Relentless Hazing Of Bison Near Yellowstone

BFC Update From The Field

Two young bull buffalo relaxing together on Horse Butte, one of the only places where buffalo have found any peace in the Hebgen Basin. BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.



This past week wild buffalo have been constantly harassed in the Hebgen Basin, just west of Yellowstone National Park. Agents from Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) chase buffalo from the backs of horses and ATVs. Hazing (forced removal) operations have been taking place nearly every day. The bulk of these traumatic operations have occurred along the South Fork of the Madison River, south of the Horse Butte Peninsula, while a few have occurred along highway 287, north of Horse Butte.



BFC's stellar kitchen coordinator, Brandy, documents a hazing operation along highway 287. Horse Butte is visible in the background. BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.



BFC patrols have been in the field nearly 18 hours a day, documenting government actions against the buffalo, monitoring the highways to help with safe passage, and ensuring that everything runs smoothly here at our headquarters. While this time of year is exhausting for volunteers, it is the buffalo who truly suffer. We have yet to see any newborn calves, though we know they'll arrive any day. Expectant buffalo cows, eight and a half months pregnant, are constantly disrupted and forced to run mile after grueling mile. When the newborns arrive, they too will be forced from their native ground. 




A hazing operation pushes wild buffalo down Highway 287, past Grayling Creek. The majority of adult females are pregnant, yet no mercy is shown. While National Park Service and Gallatin County law enforcement flanked the haze to do traffic control and monitor BFC field patrols, BFC volunteers documented from every angle. BFC file photos by Stephany. Click photos for larger images.



 


 Last Thursday a mixed group of fifteen buffalo, including two giant bulls, were pushed off of their chosen ground along the northern shore of Hebgen Lake, down Highway 287. With no cattle in the area the buffalo were punished simply for crossing an imaginary line drawn by Montana's livestock industry. Not long after the agents abandoned the haze, the buffalo - who know better than anyone where they should be - were already making their way back to the habitat they'd been chased from. A few days later these buffalo paid a visit to BFC headquarters. Shortly after leaving, two DOL agents on ATVs came and hazed them again. BFC patrols witnessed DOL livestock inspectors throwing rocks at an injured cow buffalo, hurt in the hazing operation and slow to move.



Maria, an amazing and dedicated new BFC volunteer, documents a hazing operation - one of many - that took place in the Denny Creek/South Fork region. Buffalo have been repeatedly harassed in this area for nearly two weeks. BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.



The bulk of the hazing operations began near the South Fork of the Madison River, on and around the private lands of hobby rancher Pat Povah, who occupies splendid and important wildlife habitat but has no tolerance for wild buffalo. Agents routinely chase buffalo out of this area and continue to push them for several miles on the Gallatin National Forest.



Buffalo in Houdini's Meadow at the end of a haze. This particular haze started more than eight miles west in the Denny Creek/South Fork area, and the buffalo were clearly exhausted. Once given the chance, most buffalo immediately began to graze, others bedded down, while a few just stood there too tired to move. Only Livestock Inspector Bridger is shown here, because his DOL partner, Mark Anderson, ended up riding his horse so hard he went lame and had to drop out. BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.



Not all of the hazing operations went according to the DOL's plans. On Earth Day the buffalo got the better of the agents. DOL livestock inspector Bridger attempted to haze a group of more than thirty buffalo by himself, while many more buffalo were also in the area, and Bridger was running his horse back and forth, firing off cracker rounds, and not making much headway.




On this particular haze, Livestock Inspector Bridger attempts to haze wild buffalo by himself. He soon learned that he was no match for them. In the second photo, you can see his shotgun, which he uses to shoot "cracker rounds" to scare the buffalo. Bridger's poor horse was ridden incredibly hard this week, and like the buffalo, is not likely to get much rest in the near future. BFC file photos by Stephany. Click photos for larger images.


