BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP)--Wildlife officials are proposing a second brucellosis quarantine facility to test bison calves that leave Yellowstone National Park.

The current facility, on a former game farm at Corwin Springs, is in its first year. It was created to study whether a quarantine facility could be helpful in finding bison free of brucellosis and used to establish brucellosis-free herds.

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks says it needs more land to conduct the pilot project, and is considering the Slip and Slide Ranch, a couple of miles north of the existing facility.

The agency originally proposed using state-owned land near Daily Lake, property that has been set aside for elk winter range. But the 60-acre Corwin Springs site offers more benefits, said Keith Aune, FWP's supervisor of research and technical services.

For instance, it won't raise issues about displacing elk like the Daily Lake site, and it keeps animals in the program closer to Yellowstone, he said.

The FWP would pay the owner about $50,000 a year to lease the land, Aune said.

The new facility also would increase the project's scope.

Previously, the project allowed for the capture of 100 bison calves each year. The second facility would allow the project to accommodate up to 200 yearling and bison calves a year, according to an environmental assessment released Dec. 12.

To qualify, the young bison must stray from the park and test negative for brucellosis.

Once quarantined, the animals would be tested and watched for signs of latent brucellosis infection. Half the bison would be euthanized while held so tests could be done on their tissues.

Critics have said the project, run by the FWP and the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is an effort to treat bison like domestic cattle.

Glenn Hockett, president of the Gallatin Wildlife Association, said Dec. 12 he opposes the project, mainly because it doesn't include a plan for what to do with disease-free bison.

"We would tolerate it if they'd show they've got a place" for the bison after their testing is complete, he said.

A public meeting on the proposal is 6 p.m., Dec. 19 at the FWP building in Bozeman. Public comment will be accepted through Jan. 13.