IBMP meeting
May 14, 2025
Zoom
Facilitator – Deb O’Neill – FWP special project manager – facilitator
They asked for any of the tribal partners would like to offer a prayer to open the meeting. No one offered – there was awkward silence instead.
Attendees
DOL – Mike Honeycutt
Dr. Tahnee Szymanski – State Veterinarian
FWP – Director Christy Clark
Kelly Proffitt – Regional Supervisor based in Bozeman
Kevin Rechkoff – Deputy Chief Field Council
Marina Yoshioka – Chief of Operations
Warren Hansen – Regional Wildlife Manager Region 3
CKST – Tom McDonald, vice-chair for Tribal Council
Bing Matt, Tribal Council
Kari Kingery – CSKT Wildlife Management Program
Joe Pollis? – CSKT Fish and Game
Dan McClure – CSKT Fish and Game
Shannon Clairmont – CSKT Bison Range lead biologist
John Harrison – staff attorney
NPS – Tim Reid, chief of Yellowstone Center for Resources
Chris Geremia – bison program manager (what did he do, take biologist out of his title?)
Nez Perce – Mike Lopez – staff attorney for Nez Perce Tribe
Aaron Gould – lead – joining shortly (he never showed up)
Eric Kash Kash – Wildlife Division Director for Nez Perce (he never spoke)
APHIS – Burke Healey – APHIS Veterinary ServicesJ
Jennifer Siembieda – Ruminant Health Center cattle health team
Dr. Jeffery Richards – veterinarian with bison quarantine
Forest Service – Matt Jedra – Custer Gallatin Forest Supervisor (Mary Erickson’s replacement)
Mike Thom – Gardiner District Ranger (I recognize him)
Wendi Urie – Hebgen Lake District Ranger in West Yellowstone
ITBC – no one
Agenda changes
The review of winter operations in the agenda is to be discussed by all partners, not by the facilitator.
The facilitator suggested having a break about an hour and a half into the meeting (ha! they sure didn’t need that!)
No other changes.
Approval of the annual IBMP report
This is usually done by December – this was not done this year due to the changeover of facilitator. The Nez Perce did make some changes that were never reflected – minor changes. They showed it on screen – it stated to say, “Weekly Tribal and state hunt coordination calls occurred every Wednesday from about January 10, 2024 to April 3, 2024.”
Report is approved.
Approval of Fall IBMP report
Again, there were only minor grammatical edits. And the Park sent in a change – bison/human interactions changed from 1 to 3.
Report is approved.
Annual calendar
Was sent to the partners over email – outlines due dates and meetings for upcoming year.
(This was not shared on screen.)
Calendar is approved.
Partner updates
CSKT
They broke ground on new animal processing facility – for the slaughtered bison (and also local hunters and ranchers). Projected to be done early 2026. It is in Ronan.
They had zero killed in the hunt – all hunters were skunked.
ITBC – no one showed.
Department of Livestock/Board of Livestock
There are no new members in the Board of Livestock and no change in top level leadership.
They had not much legislatively, aside from some attempts at de-regulation.
You no longer need physical copies of paperwork for moving livestock – can use digital copies or photos.
Their budget is doing great – they switched some funding from federal to state. Most emergency disease preparedness is moved to state funding – because of federal budget cuts – The also expanded the meat program with more staffing and maybe new facilities or processors. (Looking for more slaughter facilities for bison.)
Their bison employee – Zach Martin – in West Yellowstone graduated from law enforcement academy – so he is fully operational now.
USDA completed delisting of Brucellosis from the select agent list – removes regulatory restrictions on research and creates opportunities for future research. With the delisting came the resumption of whole genome sequencing at the NVSL (National Veterinary Services Laboratory) in Ames, Iowa – anytime they identify a brucellosis isolate in an infected animal – tells of relationships between isolates. They had one new slaughter trace since the fall meeting – traced to a herd outside of the Greater Yellowstone Area region in north-central Montana. They did testing on that herd – and found no evidence of disease so that slaughter trace is closed.
The State of Montana is due for it’s 3-year brucellosis review from the USDA – they are expecting that will happen later this year.
Last week with USDA they did the annual inspections of quarantine facility in Gardiner and found all to be in consistent shape with what is expected.
Outside of brucellosis – avian influenza seems to be quieting down on the landscape but they won’t know more until the fall migration.
There are concerns of the expansion of new world screwworm in Central America and into Mexico – the are planning for possible infection in the US,
FWP
The legislative session was good for them – they worked to help the legislators understand their priorities. Their budget came out mostly intact – and they will have additional enforcement and communication and education staff.
Since they met last time the Fisheries Division is opening up a new field season in southwest Montana’s River Research Project exploring mortality and recruitment in the Jefferson Basin.
In the Wildlife Division – they concluded their state-wide Grizzly and Wolf plan, and are working on a Mule Deer plan – public input started this week.
In their Parks Division they hired a new administrator – Renee Lemon.
Park Service
They are currently consumed getting ready for the summer season.
Dan Kowalski – one of the senior law enforcement staff on northern boundary during winter operations – has moved over to Forest Service, so they are looking to fill that position.