Even after calling in "reinforcements" which included another DOL agent on horseback and an FWP agent on an ATV, more buffalo migrated into this area. Groups of buffalo were scattered about, and the agents would try to group them together then leave to round up another group. While they were gone the buffalo would disperse and go back to their roaming and grazing. Mr. Povah's lands are choked by strands of barbed wire, which buffalo are pretty good at navigating when not being harassed. But during the stress and fear of hazing operations, as the buffalo try to escape the agents, they are many times run through barbed wire fences as we have documented numerous times. On this particular day, after a number of hours trying to control what should not be controlled, the livestock agents were forced to give it up and the buffalo were left to enjoy the rest of the day in peace.



These buffalo arrived at the Denny Creek/South Fork area while two DOL agents were having their work cut out for them, trying to chase around various groups of wild buffalo. These buffalo are running simply because they felt good! They were bucking and kicking and sparring and feeling the good warm Earth Day. They did not end up getting hazed this day, and in fact, the DOL had to call off hazing other wild buffalo because the buffalo were too much of a challenge for them. BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.



Over the course of the week, nearly two hundred buffalo were chased by DOL and FWP agents on horseback, with one DOL livestock inspector, Bridger, firing numerous cracker rounds to frighten the buffalo into moving. This happened nearly every day this week. After each haze ended, the buffalo would return to the area because it is quite simply perfect wildlife habitat, but it is "owned" and controlled by the Povah family who have no interest in sharing the land with her rightful roamers.



This photo shows nearly 170 wild buffalo that were rudely forced off of their chosen habitat by four horsemen, three with the DOL and one with FWP. This is outstanding habitat for wild buffalo, yet one ranching family's intolerance causes all this trouble and waste of federal tax dollars. BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.



The following day, more DOL and FWP agents - complete with National Park Service and US Forest Service law enforcement - arrived to again harass the buffalo who had also increased in numbers. The agents' tempers were up and they treated the buffalo badly. During the course of the haze, cowboys were yipping and yelling while they exploded numerous cracker rounds. A BFC field patrol positioned in the forest documented a cow buffalo with her eye bulging from the socket and blood streaming down the side of her face. Later during this same haze, another cow buffalo started to show her resistance, and bluff charged one of the DOL agents numerous times. BFC patrols reported that another DOL agent said he'd "like to make a crotch rocket out of her."



This photo shows the smoke from cracker rounds fired, which the DOL agents use to scare the buffalo into moving. BFC file photo by Cindy. Click photo for larger image.



On Tuesday the agents found that the buffalo had returned to their chosen ground and the haze resumed. On Wednesday morning, DOL and FWP agents returned to the same area, this time with a Gallatin County Sheriff. But the DOL's day was over: there were no buffalo present for them to harass.



DOL livestock inspector Bridger runs his horse back and forth behind the buffalo, trying to get them to move. The agent left this group to go harass more wild buffalo, and as soon as he left, the buffalo dispersed. This haze, which took place on Earth Day, was called off before it got very far. BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.



On Wednesday's morning patrol we saw two Yellowstone Park Rangers pulling a horse trailer, so we followed them and spoke with them. They offered that they were doing a recon into the Park, along the northeast bluffs of the Madison to see what buffalo they could see, but also to take a "warm up" ride in preparation for the more intense hazing that is yet to come. We have heard that the agents intend to chase all the buffalo off of Horse Butte beginning May 9th, but after the conversation with the rangers today, it may come sooner and we are ready. Hazing wild buffalo makes about as much sense as damming the ocean or trying to control which clouds can float across "your" sky. We pray that one day the light of this wisdom will dawn in their minds, and until it does, we will be here with the buffalo, every step of the way.

Wild is the Way ~ Roam Free!!




* Thank You Tuscon, Arizona!

Mike Mease has returned to BFC headquarters after a week in Tuscon, Arizona, talking with buffalo advocates, sharing video footage from the field and stories from first-hand experiences with America's last wild buffalo. Mike - and all of us at BFC - extend our deepest thanks for the warm (he'd say HOT!) welcome he received and has absolutely raved about his experience there. He will be giving a shout out to everyone who made this trip possible in next week's update. Thank you, Tuscon, Arizona, for welcoming BFC into your community and your hearts!




