Buffalo Field Campaign

[walksalone11]

Dear Walks,

I'm writing to thank you for taking part in our work to protect America's only continuously wild population of bison.

When bison attempt to follow their migratory instincts from the high country of Yellowstone National Park they are routinely met by agents from the Montana Department of Livestock who round them up, shoot them, or send them to slaughterhouses.  For more than a decade Buffalo Field Campaign has been working on all levels to protect the bison and their right to access habitat within the state of Montana.

As someone who has taken action in the past to protect the bison and support Buffalo Field Campaign, you understand how crucial it is that we remain with the buffalo in the field and on the policy front, working for a future where wild bison roam free on their native habitat. 


Your dedication to protecting the wild bison is our greatest strength.  Whether you learned about our work last week or have been involved since we ran our first patrol in 1997, your support makes Buffalo Field Campaign possible.  Thank you for your actions, your ideas, your hard work, and your donations.  Buffalo Field Campaign is everyone, everywhere, who values native bison and takes action to protect them.

For the Buffalo,


Daniel Brister
Executive Director
Buffalo Field Campaign
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

[walksalone11]

* Update from the Field

A bull buffalo was shot yesterday on Horse Butte.  For a few weeks he had maintained a space for himself outside of the hunt zone, in the buffalo-friendly Yellowstone Village housing area.  The last time we saw him alive he was bedded down inside Montana's largest "buffalo safe zone" on the Galanis property.   I can still see his wooly head and horns just peaking over a small rise, hoping that he would keep refuge there, but knowing that buffalo will go where they choose, even if the consequences are fatal.  The Galanis property borders Gallatin National Forest land which is in the hunt zone; once he stepped across that imaginary line he became a target and was killed.

It feels as if something has been stolen from the landscape; the bullet extinguished his beneficial and majestic presence, further diminishing the wild bison gene pool by yet another senseless killing of a species moving toward extinction.  The Montana Department of Livestock has manipulated wildlife management so severely that hunters are blindly doing some of the killing for them.  They call it a hunt but to me it looks more like just another way to kill buffalo that step into Montana.  Wild bison still have no year-round habitat in Montana and they are ecologically extinct through most of their native range.  Hunting wild bison is extremely premature and bison need to be given the opportunity to recover as a wildlife species in Montana before a hunt can be deemed fair, sustainable, or even ethical.

Snow has been slow to come this season, and we hope that means fewer buffalo will need to make the journey into Montana while the hunt is underway.  For those that do, we will be watching over them, and while we cannot stop the bullet, we can give all we have to help change hearts and minds.

Roam Free,
~Stephany

[walksalone11]

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* Take Action:  Quarantined Buffalo Need Our Help

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) is poised to hand over to billionaire Ted Turner 74 Yellowstone bison that were captured as calves from Yellowstone National Park, setting a negative precedent of commercializing wild bison that are protected for the benefit of enjoyment of all people.  These buffalo have been held captive for five years in a quarantine feasibility study by the U.S. Dept of Agriculture APHIS and FWP to produce "disease-free" bison for conservation and recovery of American bison as a wildlife species. That was the agencies stated goal, and that is the reason why the U.S. Congress funded millions for the experiment.  BFC has strongly opposed quarantine when wild bison have yet to be recovered on their native range in Yellowstone.

Turner is a commercial entity:  if the buffalo go to him, they belong to him. The Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes  of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana put in a proposal for obtaining these buffalo, and they've been working on bringing buffalo home for years.   Why would the State of Montana and the U.S. government deny them this opportunity?  One thing is certain, these poor buffalo need to get out of their quarantine prison as they still have 5 more years of captivity ahead of them . . .

