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Several Montana lawmakers are joining the group of people who are unhappy with the plan to move disease-free bison off of two locations near Bozeman.

The bison could be relocated to one or a combination of four locations: the Spotted Dog area, Fort Peck, Fort Belknap, and/or the Marias River area.

The legislative committee tasked with monitoring MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks says the plan has some serious flaws.

MT State Senator Jim Keane (D-Butte) said, "While we appreciate the Department's pursuit of this, it's pretty clear the first two meetings have had no absolutely no support from both sportsmen and agricultural groups."

The committee is asking MT FWP to prepare a full environmental impact statement and to delay its decision until a conservation strategy is adopted.

Lawmakers agreed the proposal fails to look at the full impacts of moving the bison.

MT State Representative Duane Ankney (R-Colstrip) said, "If there is an outbreak of brucellosis that affects cattle throughout the state, we lose our brucellosis-free status. You ain't gonna keep buffalo in a fence."

Mike Volesky, the Governor's advisor on natural resources, said, "The quarantined bison not available for relocation have in every instance tested negative for brucellosis. These are possibly the most tested animals in the history of animal health management."

Volesky told lawmakers that in several areas of the state, bison live near cattle without issues; lawmakers counter that the Yellowstone bison could impact other species and vegetation.

And the public generally seems to agree, according to MT FWP director Joe Maurier, who said, "The comment that we received at the public meetings was not all that favorable, to say the least. We do have written comment coming in that does tend to start to balance the scale out a bit."

Maurier says they are trying to gather input and a decision is scheduled for November.