* Only One Week Left! Nominate Buffalo Field Campaign for the 2012 Green Awards

Buffalo Field Campaign is in the running for Great Nonprofits' 2012 Green Awards to identify top-rated nonprofits focusing on environmental issues around the globe. We need you to speak up for us right now. Your story can help BFC gain valuable feedback and guide others who might provide support by donating or volunteering.

Please take three minutes to help nominate Buffalo Field Campaign by writing a review by April 30th!



* Outreach Volunteers Wanted for Summer Tabling!

Buffalo Field Campaign will begin starting our summer outreach inside Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park in June, and we are looking for passionate, articulate folks who can help run our information tables, talk to hundreds of park visitors and build a strong constituency for wild buffalo. BFC provides food, lodging, camping, gear, and transportation to and from our table in the Park. We ask for at least a three-week commitment in order to accommodate training and orientation. This is a great opportunity to get involved and advocate for America's last wild buffalo! Please contact Tony for more information.



* BFC Wish List: Assorted Optics

We could use some help to (literally) keep our sights on the buffalo. We find ourselves in need of new optics: Cameras, binoculars, spotting scopes, and equipment to steady these optics. Below is a section of our wish list that focuses on optics including quantities that will help keep all BFC field volunteers well-equipped. Any contribution for these items is extremely helpful and important to the campaign, whether it is a ten dollar donation towards optics or the purchase of one or more of the items below. Thanks to each and every one of you for loving the buffalo and for keeping BFC going and our volunteers prepared in the field every day. If you can help with these assorted optics wishes please contact our gear coordinator.

Zoom lenses for SLR digital photo cameras (Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom Lens; Rokinon 650-1300mm Super Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR still cameras; Opteka 650-1300mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR still cameras)

(6-10 pairs) compact high-resolution binoculars, water- and fog-proof, 7-10x 35-70mm magnification

(6-10 pairs) full-size high-resolution binoculars, water- and fog-proof, 7-10x 35-70mm magnification

(3-5) high-resolution spotting scopes, standard tripod- or window-mounted, with zoom, 16-60x 60(+)mm magnification

(3) compact tripods

(3) full-size fluid head video tripods

(3-5) Walking/Ski pole Monopods with standard camera mount (eg. Leki, Tracks brands)


Click HERE to view BFC's complete Wish List



* Endangered Buffalo Fact of the Week

This one is well worth repeating:

"Yellowstone bison are designated as wildlife in Montana.... Within Montana, bison are designated with an S2 ranking, defined as: 'At risk because of very limited and/or potentially declining population numbers, range and/or habitat, making it vulnerable to global extinction or extirpation in the state ... The Montana Comprehensive Fish and Wildlife Conservation Strategy (MCFWCS) identifies bison as a Tier One Species. In the MCFWCS, a Tier One Species is a species considered in greatest conservation need.' "

This language - which strongly begs the question as to how Montana can justify the continuation of such harmful management of wild bison - is from Montana's response to a comment asking the State to consider the status of wild bison in Montana in their Gardiner Basin Environmental Assessment. Montana's response is listed as #5 on page 6 of the IBMP Joint Decision Notice to expand tolerance zones for wild bison in the Gardiner Basin, North of Yellowstone National Park, which you can read here.

Have a fact you'd like to share with us?



* By the Numbers

AMERICAN BUFFALO ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S. The last wild population is currently estimated at fewer than 3,700 individual buffalo. Wild bison are currently ecologically extinct throughout their native range in North America.

2011-2012 Total Buffalo Killed: 29

2011-2012 Government Capture:
2011-2012 Government Slaughter:
2011-2012 Held for Government Experiment:
2011-2012 Died In Government Trap:
2011-2012 Miscarriage in Government Trap:
2011-2012 State & Treaty Hunts: 28
2011-2012 Quarantine:
2011-2012 Shot by Agents:
2011-2012 Killed by Angry Residents:
2011-2012 Highway Mortality: 1

2010-2011 Total: 227
2009-2010 Total: 7
2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631

* Total Since 2000: 4,001*

*includes lethal government action, trap-related fatalities, quarantine/experiments, hunts, highway mortality




