A cow from the Paradise Valley has tested positive for the disease and it is expected that Montana will lose the brucellosis-free status within four to eight weeks. The cow has been vaccinated twice and was part of a herd management plan. All other animals in the herd tested negative for brucellosis. Herds with links to the infected cow will now be placed under quarantine.

This comes one year after the disease was found in a Bridger cattle herd near the Yellowstone Valley, resulting in the depopulation of 301 cows and 284 calves. Montana will not be able to reapply for class free status until May 27, 2009.

Livestock producers say they've fulfilled their end of the bargain. This cow was part of a herd that had been vaccinated twice and tested regularly. Area ranchers are taking several proactive steps in protecting their animals. But they say they state is not.

"We need now the state of Montana to reciprocate with the wildlife. Because they are the real threat here," explained Errol Rice, Executive Vice President of the Montana Stockgrowers Association. "And you have industry being proactive and the state of Montana being lackadaisical on managing bison on the west side and you have a wildlife managing agency that refuses to acknowledge the risk that the elk pose to the livestock industry."

In a statement released Monday, Governor Brian Schweitzer continues to push the idea of a split-state status, essentially segregating Yellowstone-area ranchers into a brucellosis class of their own.

When brucellosis was found last year in a Bridger herd the state said they would increase hazing efforts but would not test bison found beyond their summer grazing grounds.