Officials announced Thursday that an agreement between the State of Montana, Yellowstone National Park and a private ranch bordering the park would legally allow bison use a grazing territory, in order to save the animals from slaughter.

Following the agreement, Yellowstone will pay $1.5 million to Church Universal and Triumphant’s Royal Teton Ranch, with an additional amount of $300,000 from the state, for the rights of a 5,000-acre zone where the bison can migrate outside the park, preventing the possibility of transmitting brucellosis to Montana’s cattle. The remaining of $1 million will be raised mostly by conservation groups. The land’s rights were sold under a 30-year lease, allowing the bison to pass through the property to access thousands of acres of federal land.

The move comes after a large number of bison were killed last winter, in an attempt to protect Montana’s cattle from brucellosis, which is often carried by bison. Since last fall, a record number of 1,600 bison have been killed to prevent the spreading of the disease which usually causes cows to abort their calves.

The culling was strongly criticized by environmental groups that were struggling to protect the endangered bison, so the new deal will probably be welcomed by many.

Despite the fact that the new deal received criticism from the livestock industry, as well as from bison advocates, Yellowstone Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis thinks the additional land will save both bison and cattle.

“Many groups disagree, but on a day like today, the National Park, environmental groups, livestock owners all agree,” said Lewis. “Hopefully this will give [the bison] a little more room to breathe, and a little more to move around.”