GAO finds fault with the implementation of Yellowstone Bison Management Plan

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report made public last week confirms that the federal and state agencies are severely limited in their ability to effectively manage the Yellowstone National Park bison population. In October 2006, House Natural Resource Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall and Rep. Maurice Hinchey asked the GAO to update and expand the 2000 Interagency Bison Management Plan. More than 3,000 bison have been slaughtered since the adoption of the IBMP in 2000; 1,160 bison have been slaughtered in 2008 alone. The GAO report “makes it clear that all federal and state agencies involved in managing Yellowstone’s bison need to work more cooperatively and in a more transparent fashion,” Hinchey said.