TAKE ACTION:  We need your help to put pressure on decision-makers to give Yellowstone bison a chance to remain as public wildlife on lands available to all people.  Start by asking the decision-makers below to answer some pointed questions:

1.  Contact the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) commissioners and urge them to develop a proposal to open State Wildlife Areas for these bison.   FWP has hundreds of thousands of acres of suitable bison habitat available on State Wildlife Areas.
Question:  Where is the FWP proposal to reintroduce them onto these lands?
Email the FWP Commissioners at  fwpcomm@mt.gov or write and call them individually:
Shane Colton, Chairman, 335 Clark Billings, MT 59101 (406) 259-9986
Dan Vermillion, Vice-Chairman, PO Box 668 Livingston, MT 59047 (406) 222-0624
Bob Ream, Commissioner, 521 Clarke Street Helena, MT 59601 (406) 443-2595
Ron Moody, Commissioner, 109 Bach Avenue Lewistown, MT 59457 (406) 538-2698
Willie Doll, Commissioner, PO Box 1142 Malta, MT 59538 (406) 658-2120

2.  Give Fort Belknap a helping hand by getting the Department of Interior involved.  The tribes have long sought to establish a permanent herd from Yellowstone bison on 22,000 acres "on tribal and public lands in a manner that promotes cultural enhancement, spiritual revitalization, and ecological restoration."
Ask DOI:
A)  Where is the initiative in the Department of Interior's Bison Conservation Initiative?  Interior is the largest land owner in the US.  Surely there are suitable Parks, Refuges, BLM lands for reintroduction of bison.  Why did they not submit a proposal? Without qualification the bison in Yellowstone are the most important population to the survival of American bison as a wildlife species.
B)  Why has Yellowstone National Park walked away from these bison? Why are they not offering assistance to keep them in the public trust?  Millions of dollars has been allocated to YNP to kill bison and biologists, scientists, rangers have put in thousands of hours to carry out their bison plan. YNP handed over a million dollars to Church Universal & Triumphant to let a few bison on and through their land.  So where is the commensurate action to restore these bison for conservation?
Email National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis at jon_jarvis@nps.gov
Email Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar at feedback@ios.doi.gov
For full contact information, including phone and address, click here.

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* Last Words ~ We Miss You, Rodeo: Mourning the Loss

In the land of true winter, where we measure snowfall in feet and low temperatures in the neighborhood of 40 below zero, we were lucky enough to meet a gentle giant of a man who lived in a tipi with two dogs.  This man, who lived on the BFC property when we first began renting here, shared his skillful wisdom with us and made it possible for us to survive our first winter.  He showed us how much wood we would need, how to keep the pipes from freezing, and all the other little tricks needed to stay warm through a Yellowstone winter.

He accepted me as a brother and before long was cursing me (in jest) after he was arrested while saving the buffalo.  But we were friends for life.  At first we knew this man simply as "Rodeo" but after his arrest we learned his name was Roger Vincent.  He never stopped giving to anyone: friend, foe, or new acquaintance.  He was the kind of guy who would stop his work to help you with yours.  I could go on and on about his positive attributes but he would have made me stop by now.  Every night in the tipi where I have lived for the past 11 years I thank Rodeo for teaching me how to live like this.

I will miss you, my friend, as will many others.  I am sure you are already in the lead in that dog-sled race up in the sky.  I will never forget you because what you taught me I use every single day.

For one who inspired so many stories it is only fitting to end this remembrance with a story. Jeremy, a young native man who was with the Campaign back in our beginning told Rodeo one day that he had come up with an Indian name for him.  Rodeo, feeling honored, turned bright red and waited with pride to hear his new name.  Jeremy then pronounced "From now on you will be known as "Walking Eagle."  Rodeo, obviously honored by the new name, smiled from ear to ear.

"Don't you want to know what it means?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes," replied Rodeo, "of course I do."

"It means you're too full of poop to fly," Jeremy, smiling, told him. Everyone erupted in laughter, especially Rodeo.

So Walking Eagle, fly high and watch over us, because we will always need your help.

To read more about this great man an an event he inspired, please click:
http://www.islandparknews.com/atf.php?sid=7512&current_edition=2009-12-03

For the Buffalo,

Mike Mease
Buffalo Field Campaign

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* Kill Tally

AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2009-2010 Total: 2

2009-2010 Slaughter: 0
2009-2010 Hunt: 2
2009-2010 Quarantine: 0
2009-2010 Shot by Agents: 0
2009-2010 Highway Mortality: 0

2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
Total Since 2000: 3,704*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts, highway mortalities
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Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the U.S.


