| Objectives Principles
Newsletter
Board
of Directors
Links
Contact
us
Home
Page
|
 |
I attended the July 21-22
Board of Livestock meetings. There was some good news. The Board and
all public attendees, including Montana Stockgrowers Association and
Montana Cattlemens Association, agreed to a split state or hot spot
status and that outdated Federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service brucellosis rules need to change. This thinking and agreement
is long overdue.
Now the very bad news. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is planning
to capture and test elk in District 314 of the Yellowstone Valley,
near the brucella discovery, as soon as FWP finds a funding source.
This is unacceptable.
Allowing FWP or the Department of Livestock to capture and test elk
will only balloon into a never-ending elk slaughtering money pit.
Wyoming is currently capturing, testing, and slaughtering elk. Montana
cannot take this road. All this is a waste of a valuable public wildlife
resource and the money to fund it that would be better spent on wildife,
elk or bison habitat just to satisfy outdated APHIS regulations on
containing brucellosis and the blessing of other state vets.
Current APHIS brucellosis regulations cause far more economic loss
to Montana , Wyoming, and Idaho's livestock industry and our public
wildife resource than the disease itself. We pasteurize cow's milk
and the meat of brucella-infected beef, elk and bison is more than
safe to eat. The risk to human health from brucella is not what it
once was.
Montana, WYoming,and Idaho must convince APHIS to update its regulation
on brucellosis.
Call Gov. Brian Scheitzer at (406)-444-3111, Montana FWP Pat FLowers
at (406)-994-4042 and Sens. Baucus and Tester and Congressman Rehberg
and ask for a change in APHIS regulations and to scrap this plan to
capture and test our elk.
|
|
