BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Dozens of wild bison from Yellowstone National Park would be relocated to a Montana ranch owned by billionaire Ted Turner, under a recommendation made by state and federal officials Tuesday.

The animals were spared from a slaughter program intended to protect Montana's cattle industry from a disease carried by many bison. The plan was to use those animals — considered disease-free — to repopulate public and tribal lands across the West with free-roaming bison.

But after other offers to take the animals fell through or were judged insufficient, state and federal officials said Tuesday that Turner's private ranch was the best option.

A smaller group of eight-to-14 bison would go to Guernsey State Park in Wyoming.

Turner already owns about 50,000 bison, most of them domesticated, and his restaurant chain Ted's Montana Grill serves buffalo burgers.

Some conservationists, and at least one federal agency, oppose the plan to supplement Turner's herd with Yellowstone's genetically pure bison. It still needs approval from the director of Montana's wildlife agency.