* Last Words ~ Earth Day in Honor of PHILbarb


Every earth day, our dear friend and buffalo warrior barb abramo would send out an email to her personal contacts, in celebration of the life of the love of her life, Phil Morton, who passed away on Earth Day 2003. She would honor Phil and the buffalo, as Phil's passion for them was incredibly strong. And if you knew barb, you know she carried that flaming passion also. Now that barb has rejoined Phil, we wanted to share this Earth Day message in both their honor. Earth Day in Honor of PHILbarb


Do you have submissions for Last Words? Send them to bfc-media@wildrockies.org. Thank you for all the poems, songs, quotes and stories you have been sending! Keep them coming!
Top of Page

Subscribe yourself or your friends to BFC's weekly Email Updates from the Field

Modern Cowboy

BFC file photo by Stephany. Click photo for larger image.

Department of Livestock agent Mark AndersonMark Anderson makes a call on his cell phone while hounding a very pregnant buffalo. We heard him say words like "emergency buffalo situation!" and "buffalo not cooperating!" The DOL were on their own today, and the buffalo gave them a great challenge.

Buffalo Allowed To Roam Outside Yellowstone?

BFC File Photo 2010-2011

Yellowstone's new superintendent, Daniel Wenk along with Governor B.S. and the DOL have been having "behind the scenes discussions" about allowing buffalo outside Yellowstone.  The plan is to create a north side buffer stretching roughly 13 miles north of the park, encompassing the Gardiner Basin and ending at Yankee Jim Canyon along the Yellowstone River. Fences and other barriers would be erected to prevent the buffalo from going into Paradise Valley where cattle ranches are located. Schweitzer also proposes allowing bison 'hunting' in this Northern "buffer zone."

Regarding the current slaughter operation he heads, Governor B.S. comments,

"Why treat the bison in this way? When they cross an imaginary line — boom boom boom — shoot them like a couch," Schweitzer said. "We're attempting to enlarge the area where bison are allowed to leave the park, within the constraints of keeping them away from livestock."

In 2008 Governor B.S. bragged,

"No governor in Montana history has sent more bison to slaughter than this governor."

 

Contact New Yellowstone Superintendent

Update from BFC

This beautiful cow buffalo stops to look back towards members of her family, during a hazing operation conducted by Yellowstone National Park, Montana Department of Livestock, USDA-Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, and US Forest Service agents.  BFC file photo.  

  Dan Wenk has started in his official capacity as Yellowstone National Park's new Superintendent.  He enters his office at a critical time for the buffalo and needs to hear from you!  Please take a moment right now to contact Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk, welcoming him to Yellowstone and urging him to take action to protect the buffalo.  Please share this link with everyone who you think might be interested in helping protect the wild buffalo.

Over 500 wild buffalo are still captive inside Yellowstone's Stephens Creek bison trap.   Many of the females in the trap are a month or less away from calving.  Yellowstone's own bison biologist has admitted that confining buffalo during this time can exacerbate increased prevalence of brucellosis among buffalo.

The buffalo in the trap are being fed alfalfa, a livestock food that is not natural for wild buffalo, and  in large quantities can cause complications for pregnant mothers, including calf deaths.  Injuries and death are also very common for buffalo that are confined.  Yellowstone has not announced what they intend to do with the buffalo in the trap - if they will hold them there, or let them go.  Other wild buffalo have suffered hazing operations nearly every day along the west side of the Yellowstone River, as they attempt to migrate out of deep snow into lower-elevation lands where they can find the grass they need to survive the winter.   A few times during hazing operations, BFC patrols have witnessed the trapped buffalo stampeding while their friends on the outside are being chased by agents.  At other times, we've seen buffalo in the trap try to walk along side of their relatives on the outside, who have come to pay them visits, only to bump into the fence, unable to follow their migrating brethren.

               

Wild buffalo are relentlessly forced to flee their winter range.  Hazing operations like the one shown here are taking place nearly every day on critical habitat north of and inside Yellowtone National Park.  BFC file photo. 

                                         

 

These wild buffalo naturally migrated through the Royal Teton Ranch land easement corridor, only to be hazed back into Yellowstone National Park.  Millions have been spent for buffalo to be able to use these lands, yet they are still refused access.  BFC file photo. 

