BOZEMAN – Ted Turner’s bid to get 74 wild bison from Yellowstone National Park is drawing opposition from those who say the animals are being given up for profit instead of conservation.

Turner has offered to take the animals at the request of Montana’s Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Federal officials earlier warned that the animals faced slaughter if no home was found.

Turner would keep the bison five years and then return them to the state. As compensation, Turner would keep 90 percent of the animals’ offspring, meaning he would gain an estimated 190 bison from a herd prized for its genetic purity.

Some conservationists – plus a group representing dozens of Indian tribes – insist the animals should not be privatized or commercialized. At a Thursday public hearing over the Turner proposal, they said the bison belong on public or tribal lands. That’s what state and federal officials had promised over the last several years.

Russell Miller with Turner Enterprises said keeping most of their offspring would be necessary to offset the cost of keeping 74 animals for the state for five years.

“We thought there was an emergency,” Miller said after Thursday’s hearing. “We’re not a philanthropy. We’re trying to create a blend between conservation and commercialization.”