Each year, bison following historic migration routes in search of food outside Yellowstone National Park are instead being stopped at the park boundary and shipped to slaughter because of a perceived but unproven risk that they will transfer the disease brucellosis to livestock. There is no evidence to back up this claim.

More than 1,400 animals were killed this winter, the largest number since the reckless slaughter of the late 1800s, which almost caused the extinction of these majestic animals.

Yet the winter ended on a positive note when Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer recently announced an agreement with landowners north of Yellowstone that will allow for limited numbers of bison to access lands north of the park starting next winter. That announcement is a huge step forward -- the biggest in more than a decade -- but much more needs to be done to ensure Yellowstone's bison are allowed to roam free outside the park in winter.

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office has shown that the overall plan to manage Yellowstone's bison needs to be revised if it is to meet its goal of providing for a free-ranging bison population. Meanwhile, there is an action that we can take right now to save at least some of the bison.

Congress must compel the agencies in charge of bison management to act now to update their plan to include science-based solutions such as vaccines and fencing. These agencies need to be held accountable for the lack of progress in this plan, which has kept Yellowstone's bison from roaming free outside the park.

Michael Berla

Wilde Lake

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