Operations are normal for this time of year – they will have more to say during the winter ops section.
Calving is happening in the quarantine facility in the park.
Elk calving is also starting.
Nez Perce
They had their general council May 1-3, they elected three new leadership members for 3 years. One of the newly elected member is Aaron Gould – who will also be their IBMP delegate.
Nez Perce hunt season was from Sept. 3 – April 13, with the first bison killed March 3. Most were killed in West with a few in Gardiner, 33 total killed.
APHIS
The revised program standards for brucellosis, which includes new quarantine procedures for male bison, is with their regulatory staff and is expected to be published quarter 3 of 2026.
760 bison transferred to slaughter (the “Tribal Food Program”)
97 placed into quarantine – in the Yellowstone and APHIS facilities (the “Bison Conservation Program”)
APHIS got 17 new animals into quarantine this spring – for fiscal year 2025 cohort
37 cow calf pairs expected to be ready to transfer 2026
Forest Service
Matt Jedra introduces himself – he is Mary Erickson’s replacement.
There are challenges with restructuring the organization, as with most federal agencies – it is a time of uncertainties, they are navigating challenges and lost staffing, but are still planning for busy recreation season. There are a ton of projects in the Hebgen Lake District (i.e. logging), as well as in the Palmer area in the Gardiner District.
From Mike Thom – the hunt was quieter on north side – all went smoothly. The are looking at a Bear Palmer Vegetation Management Project in the Jardine area – this is just starting and they will be looking for public impact. Mike Thom is leaving Custer Gallatin for the Bighorn National Forest – so this is his last meeting.
From Wendi Urie – the hunt was busier in the Hebgen Lake – especially in spring – it went fairly well, though there were some issues with food storage, and driving on snowmobile trails. She lives in Horse Butte – says it is currently the “parade of red dogs loves it for that – so she loves the calves. (Maybe an ally? I’d be curious what Horse Butte locals think of her…) They are going to be replacing the Cougar Creek highway and snowmobile bridges – and they will have a wildlife underpass!!!!! There will be some fencing also to direct wildlife to the underpass. They’re also talking thermal sensors that will trigger flashing lights along the highway to indicate wildlife on the roadway. (Because bison tend to stay still for a period of time, a thermal sensor will work better than a motion sensor they hope.) They’re hoping bridge construction will start summer of 2026 and it will be a two year project!
Website
Kelly Proffitt of FWP – The new IBMP website (which was decided on at the fall meeting) launched in December – IBMPinfo.org. FWP will manage the site for the year, then it will move to the next managing partner. They have been working to get the website updated over the past few months. The bi-weekly NPS bison operations reports have been put up on the website. (I checked – it is still just the most recent report – there are still no archives.) All the comments and edits from partners to date have been included. Through the remainder of the year they’ll accept input or feedback from the partners – submit to her or to Missy Irving – the website coordinator – her email will be in the spring meeting report. (We should definitely look for her contact information and reach out to her.)
The only page still blank is the Partners Operations -> Operational Safety -> Flag System – that still needs content and information from the partners.
Winter Operations
CSKT
Their hunt season is September 1st through January 31st. They had wardens on the ground through the month of January – they will continue to do that. The hunt manager calls weekly on Wednesdays were run by Tom Wadsworth of the Shoshone Bannock; it’s helpful when everyone shows up and they had good attendance this year. They had zero hunt harvest this year but did have hunters down there. They did the usual orientation for hunters, the CSKT bison hunt webpage is updated. They did a “large coordination with the Park” – i.e. a huge transfer to slaughter (the “Food Sovereignty Transfer Program”). They evaluated extending their hunt season – they did extent it a short time to match the state season – and they may evaluate extending the season again – they don’t like to do it because of calves (but they’ll happily send them to a slaughterhouse?!?) They are a Beattie Gulch MOA tribe – they always had a warden down there. They express appreciation for Mike Thom – (Forest Service guy who is leaving.)
ITBC – no one there
DOL
Nothing to report from Honeycutt – which means a smooth year from his perspective.
There were no bison in zone 3 at any time, which is, “good news from our perspective.”
It was a busy year assisting with the slaughter – they participated in some hauling, sealed and unsealed trailers and worked on coordination with the slaughter facilities.
They did tuberculosis surveillance on slaughtered bison?? In coordination with the USDA.
A “successful year as far as the removals are concerned.”
FWP
Warren Hansen – they had small state hunt – issued 25 permits for West – 1 was killed; in Park County they issued 25 permits and 5 backcountry permits – 4 were killed. They did not activate the roster due to limited migration.
Park Service
They were busy this winter operating under their new bison management plan – operating in support of the IBMP and IBMP partners. Also expresses appreciation for Mike Thom. Chris Geremia put together some slides (but isn’t going to show them). He will do the winter operation update and also population update at the same time. It seems the “spirit of this meeting is to be done in a few minutes”.