Join Buffalo Field Campaign -- It's Free!

Tell-a-Friend!

Take Action!

[walksalone11]

Buffalo Field Campaign patrols have been enjoying some amazing wildlife experiences.  On a recent patrol into Yellowstone National Park while watching ravens far in the distance from the heights of Sandy Butte, volunteers spotted three black wolves near the elk kill site we mentioned last week.  They were very far away, and visible only through binoculars, so we were not able to get photos to share with you.  Even from far away, the wolves were very aware of our presence and watched us closely while we were there.  On another patrol along the Madison River, BFC skiers spotted a solitary wolf who seemed determined to enjoy some Trumpeter swan for lunch.  Red fox, elk, otters, and eagles have been showing themselves recently, and so have quite a number of moose.

Moose are very interesting creatures.  They may seem a little goofy and awkward, but they can, in fact, be quite dangerous and require a lot of space.  Unfortunately, moose, like all area wildlife, must try to survive the Yellowstone ecosystem's harsh winters while being enveloped in the constant noise of recreational snowmobilers.  These experiences can be very trying for all wildlife, but moose especially demonstrate their agitation and sometimes show that they are fed up with humans.

On a patrol the other day, we were about to go for a reconnaissance along the north bluffs of the Madison River, a favored migration corridor for buffalo and other wildlife.   We spotted a young bull moose about fifty yards from where we were going to begin our trek, which happened to be right next to a snowmobile route.  The first volunteer gave the moose a very wide and respectful berth, but the moose had apparently been bothered a lot that morning, and he made a bee-line for the volunteer.  We shouted a heads-up to the volunteer, but the moose pursued, and the volunteer had to turn and quickly move to safety.  Thankfully, all ended well.  The moose, after establishing his strong - and understandable - desire to be rid of humans, went his way, and we chose another route to give him the space he needed.

Buffalo migration has yet to begin, even with the significant snowfall we experienced last week.  No hunters have been seen in the area either.  Montana's buffalo hunt season will be over in about a month, and we are hopeful that it will remain quiet for our shaggy friends.  When buffalo do begin their migration, they will find some of their habitat improved;  Buffalo Field Campaign will be removing a significant stretch of barbed wire fence on the Gallatin National Forest along land adjacent to Duck Creek, which is a favored migration corridor for bull bison.  Too many times BFC has documented buffalo being run into this fence during hazing operations.  Removal of the fence should also help keep buffalo off of Highway 287, since they will have a much easier time accessing this habitat.  This area was once a public lands cattle grazing allotment and has been vacant for years. The Forest Service finally permanently closed it to cattle, and tomorrow, BFC will lend a hand to free the land so that buffalo and other wildlife will no longer have to negotiate this cruel stretch of wired injustice.

Roam Free,
~Stephany

[walksalone11]

From E-mail......

"Volunteers have been pouring in from across the country.  People are coming from a diversity of landscapes and backgrounds, all with the common goal of helping America's last wild population of buffalo.  It is encouraging for us to continuously meet new people who are inspired by the buffalo and learn what called them, some traveling thousands of miles for the chance to spend even a few short weeks with us and the buffalo. Thankfully, no buffalo are currently in harms way.  This has allowed us to take the necessary time to thoroughly introduce all these enthusiastic new volunteers to the landscape and field operations, before the insanity of government management actions occur.  These quiet days also enable us to devote time to other projects that help buffalo, like taking down barbed wire fence in buffalo habitat.

The absence of buffalo leaves a hole in our hearts.  Even those who have yet to spend time with buffalo in the field can feel them missing, and crave their presence on the landscape.  Buffalo have a way of touching people even when they are not around, and when when they do begin their migration, the awe of their powerful presence will be a powerful awakening to us all, and volunteers will be ready to do the work necessary to defend them and their right to roam the lands that are their birthright.

Thank you BFC supporters everywhere for enabling us to be here on the front lines and in the policy arena working in defense of America's last wild buffalo!

