[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 46 (Thursday, April 17, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 MANAGEMENT POLICIES CURRENTLY IN PRACTICE AT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

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                          HON. JAMES V. HANSEN

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 17, 1997

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to draw my colleague's attention to 
an article on the management policies currently in practice at 
Yellowstone National Park written by Montana Representative Rick Hill. 
Rick invites us to give some serious reflection about the role and 
condition of Yellowstone and its future stewardship. Recent testimony 
in the Parks Subcommittee indicates that the park is badly overgrazed. 
The impact of this mismanagement goes way beyond the overpopulation of 
bison to impact the entire Yellowstone system. My friends our colleague 
has sounded the alarm, and I would ask you to take a few moments to 
read this article to gain a better appreciation of the current state of 
Yellowstone and the substantial problem we must address. I submit the 
article for the Record.

                    Opinion by Congressman Rick Hill

                          (February 28, 1997)

       This week Congress received more bad news about our beloved 
     Yellowstone Park: It's being ravaged by misguided 
     environmental policies. In testimony before the House 
     Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Dr. Charles Kay, 
     discussed his research that indicates many of the native 
     plants and animals in the park are being wiped out.
       How can this happen you ask in an area as carefully 
     monitored and managed as a national park? According to Kay, 
     it is those very management practices that have led to the 
     near disappearance of willow, beavers, berry shrubs, and mule 
     deer. Most alarming of all, is that even grizzly habitat, 
     which we are spending millions of dollars to expand in other 
     areas of Montana, is being allowed to dwindle within the 
     park. According to one study, there is now 100 times more 
     stream bank erosion on Yellowstone's denuded streams than on 
     the same willow-lined streams outside the park.
       It would seem only logical that the park service would 
     reassess the natural management program it has used over the 
     last 30 years, especially given the disastrous results of the 
     ``let-it-burn'' policy. However, we now are seeing the ``let-
     em-starve'' version of that same misguided thinking applied 
     to the animal population of the park.
       In questioning Park Director Roger Kennedy, during the 
     House hearing, the committee was told that this policy dates 
     back 30 years and that no one has made a conscious decision 
     how the bison will be managed. It is clear from the park 
     director's testimony and meetings with Secretary Babbitt that 
     the Department of the Interior and the Park Service do not 
     consider their current management policy as a failure. Nor do 
     they have any immediate plans to change the policy despite 
     testimony that called it foolish and misguided.
       While Secretary Babbit continues to engage in finger 
     pointing, he is overseeing the systematic destruction of our 
     nation's oldest national park. In a letter to Governor 
     Racicot, Secretaries Babbitt and Glickman suggest three steps 
     to reach a solution. The first of these is an expansion of 
     the range for the bison. However, all parties agree that this 
     is not much more than a temporary band-aid. What do we do 
     when the bison have overgrazed the new range? Perhaps the 
     secretary sees all of Montana as the eventual range of the 
     bison? Their second proposal is that we control the size of 
     the herd. We all agree the size needs to be controlled, but 
     again there is no willingness on the part of the Department 
     of the Interior to take the actions necessary to control herd 
     size. In a meeting with Montana's delegation Babbit refused 
     to commit to any action that would result in a reduced herd 
     size. Their third step is to eliminate Brucellosis. Once 
     again there is total agreement on the need to eliminate this 
     most serious disease. However, Babbitt flatly refuses to 
     discuss even testing for the disease or a systematic 
     vaccination program. It is hard to see how Brucellosis can be 
     eliminated without either testing or vaccination.
       No one is advocating the wholesale slaughter of bison. 
     However, we cannot ignore the fact that over population which 
     leads to overgrazing is killing Yellowstone Park. For the 
     Department of the Interior to insist that nothing can be done 
     to control the size of the herd is irresponsible. Bison herds 
     at Moiese, Montana, have been successfully managed for years, 
     as was the herd we are discussing in Yellowstone Park up 
     until the change to hands-off management.
       What every Montanan knows and now many Americans also 
     realize from sensationalized news reports, is that Bison are 
     dying. Overlooked by most of these reports is the cause of 
     this ``slaughter.'' Until we turn the discussion to the 
     underlying cause of this problem, we will repeat this same 
     tragedy every few years. Our goal must be a complete 
     reassessment of management policy for Yellowstone Park. 
     Montanans and Congress need to prevail upon the National Park 
     service and the Secretary of the Interior to take action 
     immediately in order to stop this from happening again.

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