Why are the feds paying $3.3 million to graze for 30 years on land worth only about $4 million?

More on the Royal Teton Ranch bison grazing deal

My earlier article about the Church Universal and Triumphant’s $3.3 million deal with the government and some conservation groups for bison grazing has spurred the AnimalTourism blog to do some more investigation into the value of the Royal Teton Ranch itself. What they conclude is pretty interesting. They estimate the value of the ranch to be about $3.9 million.

They ask one question though that I think can be easily answered. Why didn’t the government just buy the RTR rather than pay the exorbitant fee for 30 years of bison grazing? Well, I think that would have been a more reasonable approach too but the CUT didn’t want to sell and the government isn’t buying much anymore these days. The CUT appears to be struggling financially without these payments so they sought the best deal they could and found gullible government agencies and conservationists. It’s a shameful situation.

Why are the feds paying $3.3 million to graze for 30 years on land worth only about $4 million?
AnimalTourism News.

The Royal Teton Ranch deal gets underway.

Church Universal and Triumphant paid about $285 $314 per AUM under the $3 million deal

Buffalo calf at Stephens Creek capture facility, Yellowstone National Park.

Articles about how the perennial saga of hazing, capturing, slaughtering, and hunting bison is starting once again in and around Yellowstone National Park. There is one change this year though that has left me scratching my head. This is the first year where bison leaving Yellowstone from the northern entrance of the Park near Gardiner, Montana are going to be allowed to use the Church Universal and Triumphant’s (CUT) Royal Teton Ranch (RTR) under an agreement with the National Park Service, Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, National Parks Conservation Association, and National Wildlife Federation.

The $3 million $3.3 million deal would initially allow 25 bison to use the RTR but only after they have been captured in the Stephens Creek capture facility just inside the Park boundary. They then would be subjected to squeeze chutes where they would have blood samples, fecal samples, taken from them and pregnant females would have vaginal transmitters placed in them so that biologists would be informed of the location where they give birth. Over time the deal might eventually allow up to 100 untested bison each year.

Hank Fischer: Royal Teton Ranch Deal Critical for Yellowstone Bison

Hank Fischer: Royal Teton Ranch Deal Critical for Yellowstone Bison. Guest commentary. New West.

I wish I could agree with Fischer, and we do know the world can’t be changed in one step. However, if this is “a template” for future deals, as he says, then we won’t see much improvement in a lifetime.

Yellowstone Bison and the Fate of the Royal Teton Ranch Lease

Yellowstone Bison and the Fate of the Royal Teton Ranch Lease. By David Nolt. New West.

This great plan sounds like a way to give money to this religious cult and continue to kill and harass bison under guise of the brucellosis fraud.

Yes, it is a real disease, but very hard to pass from bison to cattle, and just a minor matter if it is. We’ve been over the matter of brucellosis on this blog a hundred times.

Conservationist says federal agencies renege on bison plan

Is there an opportunity for a lawsuit here?

Conservationist says federal agencies renege on bison plan Associated Press in the Great Falls Tribune.