Further hazing operations belie the failure of the Royal Teton Ranch land lease experiment, which in early January saw twenty-five buffalo forced through a $3.3 million corridor to a small section of Gallatin National Forest, where agents hoped they would stay for a couple months.  Agents said they wanted to see how they might use the landscape.  The buffalo showed them that wild buffalo use the landscape by migrating, so the agents shot two and have the rest in the trap.  On Monday, a group of about forty buffalo used that exact same corridor, naturally migrating there own their own, yet six riders on horseback from Yellowstone, the Montana Department of Livestock, and USDA APHIS, along with US Forest Service law enforcement, chased them all back into Yellowstone. 

 
The Montana Department of Livestock has also been conducting some curious activities along Hwy. 89 near Gardiner.  On numerous occasions last week, patrols monitored DOL agents driving nearly 100-mile round trips to the Gardiner area in big pick-up trucks towing horse trailers, gathering with National Park Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Park County Sheriffs, and US Forest Service law enforcement, as if poised for hazing or shooting buffalo; yet, instead of witnessing actions against the buffalo, patrols saw the agents stand around and chat it up, go to lunch and leave town.  Great for the buffalo, but extremely wasteful with U.S. tax dollars.  A further demonstration of the extreme waste of funds allocated to the Interagency Bison Management Plan.  These funds would be much better spent on habitat-based solutions.

Since we last wrote, twenty more buffalo have been killed by hunters.  Sixteen bull buffalo were taken by the Nez Perce within four days on Gallatin National Forest lands outside of the Park's northern boundary.  Another four buffalo were taken by Nez Perce and Umatilla hunters off of public lands west of Yellowstone.  There are very few buffalo left for hunters to take.

Snow keeps falling, and wild buffalo will continue to migrate as their survival instincts dictate.  BFC remains steadfast on the front lines with the buffalo around Gardinder and West Yellowstone.  We sincerely appreciate all the actions you have been taking for the buffalo, and all the words of support you have been sending our way.  All of you are Buffalo Field Campaign, and together, we will press on, as the buffalo do.

ROAM FREE!

Bison Abuse in Yellowstone

This is a good opinion article by Dr. Brian L. Horejsi. A Wildlife Scientist and long time Yellowstone user. He lives in Calgary, Alberta

Harsh criticism is increasingly justified in todays world of National Park and public land management, a world in which regulatory retreat from principles and regulation is the new norm and "gut and grab" politics seem to be an every day threat. One such issue deserving of harsh review is the continuous persecution of bison in the Yellowstone ecosystem. What is happening on Yellowstones borders is no less offensive than the corralling and clubbing of dolphins in Japan, the clubbing of seal pups off Canada's coast, or the indiscriminate slaughter of African elephants that eventually led to massive population declines barely a decade ago.

 http://www.counterpunch.org/horejsi02172011.html

Excellent Letter to Colin Campbell

Here is a comment I received to a previous post. There was no attached map.

My letter to Colin and the Park Service;

Sir;

First lets start with supposedly 3,900 Bison in the park(a number that is WAY too high, with all the hunter kills, over 100, still about a month of hunt left, not to mention the winter kills happening daily) "They" say 50% of Bison are infected or test positive. How can they say that when the only Bison they have tested in the past many years, are the ones they just did at Stephens creek and only 1/3 tested positive? With their numbers, it comes to less than 2,000 being positive (again their numbers are way off the mark) Then we look at the elk and they are supposed to be 5% positive. At over 30,000 elk in and out of the Park year around, not to mention the tens of thousands in the Madison Valley, even at 5% positive, you have way more infected animals traipsing farther than Bison, and mingling with livestock, (Bison rarely if ever mingle). It has been proven Bison are NOT the culprit for the transmissions, yet the focus is still all on the Bison.
 
It's known these animals are 'genetically' pure,(THREE different, distinct, genetically pure herds in Yellowstone Park) yet the powers that be want to contaminate them with vaccines, and domestication. Heck they can't manage the domesticated cattle, how in the world do they think they can manage wild animals? 