Roam Free!
~Stephany

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* High Quality Photos Needed for Yellowstone Buffalo Calendar

Thank you to everyone who has sent us Yellowstone buffalo photos for consideration in the first-ever BFC buffalo calendar.  It has been an absolute pleasure to see your pictures!  We still need high-quality Yellowstone buffalo photos, so if you have some you'd like to share, or know of photographers who have been to Yellowstone and spent time with the buffalo, please get in touch.   The Yellowstone buffalo calendar will become available before the 2011 calendar year, and will focus on the positive aspects of buffalo life.  If your photos are chosen for use in the calendar, you will, of course, be given full credit.

Photo submission guidelines:  Calendar photos must be stellar! We need high-quality digital photos at 300dpi, high resolution JPEG or TIFF files.  Photos should be in color.  We cannot accept "photoshopped", scanned, web camera, or photos taken from a web site.  There should not be any dates or text of any kind visible on the photos.  If you have photos that meet these requirements and you're willing to let us submit them for inclusion in the calendar, please send them to Stephany at bfc-media@wildrockies.org.  You may also send a CD of photos to Stephany/Buffalo Calendar, P.O. Box 957, West Yellowstone, Montana 59758.  We can also send you a more detailed document on photo submission guidelines required by the calendar's publisher, so just email for a copy if you intend to submit photos.

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* Support a Wish: BFC Kitchen Needs a New Stove

The BFC kitchen is in need of a new stove! Our current oven has been on the fritz for a few years now and we are looking to replace it before it finally gives up the ghost. We are looking for a commercial grade 6-burner gas range with a large capacity oven. During our main season we feed anywhere from 15-40 volunteers three meals a day seven days a week, so a heavy duty, reliable range is one of our most important tools at camp. If you have this kind of a range, or know someone who does, and would like to donate it to the BFC, or if you would like to help us purchase a new one, please call our kitchen coordinator, Brandy, at 406-646-0070. Thank you!

Please visit BFC's Wish List to find out about other items we need.  All donations - monetary and in-kind - are tax deductible.

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* Buffalo in the News

BFC lends a hand to free the land
West Yellowstone News, January 26, 2010

State vet's assurance should calm ranchers
Casper Star Tribune, January 26, 2010

George Wuerthner: Grass-fed beef won't save the planet
New West, January 22, 2010

Bison, brucellosis and the road to recovery
Bozeman Daily Chronicle, January 16, 2010

OPINION: Giving bison to Turner isn't legal
Casper Star-Tribune, January 10, 2010

Wildlife group explains position
Casper Star-Tribune, January 10, 2010

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* Last Words ~ Howard Zinn

In honor of Howard Zinn, who passed away last night:

"We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change.   Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world."

"Any humane and reasonable person must conclude that if the ends, however desireable, are uncertain and the means are horrible and certain, these means must not be employed."

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.  What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places-and there are so many-where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.  And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

"Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide, and slavery - have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience."

"Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. "

"The challenge remains. On the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, the major media. On our side are the people of the world and a power greater than money or weapons: the truth.  Truth has a power of its own. Art has a power of its own. That age-old lesson - that everything we do matters - is the meaning of the people's struggle here in the United States and everywhere. A poem can inspire a movement. A pamphlet can spark a revolution. Civil disobedience can arouse people and provoke us to think, when we organize with one another, when we get involved, when we stand up and speak out together, we can create a power no government can suppress. We live in a beautiful country. But people who have no respect for human life, freedom, or justice have taken it over. It is now up to all of us to take it back."

~ Howard Zinn, 1922 - 2010.

Do you have submissions for Last Words? Send them to bfc-media@wildrockies.org. Thank you all for the poems, songs and stories you have been sending; you'll see them here!
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* Kill Tally

AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2009-2010 Total: 1

2009-2010 Slaughter: 0
2009-2010 Hunt: 1
2009-2010 Quarantine: 0
2009-2010 Shot by Agents: 0
2009-2010 Highway Mortality: 0

2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
Total Since 2000: 3,703*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts, highway mortalities
------------------------------
Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the U.S.