They implemented a decision tree presented to all the partners at the fall meeting. They were above the population assurance threshold this winter – which mean they would increase capture to ensure population stays in a range of 3,500-6,000 animals. The quarantine program was not at capacity initially in the winter – so they could bring up to 100 animals into quarantine. They were passively capturing animals – open gates and let animals move in, and they also “guide animals in” on horseback. On March 10th the quarantine program was full – at that time only 10 animals had been killed by hunters, so they decided they had to kill 600 or more to ensure the post-calving population this year would be less than that of lass year. So they continued capturing. They sent all animals to slaughter, regardless of brucellosis prevalence. They captured until April 11th. They sent 768 buffalo to slaughter, 1 animal died in the trap, and 97 were sent to quarantine,
When they captured, they left some bison outside the trap to see if they would move outside the park, but often that didn’t happen.
They estimate the bison population is currently around 4,300 animals and they will complete summer census later this year to see where they are post-calving. Currently in the BCTP (quarantine) they have 165 animals in the bison facility, and are expecting 145-150 to complete quarantine this year and get clearance.
Nez Perce
(only the lawyer spoke)
Their season was September 3 – April 13. Most of their harvest was in West. On the north side they killed 5 – 3 bulls and 2 male calves. On the west side they killed 28 – 3 bulls, 12 cows, 8 female calves, 3 male calves. Most occurred towards the end of the season. Their conservation enforcement in the field reported no citations. Also adds thanks to Mike Thom.
Call for updates
Any updates anyone would like to see in plan – send to Deb O’Neill – facilitator. She will work through the ops plan and get that out for review.
APHIS on tuberculosis surveillance
This was a great opportunity to do active TB surveillance. Spun from an opportunity during the mosquito Canadian bison transfer in the spring – Canada had concerns about having recent TB surveillance on the Yellowstone herds. They looked at 8.7% of animals sent to slaughter – they would have a 95% probability to find disease if it was in the herd. They didn’t expect to see anything, and the animals were very healthy this year and didn’t see any pathology consistent with TB or any other diseases. They will continue to do testing in quarantine in the new cohort for 2025.
Anything more on the population status?
Nothing more.
“Public feedback”
13 people signed up, but it seems not everyone is on.
Based on 30 minutes allotted for public comment, they will have 2 min and 20 sec each.
Six people who were signed up were not on the call, and two were signed up and declined to comment.
Jaedin Medicine-Elk (some confusion because he was on Stephany’s Zoom account – of all things Mike Honeycutt suggested some people might be in the same room and they should allow him to speak) – Treaty rights are being used to help keep buffalo near extinction each year. Wild buffalo deserve better, Mother Earth deserves better, tribal nations deserve better. Great comments.
Clinton Nagel – president Gallatin Wildlife Association – their goal is to allow bison to roam free on their native landscape. Bison must be allowed to migrate freely without being subjected to a killing spree outside the park. They are frustrated with the lack of progress. Bison are viewed as a commodity and nothing else. He had good comments.
Cindy Rosin – Roam Free Nation – very angry comments
Edwin Johnson – he is an old outfitter from Gardiner of Royal Teton Ranch (CUT). (We ran into him in the field a lot.) He was pleased to see shipments to slaughter instead of hunting; he also supports the efforts of the stock growers in not allowing bison to roam. He is concerned with treaty elk hunting as well.
Thomas Wadsworth – Geremia pops up again to say he is part of one of the treaty tribe members and so shouldn’t have a have a time limit on his speaking – no issue with that – he will not have a time limit.
He is the interim director for Shoshone Bannock Fish and Game Enforcement. His statement is on behalf of the tribes. They are not a partner of the IBMP but are a treaty tribe – and they always will promote bison on the landscape. The trapping impacted and impeded the treaty rights of all tribes hunting on the landscape – just look at number trapped vs. killed in the hunt. This is the home of the Sho-Ban. The trapping also pushed treaty tribes towards West Yellowstone instead. This causes increased affects on the west side – this is already a problem and will increase – they are already not seeing the migrations that they used to. The government agencies do have a trust responsibility to the tribe. He would much rather see the meetings should be in person. There is lots on the table to be discussed and this meeting went very quickly – it has hampered those efforts.
One unregistered commenter – Jeff Abrams – wildlife program associate of the Idaho Conservation League – he is not a treaty tribe member, so they tried to not let him speak. He brings up that during in person meetings there has always been an opportunity to register to speak during the meeting. The partners agree to allow him to speak. He likes to to see the faces of people working on this issue. He spoke of the potential to get bison throughout the GYE and on the Idaho side of the ecosystem. During the spring meeting there was an agenda item about reviving the Citizens Working Group – there was a good bit of support for that during the spring meeting – what happened with that? How are agendas set? (Of course no one is going to answer that question.) The facilitator does say that the call for agenda items goes out to partners and the lead partner collects them and then the facilitator sends agenda out for review.
Action items
Any updates or edits to operations plan should get to Deb O’Neill
That needs to be prepared, drafted and posted by June 13th.
The meeting audio recording will be linked in spring report.
Next fall’s meeting will be in person in Butte.
(Meeting over in 1 hour and 22 minutes.)