I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2136

To provide for the management, containment, and elimination of brucellosis

from the Yellowstone area, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 1995

Mr. WILLIAMS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture,

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for the management, containment, and elimination of brucellosis from the Yellowstone area, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bison Management

5 Improvement Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that:
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1 (1) The natural resources of Yellowstone Na2 tional Park are unique to the world, and the free3 ranging wildlife found within and adjacent to the

4 park, including bison and elk, are of significant eco5 nomic, recreational, and esthetic value to the Amer6 ican people.

7 (2) The livestock industry is vital to the econ8 omy, culture, and lifestyle of the Yellowstone area.

9 (3) The ability of livestock producers in Mon10 tana, Wyoming, and Idaho to freely market cattle is

11 jeopardized by uncertainty concerning the applica12 tion of the Uniform Methods and Rules of the Na13 tional Brucellosis Eradication Program and by ac14 tions of other States.

15 (4) The containment and eventual elimination

16 of the disease brucellosis in the Yellowstone area is

17 important to the maintenance of State livestock-de18 pendent economies.

19 (5) Better scientific information is needed re20 garding the etiology of Brucella abortus in wildlife,

21 the potential for containment and eventual elimi22 nation of the disease, and the potential for trans23 mission between wildlife and domestic livestock.

24 (6) Bison are of significant cultural and spir25 itual value to Native Americans, and preservation
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1 and restoration of buffalo to tribal lands is impor2 tant.

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

4 The purposes of this Act are to—

5 (1) provide a comprehensive framework to ad6 dress plans for the containment and eventual elimi7 nation of brucellosis from the Yellowstone area by

8 the year 2010;

9 (2) recognize the cultural, spiritual, and eco10 nomic value of bison to Native Americans and to

11 promote the restoration of these animals to tribal

12 lands;

13 (3) to support, promote, and coordinate sci14 entific research related to the management necessary

15 to achieve containment and eventual elimination of

16 brucellosis from the Yellowstone area;

17 (4) to provide economic stability to the livestock

18 producers in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming by es19 tablishing criteria and regulatory guidelines for such

20 management;

21 (5) assure that brucellosis related management

22 recommendations and decisions are based on defen23 sible and factual scientific information; and

24 (6) to ensure that Yellowstone wildlife are man25 aged in a manner that allows bison and other
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1 ungulates to range across jurisdictional boundaries

2 on public lands in the Yellowstone area.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this Act:

5 (1) The term ‘‘Yellowstone area’’ means the

6 area consisting of the lands, water, and interests

7 therein within the area generally depicted on the

8 map entitled ‘‘Boundary Map’’, numbered

9 , and dated . The map

10 shall be on file and available for public inspection in

11 the offices of the Animal Plant Health Inspection

12 Service, United States Department of Agriculture

13 and the National Park Service, Department of the

14 Interior. The Secretaries may from time to time

15 make minor revisions in the boundary of the natural

16 area to promote management effectiveness and effi17 ciency in the furtherance of this Act.

18 (2) The term ‘‘brucellosis’’ means a disease

19 which causes abortion in cattle and some other

20 ungulates as a result of infection by Brucella abor21 tus.

22 (3) The term ‘‘Yellowstone Interagency Brucel23 losis Committee’’ means the committee established

24 by States of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, and the

25 United States Department of Agriculture and the
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1 United States Department of the Interior, signato2 ries to a Memorandum of Understanding.

3 (4) The term ‘‘surplus bison’’ means popu4 lations, subpopulations, or individual bison that are

5 located on or may enter on to private property

6 against the wishes of the landowner, come into con7 tract with or intermingle with the lawfully present

8 livestock on public lands, or that have exceeded the

9 numbers allowed under planning documents for dis10 crete geographic areas.

11 (5) The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ means the Sec12 retary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte13 rior.

14 SEC. 5. YELLOWSTONE BRUCELLOSIS FREE MANAGEMENT

15 AREA.

16 For the purposes of protecting exceptional wildlife

17 and agricultural values, providing for better management

18 of Yellowstone National Park bison herds, and providing

19 a comprehensive approach to the management, contain20 ment, and eventual elimination of brucellosis from the Yel21 lowstone area, there is hereby established the Yellowstone

22 Brucellosis Free Management Area. This area is defined

23 in section 4 as ‘‘Yellowstone area’’.
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1 SEC. 6. POWERS AND DUTIES OF SECRETARIES.

2 (a) WITHIN YELLOWSTONE BRUCELLOSIS FREE

3 MANAGEMENT AREA.—Within the Yellowstone Brucellosis

4 Free Management Area, the Secretaries are authorized

5 and directed to develop joint bison and elk management

6 plans with the respective States of Montana, Wyoming,

7 and Idaho. Such plans shall provide for temporal and spa8 tial separation of bison from lawfully present cattle on

9 public lands unless the Secretary of Agriculture deter10 mines that currently available vaccination programs pro11 vide sufficient protection from Brucella abortus and that

12 cattle and bison can be present on the same lands concur13 rently. These plans shall allow for the seasonal migration

14 of elk and bison populations.

15 (b) TRANSPORT OF BISON TO TRIBAL LANDS.—The

16 Secretary of Agriculture shall develop plans and protocols

17 that will allow quarantine of surplus bison and following

18 quarantine transportation of such bison to tribal lands.