KEEP BFC ON THE FRONTLINES WITH A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TODAY

Join Buffalo Field Campaign -- It's Free!"

[walksalone11]

Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
February 4, 2010

Buffalo Field Campaign relies on donations from people like you to fund our work to protect the bison.  Please contribute today to keep us strong in the field and on the policy front.


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* Update from the Field
* IBMP Agencies Hold Secret "Public" Meeting
* Good-Bye Tolerance: DOL & Park Service Battle Over Adaptive Management
* Quarantine: FWP Decides to Send 88 Yellowstone Buffalo to Ted Turner
* Wild Buffalo:  What Does this Mean to You?
* Last Words
* Kill Tally
* Important Links

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------------------------------
* Update from the Field

Buffalo near Yellowstone's north boundary.  BFC file photo.

Montana's buffalo "hunt" ends at sunset on February 15.  All hunters but one have failed to take buffalo, simply because the shaggy giants are not here.  Over the weekend, Nez Perce tribal members  - who hold treaty rights to hunt buffalo - were in the area, but they had to return home empty-handed because no buffalo were accessible. Temperatures have been unseasonably warm, and snow accumulation relatively minimal, which can ease the buffalo's drive to seek lower elevation habitat.  In truth, it is more than likely that buffalo are also still trying to recover from the horrible slaughter during the winter of 2007-2008, when Yellowstone and Montana killed more than 1,600 wild buffalo.  Every spring the Montana Department of Livestock leads aggressive management actions that force wild buffalo out of the state, even from areas where there are no cattle.   When tribal and state hunters come to Montana hoping--and failing--to find buffalo, the failings of the livestock industry-driven Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) become starkly clear.

But things could soon be changing.  The Nez Perce, Confederated Salish-Kootenai, and the InterTribal Bison Cooperative are finally active participants in IBMP decision-making, and we expect that their much-needed participation will help guide a more respectful future for wild buffalo.  This has the Department of Livestock and their ranching constituency feeling very uncomfortable, to say the least.  As you will read below, the Department of Livestock appears to be feeling the coming pressure and is reacting much like a cornered animal, snarling and striking.  Hard times are ahead for the buffalo, it seems, but people grow more tired of the cattle industry's hegemony and the buffalo's champions are gaining strength and numbers.  They say the darkest time is just before the dawn, and so it may come to pass this season.  Rest assured that BFC together with tribes and other bison advocates are going to turn the dark into light and realize some positive change.

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* IBMP Agencies Hold Secret "Public" Meeting

BFC recognizes serious flaws in the public process, but we take every opportunity to actively engage and make every attempt to attend all public meetings that affect the Yellowstone buffalo population.  BFC has never missed an Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) meeting ... until this week.  We were shocked to learn that the Interagency Bison Management Plan partners held a secret "public" meeting on Tuesday, February 2nd, with agenda items up for discussion that affect the buffalo and BFC greatly.  Interestingly, none of the regular participants at these meetings were aware that it was taking place.  Nor was the press.  Montana's Madison and Park County commissioners, however, were invited to the meeting, yet somehow it was kept hidden from the general public until after it was underway.   The Montana Department of Livestock is currently the lead agency responsible for organizing meetings, and they failed to adequately notify the public that this meeting was happening, which violates Montana's Open Meeting Law.  It also goes against the recommendations from the U.S. Congress General Accountability Office, who suggested IBMP partners hold meetings in public in order to be transparent and accountable.  BFC is taking action to ensure that these secret "public" meetings never happen again.  Clearly the DOL didn't want BFC or any of the buffalo's strong allies to attend, and we now know why:

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* Good-Bye Tolerance:  DOL & Park Service Battle Over Adaptive Management

While we may have been intentionally excluded from attending the meeting, BFC was on the phone with the Department of Livestock (DOL) and Yellowstone National Park officials and we've learned that extreme changes are being planned by the DOL.

