Rehberg Secures $650,000 For Brucellosis Control In and Around Yellowstone National Park
Congressman’s Position on House Appropriations Committee Results in over $8 Million in Funding for Montana Projects
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg today announced $8.387 million in funding for projects throughout the state, including $650,000 for the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The funding was included by the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee for Fiscal Year 2010.
“Yellowstone National Park is the only remaining pocket of brucellosis in the United States, and its proximity to livestock producers in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming has serious economic impacts,” said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. “This issue has caused not only financial stress on Montana producers but also on the Montana Department of Livestock as well. The persistence of Brucellosis in Montana is the result of federal policies that have failed to eradicate the disease in wildlife and livestock and it’s going to take some federal resources to fix the problem.”
The Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee conducts brucellosis prevention, surveillance, control and herd management in Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Area. These activities mitigate the danger that brucellosis poses to Montana’s beef industry by detecting the disease in wildlife and preventing its spread to cattle. Working with state and federal jurisdictions, the ultimate objective of the GYIBC is to use sound science and factual information to eliminate transmission risks and eradicate the disease for healthy wildlife and livestock. The program officially began in 1995 with a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture and the Governors of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.
“Brucellosis funding in the greater Yellowstone area is vital as we work on the control and eventual eradication of this disease,” said Christian Mackay, with the Montana Department of Livestock. “We welcome these resources. They help fund our ongoing efforts, and demonstrate that Congress wants to be part of the solution.”