Ted Turner Bison: Judge Dismisses Suit Against Business Mogul

Tourists man cameras as buffalo cross a road October 4, 2012 in the Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

Ted Turner bison: Billionaire Ted Turner can keep his Yellowstone National Park bison calves.

The business mogul, who founded CNN, has been caring for disease-free bison. Turner was, through an agreement with the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, able to keep 75 percent of the bison offspring over the five years he agreed to care for the bison on his ranch.

Turner owns a ranch in Montana, next to the Yellowstone National Park. 

The petitioners, including the Western Watersheds Project, the Buffalo Field Campaign, and the Gallatin Wildlife Association, argued that the department violated public trust because they gave the bison over to a private person “who could use them for private gain,” according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, which reported the story. 

The department did carry out a bidding process but found no parks or agencies could care for the bison.

The judge ruled that the petitioners did not support their cause. 

“The simple truth is that management of Yellowstone bison is no easy task, from either a logistical standpoint or a public relations one. Yellowstone bison arouse great passions from individuals and groups across the spectrum,” Brown wrote. “There are no simple, easily applied answers to the issues involved in the management, protection and conservation of bison located in the GYA.”