The Stephen's Creek facility was closed in late January, then reopened earlier this month to capture a group of bison that has crossed onto private lands. It was open for eight days before closing again, Yellowstone officials said.
Authorities on Jan. 11 began capturing bison that ventured too far into Montana for the first time in two years.
Concerns about the potential spread of the disease brucellosis from migrating bison to cattle in Montana lie at the heart of the state-federal management plan that allows for the hazing and capture of bison that stray. Many of the park's bison have brucellosis, as do some elk in the region. The disease can cause cows to abort.
MISSOULA - A Libby man has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering for setting fire to his house to collect the insurance money.
Steve Seager, 42, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Missoula. Sentencing was set for May 19.
Federal prosecutors said they would prove in court that Seager set fire to his house in December 2002, based on the statements of a witness who was with Seager when he set the fire.
Seager received more than $22,000 from his insurance company, which suspended future payments upon learning the fire may have been staged.
In March 2005, Seager admitted to the FBI and Lincoln County authorities that he started the fire. Witnesses told authorities Seager felt he paid too much for the house and the only way he could come out ahead of the deal was to burn it down.
HELENA - Gov. Brian Schweitzer has appointed three new members to the 15-member Montana Historical Society Board of Directors.
The new members are Kent Kleinkopf of Missoula, Jim Court of Billings and Katherine Lee of Glendive.
Kleinkopf worked for the Montana State Land Department, later joining the administration of Gov. Tom Judge, becoming the state's first Citizen Advocate. In 1997, he and his wife, Kathy, received the Missoula Historic Preservation Award for their work in saving the Mary Gleim buildings.
Court retired from the National Park Service in 1986, after serving, among other roles, as superintendent of the Little Bighorn National Monument. He currently provides tours of battlefields and historical and natural tours of Montana and the Rocky Mountain region west from Canada to Mexico.
Lee is a retired attorney. In 1986, she and her husband, Jim, bought and restored the Krug Mansion in Glendive, opening the Charley Montana Bed & Breakfast there in 1997.
HELENA - A mountain lion killed recently by a Lewistown hunter was radio collared three years ago in the Black Hills of South Dakota 450 miles away.
The lion was one of 65 collared to determine dispersal patterns of juvenile lions in the Black Hills, said Jonathan Jenks, a wildlife professor at South Dakota State University.
Another South Dakota lion was killed by a Montana hunter south of Custer in Treasure County, he said. Others in the study ended up in northwestern Minnesota and Oklahoma.
Mountain lions typically leave their mothers between 10 and 18 months of age. Because they are solitary animals, they look for territory that isn't already occupied by other lions, and often travel long distances.
The Lewistown lion was collared on Feb. 25th, 2003. It was killed by a Lewistown man on Dec. 31 in the Judith Mountains.
It's not illegal to shot an animal with a radio collar, neck band or ear tag, and the hunter turned in the collar to state Fish, Wildlife and Parks as required, officials said.
BILLINGS - More than $181,000 has been spent to send more than 800 Yellowstone National Park bison to slaughter this winter, including about $42,000 for the services of U.S. Homeland Security agents.
The estimates come from the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which has taken the lead role in moving captured bison from Yellowstone to meat processing plants in Idaho and Montana.
Yellowstone has also spent extra money to round up and hold bison this winter. Estimates of those expenditures were not immediately available.
So far, 849 bison wandering north of Yellowstone have been sent to slaughter. The bison are captured because state and federal officials are worried the animals might spread brucellosis to nearby cattle.
The bison meat, head and hides are donated to American Indian tribes and charities.
So far, 28 tribes in Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, Nevada, Idaho, California and elsewhere have received the meat.
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