[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6665-6666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1574]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Record of Decision for Final Environmental Impact 
Statement and Bison Management Plan for the State of Montana and 
Yellowstone National Park

    The U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service and the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service and Forest Service have signed a Record of Decision (December 
20, 2000) on a Joint Management Plan for bison in Yellowstone National 
Park and Montana.
    The Plan is designed to preserve the largest wild, free-ranging 
population of bison in the United States while minimizing the risk of 
brucellosis disease transmission (between bison and cattle) to protect 
the economic interest and viability of the livestock industry in the 
State of Montana.
    While the Joint Management Plan is not intended to be a brucellosis 
eradication plan, it employs many tools to manage and reduce the 
potential risk of brucellosis transmission from bison to cattle. 
Limited numbers of bison will

[[Page 6666]]

be allowed on public lands outside the park during winter when cattle 
are not present. Bison will not be allowed to intermingle with cattle 
and will be hazed back into the park when the weather typically 
moderates in the spring (mid-April on the north side and mid-May on the 
west side). The agencies will capture or remove bison still remaining 
outside the park that cannot be hazed. Any possible risk to cattle will 
be further minimized before cattle are allowed to return to public 
lands by waiting a sufficient amount of time to ensure that the 
bacteria which causes the disease is no longer alive outside the park.
    The agencies will further manage the risk of transmission of 
brucellosis to cattle by limiting the number of bison outside the park 
in the north (Reese Creek) and west (West Yellowstone) management areas 
through intensive monitoring and hazing, and when necessary, capture, 
test, and slaughter of seropositive bison. Management activity will be 
increased as bison move toward the edges of management zones outside 
the park. The plan also provides that the agencies will maintain a 
spring bison population of up to 3,000 animals. The agencies also agree 
to increase implementation of non-lethal management measures should 
severe winter conditions result in a large management removal or 
natural winter die off.
    In an effort to further reduce the risk of transmission and protect 
cattle, the agencies will require vaccination if 100% of all 
vaccination-eligible cattle in north and west management zones are not 
vaccinated within one year. APHIS will pay for all direct vaccination 
costs. Allowing untested bison outside the park in the north and west 
boundary management zones will begin after the agencies have had 
experience with seronegative bison in certain areas outside the park 
during winter and when the National Park Service initiates vaccination 
of bison with a safe and effective vaccine utilizing a safe remote 
delivery system inside the park.
    With the implementation of this plan, the federal agencies and the 
State of Montana recognize that bison are an essential component of the 
greater Yellowstone ecosystem and that the cooperation of several 
agencies is needed to fully manage the herd to reduce the risk of 
transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle and maintain a wild, 
free-ranging population of Yellowstone bison.
    The Joint Management Plan, included in the Record of Decision, is a 
slightly altered version of the existing plan presented in the federal 
agencies' final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The State of 
Montana incorporated and adopted the federal agencies' FEIS into its 
own FEIS for bison management and has recently signed their Record of 
Decision, which implements the same Joint Management Plan as the 
federal agencies.
    A copy of the Record of Decision on Bison Management for 
Yellowstone National Park and the State of Montana can be obtained via 
the internet by visiting the National Park Service web site at http://www.nps.gov/planning or by calling (307) 344-2159.

Jack Neckels,
Acting Director, Intermountain Region.
[FR Doc. 01-1574 Filed 1-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P