Montana's Fish Wildlife and Parks wants to determine whether there's a place to manage bison as wildlife.

"Is there a place in Montana where we could have a huntable population of wild bison managed similar to elk or deer or moose, animals like that?" asks FWP Native Species Biologist Arnie Dood.

Dood says the first step is getting feedback from the public.

Dozens showed up to their meeting in Bozeman, where officials listened as ranchers, biologists, wildlife activists and others shared their concerns and interests for alternatives.

Some say taking no action could mean serious and permanent consequences for bison.

"The Yellowstone bison herd is one of the most pure bison herds in the world and certainly in North America and I don't want to see them go extinct," says former wildlife biologist Ward Olson.

Olson says one solution is moving bison to areas where they would not create conflict for agriculture or livestock.

"We need to be good stewards of the public lands we were given. These are public animals and we need to treat them as wildlife, not as livestock," explains Olson.

Yet, ranchers like Chuck Rein say bison are restored and worry free roaming bison could wind up on his land, threatening his livelihood.

"I keep my herd a certain size to protect the environment that they graze on and if I have more ungulates coming onto my property that I can't market, then I'm forced to cut back on the number of animal units that I run for my profit or to operate my business," says Rein.

FWP officials say once they've reviewed all public comment, they'll reassess and look at possible locations for restoration.