David Thomas: “I rise to talk about a difficulty that we have had this winter in Wyoming and Montana in the Yellowstone Park area with…”

“I rise to talk about a difficulty that we have had this winter in Wyoming and Montana in the Yellowstone Park area with respect to buffalo. Many of you, of course, have read about the problem as a result of an extremely difficult winter, freezing rain and snow, lack of feed, and I think also an excessive number of buffalo. As chairman of the Senate Energy Committee Subcommittee on National Parks, I come to the floor today to announce that we plan to hold hearings on the prospective plan for bison in Yellowstone Park next year. It is not our purpose to particularly pick apart what happened last year, but what we want to do is avoid the same thing happening in the year that is to come. Many buffalo in Yellowstone Park are afflicted with brucellosis, which is a major threat to the surrounding livestock States that border on Yellowstone Park, particularly, in this case, Montana. Unfortunately, the only solution that has been developed so far for the Park Service in the State of Montana is to shoot the buffalo as they come out of Yellowstone. Clearly, that solution is not acceptable.”