(Article updated with additional reporting from MTN Senior Political Reporter Jonathon Ambarian.)
A new lawsuit filed by Gov. Greg Gianforte and two state agencies is challenging the bison management plan adopted by Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in July 2024.
A press release from the Office of the Governor says Gianforte, the Montana Department of Livestock, and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks are suing to halt implementation of the plan. They argue the plan would undermine the state’s attempts to manage conflicts with bison and that the federal government hadn’t given Montana a reasonable opportunity to participate in the planning process.
The complainants further allege that the adoption of the plan by the National Park Service (NPS) violates several federal laws. The release says the state has raised concerns about the bison management plan since NPS first announced it was drafting a plan in 2022.
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“The National Park Service has repeatedly and consistently failed to engage with the State in a meaningful and transparent manner as required by law throughout the planning process,” Gov. Gianforte stated in the release. “NPS has not given us a fair shake and has ignored concerns raised by the State. We will always defend our state from federal overreach.”
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the National Park Service and its director Charles Sams and YNP Superintendent Cam Sholly are all named as defendants in the case.
In July, NPS announced it had adopted a new bison management plan after an environmental review process that started in 2022. They said it would allow them to address new scientific information and changed circumstances since the last plan was adopted in 2000.
The new plan calls for managing the Yellowstone bison herd at between 3,500 and 6,000 animals. It drew immediate criticism from state leaders, who said they wanted the herd managed at around 3,000 animals—the population size included in the 2000 plan.
In its lawsuit, the Gianforte administration claimed a larger herd threatens to damage the landscape on Yellowstone’s northern range and to threaten Montana’s efforts to protect livestock from bison infected with brucellosis. They said the review process was rushed and left Montana with too little time to provide input on the proposed options.
Gianforte had made previous claims of a lack of cooperation from NPS and Yellowstone in a July letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in which he wrote, "YNP has avoided substantive, collaborative discussions with the State’s scientists and technical advisors at every turn."
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YNP Superintendent Cam Sholly spoke with MTN News in July and addressed Gov. Gianforte's claims, maintaining that Montana was not being shut out.
“I offered for the state to present its own alternative that we would include in the analysis. That didn't happen,” he said.
Sholly said that the park was doing enough to stop bison from spreading brucellosis and that keeping the population at 3,000 bison as the state wanted could threaten the herd.
To read the full text of the state's complaint, click here.
The final bison plan adopted by NPS in July was the second among three alternatives that were considered. More than 27,000 comments were received during the 2023 public comment period, according to NPS.