At this IBMP "public" meeting on February 2, Yellowstone National Park and Gallatin National Forest went head-to-head with the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) and consensus among the agencies was thrown out the window. The DOL "intends to make changes," huge, backwards changes and strike out at the buffalo by removing the minimal tolerance all IBMP partners agreed to just last winter.  According to Montana State Vet Marty Zaluski, who represents the DOL, "last year's Adaptive Management Changes won't be repeated."  The DOL intends to withdraw the minimal tolerance all IBMP agencies agreed to in December 2008. Under this Adaptive Management Plan, last spring unlimited numbers of buffalo were allowed to access public lands habitat on cattle-free Horse Butte until May 15, while smaller numbers of buffalo were given some access to critical winter range and spring calving grounds along the south side regions of the Madison River (Madison Arm). It was really the least the agencies could do, but still represented a few months of respite for the buffalo.  Apparently, the DOL felt that the buffalo were afforded too much "tolerance" last year, and now they want to take it all back. Montana lost its brucellosis-free status, and it had nothing to do with the buffalo, so why do they insist on taking these drastic actions against them when the IBMP is clearly failing on both of its goals:  to maintain a viable free-ranging population of bison and to protect Montana's brucellosis-free status?

The specifics of DOL's intended actions this coming season are still unclear, but we do know that they want to begin hazing and capturing buffalo if more than 100 migrate out of the Park's western boundaries between February 15 and April 10.  This means that right after the hunt, and while tribal treaty hunts are still underway, we could see disgusting repeats of DOL actions from winters past, where agents on snowmobiles chase buffalo through deep snow, forcing them to use energy stores that they need to survive the winter.   The DOL also said they will seek to erect the Horse Butte buffalo trap, and they fully intend to slaughter. When BFC asked if IBMP partners would need to come to consensus on these drastic management changes, Marty Zaluski said no.  Montana, apparently, can do whatever it wants; as horrible as the IBMP is, the DOL can make things worse.  But, if that's the path they choose, it will be all on Montana, especially if the Park Service and Forest Service have the courage to uphold their opposition.

At this secret "public" meeting, like at the November IBMP public meeting, tribal representatives, Gallatin National Forest and Yellowstone National Park disagreed with the DOL's stringent and backwards suggestions.  Yellowstone stated that they feel strongly about continuing operations as outlined in the Adaptive Management Plan, and will continue to seek more tolerance for buffalo outside Yellowstone's boundaries.   Tribes, Gallatin NF and Yellowstone NP all agreed that they need more time with the existing Adaptive Management Plan to evaluate its effectiveness before proposing any amendments to it.  You can read through a series of interesting documents, including powerful letters from Yellowstone National Park and the InterTribal Bison Cooperative here.

These renegade actions by the DOL could initiate the dissolving of the Interagency Bison Management Plan.  We still don't know if Yellowstone and Gallatin will refuse to assist the DOL, but they should be encouraged to refrain from participating.  Please take a minute to contact Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis and Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Mary Ericson and thank them for taking a stand for the buffalo and encourage them to drop out of the failing Interagency Bison Management Plan!

BFC will be there do document and challenge the DOL's devolution every step of the way, and we will continue to show the world what these cowboys are doing to the last wild population of American buffalo.  These actions by the DOL demonstrate that they know their time harassing and killing buffalo is coming to an end.

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* Quarantine:  FWP Decides to Send 88 Yellowstone Buffalo to Turner

It is worse than we feared:  Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has decided to send all 88 quarantined Yellowstone buffalo to the private lands of billionaire Ted Turner.  Turner will get to keep 75% of the Yellowstone buffalo's offspring for his commercial gains.  Montana has just set a horrible precedent of privatizing public wildlife and they have shown great disregard to Native American tribes who for years have wanted to bring the buffalo home.

Read BFC's press release.

Read FWP's decison notice.

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* Wild Buffalo:  What Does this Mean to You?

This is a question that is going to be asked throughout Montana over the next few years, and we want to hear what you think.  What does WILD buffalo, truly free-living wild buffalo, mean to you?  How do you see their return taking shape on the landscape?  What challenges can you think of, and the ways to overcome them?  Think big, think practical, dream the buffalo back.  Let us know ~ send your thoughts to bfc-media@wildrockies.org.

