New management plan considered for National Bison Range

MOIESE, Mont. (AP) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing a new management plan to guide the National Bison Range for the next 15 years.

The Missoulian reports that draft plans are now open for public comment and envision less than a dozen staff positions for the Bison Range, and place it within a large, regional refuge complex.

Those proposals have drawn concern through the public-comment process, and at public meetings this week held at the Bison Range, in Missoula and in Polson.

Skip Palmer is a retired Fish and Wildlife Service employee who spent 16 years at the Bison Range.

He commented that the proposed staffing is not enough.

The draft plan projects the three alternative plans being considered would cost between $1.1 million and $1.4 million each year.

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Information from: Missoulian, http://www.missoulian.com