year 2000. The NPS also said that the new plan was a culmination of an environmental review process started in the year 2022, and takes new scientific information and changed circumstances into account.
The new plan directs the wildlife managers of the Yellowstone National Park to focus on bringing and maintaining the bison herd in the range of 3500 to 6000 animals. Furthermore, the new plan also gives greater flexibility to the bison herd to roam beyond the tolerance zone of the park along its northern and western edges.
Facts about the Lawsuit
In December 2024, the Governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, the Montana Department of Livestock and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks filed a lawsuit in a US District Court against the new bison management plan adopted by the NPS. In a statement announcing the lawsuit, the Governor criticized the manner in which the NPS developed the new bison management plan and called it a case of federal overreach. Governor Gianforte and other state agencies are being represented by five attorneys.
The lawsuit alleges that the National Park Service did not engage in meaningful and transparent consultations with the state of Montana throughout the planning process, in violation of federal laws. Furthermore, the lawsuit also raised concerns that a larger bison herd, as per the plan, would damage the landscape on the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, and undermine the efforts undertaken by the state of Montana to protect livestock from bison infected with brucellosis.
Essentially, the lawsuit wants the district court to stay the implementation of the plan and direct the park administrators to draft a new plan. The state of Montana also wants a more rigorous review of the expansion plan of the bison herd beyond 3000.
Defendants named in the lawsuit are National Park Service and its director Charles Sams, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly, US Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
Position of NPS and YNP
National Park Service and Yellowstone National Park have maintained that the 2024 plan is sound from the scientific and conservation point of view. On the allegations of non-consultation, it has been pointed out that the state administration was given the opportunity to present its own alternative in April 2019, but the state declined that offer.
On the concerns over brucellosis transmission raised in the lawsuit, the YNP Superintendent Cam Sholly has maintained that the current plan allows for successful spatial and temporal separation between bison and cattle outside the park, thereby leading to zero brucellosis transmissions.
Current status of the lawsuit
Yellowstone Bison Herd Lawsuit is listed for hearing on April 7, 2025 at Paul Hatfield Federal Courthouse in Helena, Montana. The matter would be presided over by US District Court Judge Brian Morris.