19 (c) WILDLIFE POPULATIONS.—The Secretary of Ag20 riculture shall develop and implement plans in cooperation

21 with the respective States for the elimination of Brucella

22 abortus from the wildlife populations of the Yellowstone

23 area. Such plans shall recognize the high public value as24 sociated with free-ranging ungulate herds.

25 (d) USE OF YELLOWSTONE INTERAGENCY BRUCEL26 LOSIS COMMITTEE.—Notwithstanding the Federal Advi-
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1 sory Committee Act, the Secretaries may use the Yellow2 stone Interagency Brucellosis Committee, or any of its

3 subcommittees, to develop the plans and recommendations

4 necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act.

5 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Based on the best scientific infor7 mation available, the Secretary of Agriculture is author8 ized, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Interior,

9 to prescribe regulations necessary to carry out the pur10 poses and objectives of this Act.

11 (b) FACTORS.—In prescribing such regulations, the

12 Secretaries shall give full consideration to all factors which

13 affect the important ecological relationships of wildlife in

14 the Yellowstone area and the need to provide market sta15 bility for cattle producers, including but not limited to—

16 (1) providing reasonable and achievable trans17 portation protocols for the transportation, quar18 antine, and restoration of bison to Native American

19 lands;

20 (2) the need to provide the States of Montana,

21 Idaho, and Wyoming reasonable assurances regard22 ing their Class-Free Brucellosis Status and reduce

23 any unfair market barriers imposed by other States

24 as a result of free-ranging bison; and
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1 (3) provide special rules under the National

2 Brucellosis Eradication Program that preserves the

3 Class-Free Brucellosis Status for Montana, Idaho,

4 and Wyoming outside of the Yellowstone area while

5 recognizing the special needs and considerations

6 within the Yellowstone Brucellosis Free Management

7 Area.

8 SEC. 8. RESEARCH AUTHORIZATION.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall

10 undertake a program of research through the Agricultural

11 Research Service to understand the etiology of Brucella

12 abortus in wild ungulate populations, brucellosis trans13 mission from wild ungulates to domestic livestock, and to

14 develop safe, effective vaccines and delivery systems that

15 will prevent the transmission of the disease between

16 ungulate species and ultimately eliminate the organism

17 from the Yellowstone area.

18 (b) GRANTS AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec19 retary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior are

20 authorized to make grants, or to provide financial assist21 ance in such other form as they deem appropriate, to any

22 Federal or State agency, public or private institution, or

23 other person for the purpose of assisting such agency, in24 stitution, or person to undertake research in subjects
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1 which are relevant to the management and elimination of

2 the disease brucellosis from the Yellowstone area.

3 SEC. 9. DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS BISON.

4 (a) GENERAL AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretaries

5 shall work with the States and Indian tribes in the man6 agement and disposition of bison determined by the Sec7 retary of the Interior to be surplus bison.

8 (b) FACILITIES.—The Secretaries are authorized to

9 construct temporary or permanent handling, capture,

10 quarantine, or testing facilities on or adjacent to Federal

11 lands. Such facilities shall be subject to full compliance

12 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the

13 Endangered Species Act of 1973, and applicable State

14 laws.

15 (c) DONATION, SALE, OR DISPOSAL OF BISON.—

16 (1)(A) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized in his

17 discretion under such conditions as he may prescribe to

18 give bison to Federal, State, county, and municipal au19 thorities for zoos, parks, or equivalent public purposes.

20 The Secretary may provide surplus bison to Native Amer21 ican tribes, tribal cooperatives, or other tribal organiza22 tions as he may prescribe.

23 (B) The transportation costs associated with receiv24 ing elk or bison under subparagraph (A) shall be recovered

25 from the benefiting organization.
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1 (2) The Secretary may sell or otherwise dispose of

2 bison under such conditions as he may prescribe and all

3 monies received from the sale of any such surplus bison

4 shall be credited to the appropriation current at the time

5 to offset management costs.

6 SEC. 10. USE AND ACQUISITION OF LANDS.

7 Within the Yellowstone area, the Secretaries may ac8 quire lands or interest in lands for the purpose of carrying

9 out the provisions of this Act, including lands for han10 dling, capturing, testing, quarantining, or transporting.

11 Acquisition or use is authorized by lease, cooperative

12 agreement, donation, purchase with donated, or appro13 priated funds.

14 SEC. 11. LIMITATION ON FEDERAL ACTION.

15 The Secretary of Agriculture shall take no action to

16 downgrade the Class-Free Brucellosis Status of the states

17 of Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho under the rules of the

18 National Brucellosis Eradication Program as long as the

19 Interim Bison Management Plan currently in effect and

20 bison and elk management plans currently under develop21 ment continue to provide adequate temporary and spatial

22 separation between bison, elk, and livestock.

23 SEC. 12. LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION.

24 No State shall impose requirements on livestock origi25 nating from Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho, that it does
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1 not impose on other States that have been designated Bru2 cellosis Class-Free as long as the United States Depart3 ment of Agriculture brucellosis free designation remains

4 in place.

5 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro7 priated to the Department of the Interior and the Depart8 ment of Agriculture such sums as are necessary to carry

9 out the purposes of this Act.

10 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Funds appropriated for planning

11 or research shall remain available until expended.

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