ASSOCIATED PRESS
BILLINGS –
An appeals court revived a lawsuit filed by an environmental law firm that
challenged the U.S. government’s management of bison from Yellowstone National
Park.
The decision
by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower court ruling from
February that dismissed the lawsuit from the Cottonwood Environmental Law
Center.
A
three-judge appellate panel said Dec. 23 that by allowing hunting and hazing of
bison, the federal government had taken actions that were a valid target of the
lawsuit. The panel returned the case to U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon for
further proceedings.
Under a 2000
agreement between Montana and U.S. officials, bison leaving
Yellowstone during their winter migration are hunted, captured for slaughter or
hazed back into the park to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis.
