Primary
elections are over. Now, we move toward November elections that will
finalize members of the Montana legislature to meet early in 2021. It
will be a critical year, determining any future for restoring
public-trust, wild bison in our state, particularly on the Charles M.
Russell National Wildlife Refuge. The 2021 legislature could
extinguish any possibility for public, wild bison in Montana, with
little public awareness or input. With all the important competing
political issues currently facing the state and nation, the issue of
a bison future may be determined with little public understanding and
attention. It is therefore imperative that we begin now to stimulate
public discussion of the many issues, including truths and myths,
surrounding bison restoration.
We
have recently sent letters to each candidate for the Montana House of
Representatives and Senate, requesting them to consider the issue of
bison restoration and to promote public awareness and discussion. We
noted the following justifications for restoring public, wild bison
within the CMR Refuge:
The
Montana Constitution mandates preventing unreasonable degradation of
a natural resource, restoring historic, cultural and recreational
objects for use and enjoyment by the people, and preserving the
opportunity to harvest wild game. These mandates must include wild
bison.
The
national goal to restore and maintain genetically diverse plains
bison is severely constrained by not allowing bison on the CMR
Refuge, the largest federal refuge within the historic range of
plains bison. Moreover, the Refuge goal of restoring natural
biological processes cannot be fulfilled without bison restoration.
The Refuge plan welcomes the opportunity to work with Montana in
developing a plan and analysis for restoring wild bison on the
Refuge.
Polls
have shown that 70 percent of Montana voters support restoration of
bison on the CMR Refuge.
Legislative
guidelines protect and indemnify private property and resources in
any bison restoration project.
There
is a very large, unmet demand for hunting and harvesting bison in
Montana. (There were over 18,000 applications to harvest a bison near
Yellowstone Park in 2019.)
Restoring
a public-trust, wild bison herd within the CMR Refuge can enhance and
diversify economic opportunities in and near Phillips County.
Montana
Fish, Wildlife & Parks, with many years of diverse public
outreach and inputs, concluded in a Record of Decision that bison
management issues can be successfully addressed at a landscape scale
and therefore solicited site-specific proposals from Montana
citizens.
We
encourage our readers to challenge their political candidates to
address these issues in their election campaigns and in developing
platforms for November. An important part of our wildlife heritage
depends upon it.
Jim Bailey
