A judge has scheduled a hearing for February 5 to consider a request that Yellowstone National Park's bison culling operations be halted unless a journalist and a wildlife advocate are allowed to watch/Marcelle Shoop file photo

A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for February 5 to consider a request to halt bison culling operations at Yellowstone National Park unless the National Park Service agrees to let a journalist and a wildlife advocate watch those operations.

In a lawsuit filed this past Tuesday, writer Christopher Ketcham maintained he was being blocked by the Park Service from observing the "herding, trapping, sorting or shipping activities" of bison to slaughter. Mr. Ketcham says he needs to observe the activities for articles into how the Interagency Bison Management Plan is managing Yellowstone's bison herds.

The culling operations in Yellowstone are scheduled to start February 15. Mr. Ketcham and Stephany Seay are seeking access to the controversial bison trapping operations that lead to the slaughter of hundreds of bison.

Yellowstone's bison herds reached an estimated 5,000 animals last summer, and under the IBMP the target goal is 3,000. To bring the current population down to that number, a mix of hunting bison that leave the park and head into Montana this winter along with capturing upwards of 900 bison to ship to Native American tribes is set to begin February 15.

Mr. Ketcham and Stephany Seay maintain they have a First Amendment right to observe all the steps taken by crews to round up the bison for shipment out of the park.

Under the process, bison are driven to the park's Stephens Creek Capture Facility pens, where blood is drawn to test for brucellosis, a disease that can cause livestock to abort their fetuses, before the iconic animals are loaded onto trucks and shipped away.

During the capture and kill operation, the Park Service closes parts of the park to public access. The lawsuit argues that the First Amendment guarantees citizens and journalists reasonable, non-disruptive access to the publicly funded national park. According to a release Friday from the Animal Defense Legal Fund, the court will decide their First Amendment claims separately.

“This court order is necessary to protect Stephany’s and Chris’s constitutional rights while the case is pending or until full and reasonable access to observe the cull can be granted,” said ALDF attorney Stefanie Wilson. “Given accounts of brutality during past culls, it is the public’s right to know what is happening to the cherished Yellowstone bison.”