Second Herd Negative for Brucellosis

Well, the second herd of cattle near Emigrant <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/05/24/news/state/25-brucellosis.txt">tested all negative for Brucellosis</a>. This allows me to breathe a small sigh of relief. Small I say. They are still testing cattle around the affected herds in Bridger so we could still see problems there so a big sigh of relief is not applicable. <br />n<br />nThis still doesn't solve the problem of the Feds killing the affected herd for no reason but I can't do much about that. There is rumblings that the herd affected in Bridger is a purebred breeder that sells bulls and that anybody that bought bulls from him in the past 5 years is going to have their herd tested too. That could be a lot of cattle. That means a lot of chances for a second herd to come up positive and give us problems in Montana.<br />n<br />nEven though Montana has not lost its Brucellosis free status because of this situation, <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/05/24/news/state/30-scrutiny.txt">North Dakota has instituted a policy like we have lost our status</a> and is going to require testing of cattle or bison being imported into their state from Montana. It won't surprise me if more of this comes down the line. Is it right that ND is doing this even though we haven't lost our brucellosis free status? No, but I can under stand why they are doing it. States are very scared of losing their brucellosis free status and are going to do everything they can to protect it. It's going to cost Montana cattle producers but we have no control over what other states do so we are stuck dealing with their rules.<br />n<br />nGovernor Brian Schweitzer has made a list of ideas and recommendations for dealing with the reservoir of Brucellosis that is Yellowstone National Park.<br />n<br />n<blockquote><strong> Continue to hunt bison as a bison management tool. Montana joins<br />nAlaska, Arizona, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming in managing bison<br />nthrough hunting.<br />n<br />n</strong> Maintain better separation between bison and the approximately 700<br />nunits of cattle near the Park in order to protect the status of the 2.5<br />nmillion head of cattle throughout the rest of the state.<br />n<br />n<strong> Establish a small, specialized area near the Park where stricter<br />nmanagement protocols for cattle would be applied-100% test in, 100% test<br />nout. In exchange, <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym>-APHIS would agree that Montana would not lose<br />nits brucellosis-free status should two herds become infected inside that<br />ndesignated area. The intent is not to increase the area where bison may<br />nwander outside the Park, but instead to better manage cattle in the<br />narea, and to utilize geography to control bison from December to March,<br />nwhen they are commonly on the move. Beyond this area a "drop dead" zone<br />nwould exist as it does now. Each spring, all bison would still be moved<br />nback into the Park.<br />n<br />n</strong> Negotiate grazing leases with private landowners near the Park that<br />ncompensate them for grazing only non-ruminant animals until brucellosis<br />nis eradicated-or even permanent purchase of grazing rights or other<br />nmanagement agreements that landowners find reasonable. Whatever the<br />nmechanism, agreements would be voluntary, and the federal government<br />nwould need to provide fair-plus compensation. The amount of private<br />nland involved likely would not exceed 9,000 or 10,000 acres. Montana<br />nhas 94 million total acres, so the area in question would make up about<br />none ten-thousandth of the land area of the state. For perspective, that<br />nis an area the size of New York City on a map of the lower 48 states.<br />nTo these ends, the state has been involved in productive negotiations<br />nwith Royal Teton Ranch, the largest cattle operation on the north side<br />nof the Park. <br />n<br />n* Fund further research into a more effective brucellosis vaccine, and<br />ninto more effective vaccine delivery methods. The Park Service has<br />nrecently completed studies confirming the efficacy of remote vaccine<br />ndelivery, but vaccine effectiveness lags. RB51 is credited with 65-70%<br />neffectiveness in cattle. Novel vaccines exist, including "RB51-plus,"<br />ndeveloped at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary<br />nMedicine, and "Strain 82," developed at the All-Russian Veterinary<br />nInstitute. <acronym title="United States Department of Agriculture, Bought and Paid for by The Big Meat Packers">USDA</acronym> funding for the National Brucellosis Eradication<br />nProgram should be prioritized for further research for bison, cattle,<br />nand elk. Ongoing quarantine studies should continue as well. The<br />nfederal government must provide the resources necessary to dramatically<br />nspeed up disease research and development. </blockquote><br />n<br />nI have to admit this are pretty good ideas but getting the Federal Government to buy into it will be very tough. They don't want a separate management area for Brucellosis. That would complicate their life. The park Service doesn't want to take responsibility for controlling the Brucellosis problem in the park so they don't want to look at a vaccination program or figuring out to use one. The items that the Governor has control over he is working on but these items under Federal control he is powerless to do anything about. It will be interesting to see where this goes.<br />n<br />nI have come across an interesting theory as to how the cows got Brucellosis in the first place. It's <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/h/blogs/outdoors/?p=654">because of the wolves</a>.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>It’s the wolves fault. Anyone can see that.<br />nThe recent outbreak of brucellosis, which probably can’t be traced to bison or elk migrating out of Yellowstone National Park, is being caused by wolves eating infected afterbirth and then crapping near where cattle are grazing.<br />nRemember, the wolves were introduced by the feds. This is their way of getting cattle away from Yellowstone so they can create a huge buffalo commons.</blockquote><br />n<br />nQuite the conspiracy theory.<br />n<br />n<strong>News is history shot on the wing. The huntsmen from the Fourth Estate seek to bag only the peacock or the eagle of the swifting day. Gene Fowler</strong>