In the mean time there is a lot of money being thrown down the chute, because the Livestock industry is too embarrassed to admit Brucellosis is NOT a threat to humans. They want that budget, so they can continue wasting the money on hazing Bison where there are no cattle ever(Horse Butte Peninsula), they capture the bison before they leave the Park so the hunters holding tags are left out in the cold. This is like a Ponzi scheme, and we the taxpayer are losing our you-know-what.

In February of 2009 the Medical world released the fact that Brucellosis is EASILY curable in humans.
These Bison belong to every citizen of the United States of America, NOT the Department of Livestock nor Yellowstone National Park I have a piece of each and every Bison out there, and you are taking it away from ME.
Why do the Elk get a reprieve and the Bison don't?

When will you National Park Service People start protecting our animals and parks for future generations, instead of destroying them?

I have attached a map showing the Horse Butte Peninsula, so you can see the peninsula is just an extension of the Park, and Bison can contaminate absolutely no cattle on that Peninsula.

Ann 

TAKE ACTION to SAVE BUFFALO

I just wanted to post the links to where you can submit letters to Ken Salazar and Montana government agencies.

• Defenders of Wildlife pre-written letter

          https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1991

• Natural Resource Defense Council pre-written letter

          https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2129& s_src=fb

• If you're feeling creative and/or want to tell Montana's government what to do and where to go, here is the link to email legislators and the committees.

          http://leg.mt.gov/css/sessions/62nd/legwebmessage.asp

Young bulls at West Entrance

Temporary Halt to Slaughter

Bison slaughter on hold as park reviews lawsuit

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press Matthew Brown, Associated Press – 

BILLINGS, Mont. –

Officials halted plans Friday to ship bison to slaughter from Yellowstone National Park after saying they first had to review a court challenge filed by wildlife advocates. Almost 400 of the animals were being held in corrals inside the park for testing to see if they have been exposed to the disease brucellosis.

400 Bison to be SLAUGHTERED!

BFC Photo Week of Jan. 30th-Feb.3rd

Buffalo Field Campaign

Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
February 3, 2011
------------------------------
* Update from the Field: Park Service Captures 400 Bison; BFC Files Emergency Injunction to Stop Slaughter
* ‘Corridor to Nowhere’ Fails to Provide Habitat and Wastes Millions of Dollars
* VOLUNTEER!  Please Join BFC on the Front Lines!
* Last Words
* By the Numbers
* Helpful Links
------------------------------ 
* Update from the Field:
Park Service Captures 400 Bison; BFC Files Emergency Injunction to Stop Slaughter

Friends of the Buffalo,

On Friday the Park Service released the 62 bison that they captured in the Stephens Creek trap starting the first week of January.  Sadly, this was a hollow gesture.  On Monday Park Rangers herded approximately 300 bison, including many of those released just three days earlier, into the trap.  On Tuesday they captured 21 more.  Wednesday another 20 were trapped.  Today BFC field patrols report that 45 to 50 additional bison were captured, bringing the approximate number of bison currently confined in Yellowstone’s trap to 390.

These buffalo, members of America’s only continuously wild population, are currently confined behind cold steel walls where they are being treated like cattle.  Feeding them hay and alfalfa, running them through squeeze chutes, and testing them for antibodies to brucellosis, Yellowstone officials have announced they will slaughter some, and possibly all, of these irreplaceable creatures.

Twenty-seven more buffalo have been killed by state and tribal hunters along the Park’s western and northern boundaries, bringing the total number of hunt kills documented by BFC patrols to 128.  A buffalo died from wounds suffered inside the Stephens Creek trap on January 12 and another was shot by Department of Livestock agents on January 24^th, bringing this winter’s total kill to 130.  If the Park Service decides, as they have hinted, to slaughter all the buffalo in the trap, this would represent the loss of more than 520 bison, or 15 percent of the entire population.  And it is barely February.


A Yellowstone Park Ranger chases buffalo toward the Stephens Creek Trap in Yellowstone National Park.  Photo copyright 2011 Jim Macdonald/BFC
Click here to view a slideshow of photos from this week.

