And now:Sonja Keohane <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: http://www3.gomontana.com/ By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer 12/18/1998 More bison hazed back to park The Montana Department of Livestock plans to keep hazing bison back into Yellowstone National Park as long as the weather allows, acting director Marc Bridges said this week. "We're going to haze until we can't haze any more," Bridges said. The department on Wednesday conducted its seventh hazing operation in the past several weeks in the West Yellowstone area. More than 500 animals have been chased into the park, though that doesn't mean there are 500 bison in the area, he said. Rather, many of the animals have been hazed several times. DOL has legal authority over wild bison that enter Montana. It maintains the creatures must be controlled -- and often killed -- because of fears they might spread the disease brucellosis to cattle. Bison advocates maintain the agency is wasting its time and endangering the animals unnecessarily. "There's no legitimate reason not to allow these bison to step out of the park," said Sue Nackoney, spokeswoman for Buffalo Nations, a protest group that is housing its members in a cabin north of West Yellowstone. She noted there are no cattle in the area at this time. "It's not about brucellosis," she maintained. "It's about who's got control of public lands and where public wildlife is allowed to go." Bridges noted that bison can wander long distances. In past years, some animals have traveled as far as the upper Madison Valley, in proximity to wintering cattle, before they were shot. "They are a migratory animal," Bridges said. "They used to migrate all over." He said his agency is trying to avoid killing bison. It recently received permission to build a bison trap on national forest land near Horse Butte, north of West Yellowstone. Bridges said the agency is now seeking construction bids and hopes to begin work in a week or two. Construction should take about one week, he said. While hazing is the agency's first option, weather may make the efforts futile. Deep snow, extreme cold and a lack of forage inside the park may lead to a decision to start trapping or shooting animals. After hazing, the second preference is trapping, followed by shooting bison in the field, Bridges said. Once trapping commences, animals will be tested for brucellosis. All pregnant animals and all animals testing positive for exposure to the disease will be sent to slaughter, according to the interim bison management plan now in place. Others will be marked, released and allowed to wander in the area until spring. Bridges said his agency intends to follow the plan to the letter. He also said the agency has asked the Forest Service to close about five acres around the trap to public access when operations begin. "It's for public safety, bison safety and personnel safety," he said. Last winter, Buffalo Nations members tried to disrupt DOL operations several times and a few people were arrested. The group has vowed to dog the agency again this winter. Yellowstone Assistant Superintendent Marv Jensen said earlier this week that bison have learned in recent years that pockets of good winter habitat exist outside the park along the western border. Though many of the animals that leave the park have been killed, survivors remember the area and return to it, he said, often bringing others with them.