Yellowstone National Park was
home to a herd of bison. As the population grew, bison started leaving
the park in search of food. This caused property damage on private lands
outside the park, and increased the chance of bison spreading diseases to
privately-owned cattle.
Despite these problems, the
National Park Service (NPS) failed to establish an effective bison
population management plan to keep the numbers at a sustainable level
within Yellowstone.
Montana sued to get the
Federal government to manage the bison. The suit was settled and NPS
wrote an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and developed an Interim
Plan.
The Interim Plan called for
NPS to capture and/or kill bison that roamed off of Yellowstone, and to
test bison for diseases.
Environmental groups (led by
IBC) sued for an injunction.
IBC argued that the National
Park Service Organic Act (16
U.S.C. §1) provided that the
fundamental purpose of the NPS was to "conserve the scenery and
natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein." Therefore
NPS must protect and conserve the bison, not kill them.
NPS argued that part of its
overall protection plan for the bison herd required it to occasionally
kill a few individual bison.
NPS argued that they had
the authority to determine whether selective removal of individual bison
"protects and conserves" the bison herd.
NPS argued that 16
U.S.C. §3 provides that the NPS can
destroy such animals as may be detrimental to the use of parks,
monuments, or reservations.
The Trial Court found for NPS.
IBC appealed.
The Trial Court found that
NPS has the discretion to manage wildlife within the park, and to
authorize the killing of individual animals if, in NPS's opinion, it
would serve broader conservation goals.
The Trial Court found that
NPS had a reason for making their decision, therefore it was not
arbitrary and capricious and the Court would defer to Agency judgment.
See Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
v. Natural Resources Defense Council
(467 U.S. 837 (1984)).
