American Notes Montana

Protected by the strictest of game laws, the bison population in Yellowstone National Park has increased to an unwieldy 2,000 head, a record number and a growing problem for park wildlife managers. When the Montana legislature passed a law allowing seven months of tightly regulated public hunting of Yellowstone buffalo that forage across the state line, animal rights activists became incensed. Said Rancher Ed Francis of Corwin Springs: "The animals are very dumb, and they just stand there and allow people to kill them. There's no sport to it."

Montana acted ostensibly to keep livestock free of brucellosis, or Bang's disease, which has been detected in some Yellowstone buffalo. The disorder can cause cows to abort, and spreads undulant fever in humans. Critics say Montana has not suffered an outbreak of brucellosis for 25 years, and that the kill is being held to please the hunting fraternity and cover up herd mismanagement by the Park Service. While the Fund for Animals, headed by Author Cleveland Amory, is suing to prevent the hunt, the state has more than 3,000 applications from hunters eager to shoot the once endangered beasts.