October 10 AND 11, 1999, San Diego, California
By Bob Hillman, DVM
Chairman, GYIBC
Each year for the past 13 years a report on the progress, or lack thereof, of efforts to address brucellosis in bison and elk of the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) has been presented to one or more of the USAHA committees. I will try not to bore you by spending a lot of time on the past actions or accomplishments of the GYIBC which have been previously reported to this committee. This report will focus on issues and events since the 1998 meetings of the Brucellosis Committee. However, a brief discussion of the origin of the GYIBC and its Mission, Goal and Objectives is necessary to set the stage for the report.
Efforts to address brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area actually began in the late 1930s and continued intermittently through the early 1970s. However, there were no concerted, continuous, efforts to address the problem until 1988. Since 1988, there has been a continuing effort to find equitable solutions to the problem of brucellosis in bison and elk of the GYA. Through these efforts it became apparent that a more formal organization was needed in order to bring agencies with differing objectives, philosophies and mandates together to develop equitable solutions to the GYA brucellosis problem. GYIBC was officially formed in 1995 through a Memorandum of Understanding sighed by the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture and the Governors of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
Membership on the Executive Committee includes representatives of thirteen State and Federal agencies. Eleven are voting members (Animal Health and Fish and Game officials from each of the three states, USDA APHIS, Veterinary Services, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management) while two are non-voting members (Agricultural Research Service and U.S. National Biological Service). Voting membership includes all the state and federal agencies that have jurisdictional authority over the lands or animals in the GYA. The Mission, Goal and Objectives of the GYIBC are as follows: (Overhead 1)
A major difficulty faced by the GYIBC is to develop solutions that all agencies can fully support. The agencies have very different philosophies and mandates. Certainly, many of the agencies have different constituencies that they must answer to. Any decision reached by the GYIBC is likely to be a compromise decision that may not fully satisfy anyone. Even with the stumbling block of differing and sometimes conflicting mandates the GYIBC has made a number of significant achievements.
Significant events or action items since the last USAHA meeting include the following:
Jackson Bison Management Plan. This plan was developed, over several years, through an Environmental Assessment. The plan included a provision for the hunting of bison in the state of Wyoming. Interest groups brought suite, in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking an injunction to prevent implementation of the Management Plan because of the hunting provisions. The court granted the injunction. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is now planning to conduct additional National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance (probably an Environmental Impact Statement [EIS]) for the Jackson Bison and Elk herds.
Montana - Yellowstone National Park EIS. This topic will be discussed by other presenters so will not be addressed in this presentation.
Development of Herd Unit Management Plans. This action item is an on going effort. There are 27 herd units (25 elk, 2 bison) within the GYA. A herd-specific herd unit management plan, which will address brucellosis management in that herd unit, must be developed and implemented for each of the herd units. There are several to many herd units in each state. Some of the herd units cross jurisdictional boundaries. As you might imagine, the majority of the herd units are in Wyoming.
Development of a proposed budget for federal FY 2000. One of the major obstacles to accomplishment is lack of funds on both the state and federal levels. The agencies are, for the most part, conducting Brucellosis control activities out of current operating budgets rather than from funds appropriated specifically for wildlife brucellosis control. The GYIBC developed and submitted a proposed budget request to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and United States Department of Interior (USDI) for FY 2000. We do not yet know whether there will be increased funding in the new federal budget.
Research. A number of research efforts, which may provide significant information for brucellosis management in bison and elk, are being conducted around the country. Other presenters will be discussing some of these projects so they will not be addressed in this report. Many of these projects have been funded as result of GYIBC recommendations.
Meeting with the Governors and Secretaries. In May 1999, the GYIBC hosted the Governors and Secretaries (Both Secretaries were invited, but only the Department of Interior was represented at the meeting). The Governors and Department of Interior Undersecretary Barry strongly support the GYIBC as the best if not the only vehicle through which solutions to the GYA brucellosis problem can be equitably achieved. The Governors and Undersecretary Barry directed the GYIBC to develop a results driven, goal specific budget proposal that would identify management actions necessary to achieve the Mission, Goal and Objectives of the GYIBC; establish time lines for initiation and completion of each of the actions; determine what the actions will accomplish and determine how much the actions will cost.
With these directions in mind, Past GYIBC Chairman Dan Huff established a Planning Subcommittee to draft a Strategic Plan that would address all the directives and suggestions from the Governors and Undersecretary Barry. The first draft of the Strategic Plan was presented to the GYIBC Executive Committee, with copies to the Governors and Secretaries, on Sept. 2, 1999. The draft is currently undergoing minor revisions and will be finalized at the December meeting of the GYIBC. Major components of the plan include the following:
STRATEGIC PLAN _ The Strategic Plan identifies action items, lists expected outcomes, specifies time lines for completion, determines anticipated budgetary needs and identifies methods for evaluation of progress for each component of the plan. Additionally the Strategic Plan identifies issues that the member agencies have not been able to resolve. The plan consists of the following components:
1. PLANNING AND COMPLIANCE - This component describes those actions or activities that may be employed in development of Herd Unit Management Plans for each of the herd units within the GYA; identifies NEPA compliance processes and public input processes; identifies herd units for which Herd Unit Management Plans are needed; and, establishes a process and time line for completion of the Herd Unit Management Plans.
2. MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION - The Management Implementation component identifies the actions that are currently being accomplished by the various GYIBC member agencies to address the brucellosis issue. Additionally, this section explains the actions that are to be taken be the agencies to implement the Herd Unit Management Plans as they are developed and established timelines for implementation of all Herd Unit Management Plans.
3. RESEARCH - The Research component describes the categories of research that are needed to support management actions necessary for full implementation of the Herd Unit Management Plans and to provide essential information for science based decision making. The categories of research were identified by the Scientific Subcommittee as the most important for accomplishment of GYIBC objectives.
4. GYIBC OPERATIONS - The operations component identifies the actions and activities that must be undertaken by the members of the GYIBC in order to accomplish the action items contained in the strategic plan and fulfill the Mission, Goal and Objectives of the GYIBC.
5. UNRESOLVED ISSUES - The Unresolved Issues component identifies several issues that GYIBC members have not been able to resolve and describes some of the reasons the issues remain unresolved.
6. SUMMARY OF BUDGETARY NEEDS - The following budget summary identifies the fiscal needs for accomplishing the actions and activities contained within this strategic plan:
• Planning/Compliance $1.8 million annually (through 2005)
• Management Implementation 4.3 million annually (through 2010)
• Research 1.0 million annually (through 2005)
• GYIBC Operations 1.2 million annually
Total $8.3 million annually
GYIBC member agencies have already been working on a number of the action items identified in the Strategic Plan. However, the GYIBC has not had a guidance document other than the MOU and Mission, Goal and Objectives to point the way to completion of our objectives. The Strategic Plan will provide the guidance necessary to accelerate our efforts and provide common directions for the member agencies. We hope to finalize the Strategic Plan at the December meeting and formally begin implementation of the plan components in January 2000.
While I, and a number of other members of the GYIBC, have been frustrated by the snails pace at which we inch closer to our objectives, I believe the GYIBC provides the best forum for successful resolution of the GYA wildlife brucellosis problem. We need the support of, and prodding by, the USAHA and other organizations if we are to ultimately be successful.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this GYIBC report to the Brucellosis Committee.