Alarmed by the prospect of such a heavy loss and its impact on the genetics of America’s only continuously wild bison population, BFC teamed up with some of our closest allies this week to file an emergency legal injunction to prevent the Park Service from sending the buffalo to slaughter.

We have been waiting for a final decision from federal Judge Charles Lovell on the merits of our lawsuit challenging the Interagency Bison Management Plan since September and have been forced to file this injunction by the Park Service’s recent actions.  We are asking the court to stop the agencies from killing bison in and around Yellowstone National Park and to discontinue the use of traps like the one at Stephens Creek to capture, confine, and ship bison to slaughter.

In addition to running field patrols in both West Yellowstone and Gardiner and our urgent work in the courts, we have been making many trips to Helena to testify against a slew of anti-bison bills in the state legislature.  HB 214 and SB 207 would classify all wild bison in Montana as livestock, SB 184 would permit “the use of bows and arrows” to hunt wild buffalo in Montana, and SB 148, which fortunately appears to have died in committee, would have made it legal for Department of Livestock agents to enter private property without notifying and against the objections of the landowner to haze wild bison.   

We've set up a web page to track these and other buffalo bills in the 2011 Montana legislature and encourage your timely involvement and participation in protecting America's last wild buffalo. 

Buffalo Field Campaign is doing everything we can to prevent a repeat of the winter of 2008, when more than 1,600 bison were killed.  But we are only as strong as you, our supporters.  Please pick up the phone, send an email, support our efforts with a tax-deductible donation, or join us in the field to help us protect the buffalo.  We can not do it without  you.

Take Action!

Please take a moment right now and urge Yellowstone's Acting Superintendent Colin Campbell and your US Senators and Representative to stop the slaughter of the Yellowstone bison, America's only continuously wild population. 

Colin Campbell, Yellowstone National Park
PHONE: 307-344-2003
EMAIL: colin_campbell@nps.gov

Use this link to find and contact your US Senators and Representative.

Share this email with them and urge them to take immediate action to protect our last wild buffalo.

For the Buffalo,

Dan Brister
Executive Director
Buffalo Field Campaign

 ------------------------------
* ‘Corridor to Nowhere’ Fails to Provide Habitat and Wastes Millions of Dollars

For some of the buffalo currently awaiting their fate in the trap, the first month of 2011 was a living nightmare.  Never has management of the wild Yellowstone bison been such a heavy-handed and intensive failure.  One group of buffalo in the trap has had it particularly hard, having already been captured, tested, marked, tagged and—for the females—invaded with vaginal telemetry devices at the beginning of January as part of an ill-conceived plan we call the Corridor to Nowhere.  Described in more detail in last week’s Update, this project has been doomed from the start to be a wasteful failure.

After enduring all the horrors of the trap for two weeks, 25 buffalo were “released” and chased by horses down a narrow, electric fence-lined passage further away from the park to a place called Cutler Meadows, an overgrazed pasture denuded of life from years of cattle grazing that impacted soils and killed off native grasses.  For anyone to actually think that wild bison, the very definition of a migratory species, would stay in this area exhibits a striking lack of understanding for the nature of bison.  The fact that the National Park Service, MT Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, National Parks Conservation Association, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Montana Wildlife Federation supported and paid $3.3 million for such an ill-conceived plan shows how little these agencies and groups understand the nature of wild bison.

Almost as soon as they were hazed to Cutler Meadows the buffalo started to leave.  A group of 11 wasted no time in swimming across the Yellowstone River for a reunion with family members that have been penned inside a quarantine facility for several years.  The buffalo inside the pens came to the fence and stood near their still wild kin.  Agents on horseback quickly arrived and hazed the group back across the Yellowstone River.  The buffalo then re-crossed the river only to be hazed again.  Agents used cracker-rounds (explosive charges fired from guns), more powerful explosive charges, and even threw rocks at the buffalo in their attempts to chase them back to Cutler Meadows.