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* Last Words

Tell the bison not to go

where they have always been,

instruct the elephants to read

and yield their ancient memories

of where the water is.

Force wolves and bears to learn

the boundaries that have never been-

the ink that lies unseeable

between this tree, that blade of grass.

Teach them all to read the maps

that are invisible. Make them know

what is not real, does not exist

to moon or stars, and stubborn as they are

kill them for not learning

what we will not share.

...for the bison and wolves of the Yellowstone ecosystem and Northern Rockies, for the trees and plants and rocks, for the elephants and orangutans, for the bees and the gorillas, the butterflies and birds, for the voles and nematodes, for the frogs and salamanders and the bats, for the otters, dolphins, whales, and polar bears, for the turtles and the coral and the krill, for the plankton and the leopard, for the beetles and the worms, for the waters, earth, and air...

© February 3, 2010 Carol Snyder Halberstadt


Do you have submissions for Last Words? Send them to bfc-media@wildrockies.org. Thank you all for the poems, songs and stories you have been sending; you'll see them here!

------------------------------
* Kill Tally

AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2009-2010 Total: 1

2009-2010 Slaughter: 0
2009-2010 Hunt: 1
2009-2010 Quarantine: 0
2009-2010 Shot by Agents: 0
2009-2010 Highway Mortality: 0

2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
Total Since 2000: 3,703*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts, highway mortalities
------------------------------

Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the U.S.

KEEP BFC ON THE FRONTLINES WITH A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TODAY

Join Buffalo Field Campaign -- It's Free!

[walksalone11]

Spring is coming very early to West Yellowstone this year.  We are already experiencing a big melt-off, with bare ground beginning to show.  With so much available grass in the park, we haven't seen many bison in Montana.  This hasn't stopped Department of Livestock agent Shane Grube from wasting U.S. tax dollars, making himself look busy at the Duck Creek bison trap, where we've seen him several times this week.

BFC has been focusing our energy on addressing the problems with Yellowstone buffalo being kept on the private ranch of media mogul and bison rancher Ted Turner.   This has been an extremely challenging task, because the government and the media have been so clever in their coverage of the issue, hailing Turner as a hero who is "saving" Yellowstone buffalo.  But Turner is a buffalo rancher who sells buffalo meat and canned hunts, and this is not a goodwill gesture on his part:  he will be paid with living breathing Yellowstone buffalo.  Buffalo that will be lost to the public and the tribes forever.

BFC has always opposed the bison quarantine, on the grounds that it is unnecessary because brucellosis is not really a threat  and because it is a livestock management tool that is inappropriate for wild bison.  Quarantine jeopardizes the potential for bison restoration by giving a false impression that it is the only way bison will be restored to their historic range.  To buy into quarantine is to buy into the brucellosis myth.  Even so, the agencies who put these buffalo through the ill-conceived program - Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) and USDA-Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) - promised the public that any buffalo surviving the study would be placed on public or tribal lands.  By transferring Yellowstone buffalo to the private/commercial lands of Turner, they have violated the public trust and possibly broken the law.

The agencies had more than five years to work with tribes and public lands managers to develop a meaningful plan for the quarantined bison.  They failed to do so.  Instead they called on Turner to bail them out at the last minute while falsely threatening the public that the only other option would be to slaughter the bison.  Nothing, in fact, could have been further from the truth because there were tribes ready to take them home, and public lands in Montana where they could live as wildlife.  Now the agencies are forcing us to pay for their mistake by treating the buffalo's future offspring as currency and using them to pay Ted Turner.  Quarantine is part of the Interagency Bison Management Plan, so we believe that funds appropriated for that failed management scheme should be used to pay Turner, not American buffalo.

If you are still unsure about how you feel regarding members of America's last wild bison population being sequestered from the public and tribes, and placed into private, commercial hands, please read BFC's Supplemental Comments to the quarantine plan  or send us an email with your questions and concerns.

Roam Free!