Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) looks to be working on new regulations to deal with brucellosis:
Brucellosis plan suggests special Yellowstone area – AP
The plan as now envisioned does not call for eradicating brucellosis in wildlife. McCluskey said that would have to be dealt with separately.
Brian Ertz
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“Montana state veterinarian Marty Zaluski said he believes the plan will pass muster if APHIS can provide the science to back it up.
‘It’s putting in some numbers or quantifying the risk, and then communicating what that risk is to other stakeholders, other states,’ he said. ‘The science is what will sell it.'”
This is an odd statement. It seems to suggest the plan is to be based on education rather than eradication (which would be a novel approach from APHIS). Frankly, I don’t think a lot of people (stakeholders or otherwise) are worried about brucellosis, except as it impacts them. It will be…interesting to see what comes of this.
A lot of us have been calling for some time a change to APHIS rules because in theory that should remove one more obstacle from the way bison are treated in Greater Yellowstone.
So, we’ll see, but on the whole, this is a welcome move. It would make the cost of brucellosis even less than it already is. And, it would drive home the point that if you are in Greater Yellowstone, the cost of doing business has to be higher.