The next day buffalo crossed the river again and were again hazed back.  And the next day.  And the next.  Every day for more than a week the buffalo left Cutler Meadows and every day government agents chased them back.  One of the buffalo, refusing to be hazed, was shot.  Another ran into the hills and has not been seen since.  On January 28 the agents decided they’d had enough.  Using the quarantine pens as a trap, they captured a group of 13 bison, loaded them onto cattle trailers, drove them across the river and released them.  The buffalo, also having had enough, of this so-called tolerance headed south toward the Park, where they joined up with 90 other bison.  All of these buffalo, along with hundreds of others, were captured this week and now find themselves back in the trap at Stephens Creek.

Please take immediate action to prevent their slaughter

------------------------------
* VOLUNTEER!  Please Join BFC on the Front Lines!

 
Buffalo Field Campaign's multifaceted approach to helping protect our nation's last free-roaming population of bison often leaves us spread thin for volunteers. We are finding ourselves in need of experienced volunteers to join us on patrols of the Yellowstone boundary. The last call for return volunteers was answered with a tremendous and much needed response. THANK YOU!!!!! If you can again - or are able to for the first time this season - come home to Horse Butte, Sandy Butte, the Madison River, your community, your Campaign, and to your buffalo. We all need you and miss you.

volunteer@buffalofieldcampaign.org
406-646-0070

------------------------------
* Last Words

We can live with the animals. Buffalo are part of the overall picture.  If you don't want them, go get a farm in Iowa.

~ Hank Rate, bison-friendly rancher, from Bozeman Daily Chronicle article "Gardiner-area Ranchers Weigh in on Nearby Bison"

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

------------------------------
* By the Numbers

AMERICAN BUFFALO ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S. which currently numbers fewer than 3,800 animals.

2010-2011 Total: 131

2010-2011 Government Slaughter: 1
2010-2011 State & Treaty Hunts: 128
2010-2011 Quarantine: 0
2010-2011 Shot by Agents: 1
2010-2011 Highway Mortality: 1

2009-2010 Total:  7
2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631

SB 148 DPHHS Bison Management

I attended the Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee meeting on SB 148 earlier this week. It was 1hr of bison and landowner bashing. I sat to the left and behind the comment podium. The sponsor of the bill, Art Wittich, says there are too many buffalo and that if DOL was doing it's job of managing wild buffalo before the animal comes onto private land, there wouldn't be issues with landowners.

One interesting thing about SB 148 is the following quote from the bill Sec.1 Subsection (2)(c)

The department is not required to notify or obtain the landowner's permission to enter the property prior to conducting bison control activities if the department, the department of public health and human services, and the department of fish, wildlife, and parks all find that entry onto the landowner's property without notice or permission is necessary to protect the public health and safety.

In regards to seeking permission from both FWP and DPHHS, Christian MacKay had the following arrogant statement against the state of Montana, "We don't need the state or federal, especially federal offices looking over our shoulder [making] sure we are doing a good job."
I began laughing at this hole he dug.

Brucellosis-the B word- came up alot from a representative from Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) and Christian MacKay executive officer of the MDOL. MSGA made a statement that goes beyond the superficial. "[we] need to keep bison and cattle separate in time and space." When he said this a thought flowed into my head that he is not referring to fences, but literally 'time' and 'space.' Cattle and bison cannot be in this country at the same time. The bison need to go.

A friend of mine gave a excellent presentation on the different strains of brucellosis, livestock who carry it and the threat to humans. Here it is:

Sec. 1 81-2-120 Management of wild buffalo or bison for disease control. Whenever a publicly owned wild buffalo or bison from a herd that is infected with a dangerous disease, etc... action (d) states that disease is brucellosis.

Brucellosis is passed through birthing material, therefore there should be an amendement to not kill the bulls or females before or after breeding age. Brucellosis causes a cow to abort it's first fetus, so areas without cattle should be exempt. A human contracts the disease by either allowing the bacteria to enter a cut, breathing in the bacteria or drinking unpasteurized milk. If a landowner or anyone on their land comes that close to the buffalo, that person becomes the Public Health Issue.

B Suis is most often found in hogs and is more deadly to humans that that found in cattle.

B. melitenses is found in goats and sheep and causes the most severe illness in humans.

Brucellosis abortus, which is found in cattle and which the buffalo have a strain of has never transferred from buffalo to cattle, is not usually fatal in humans and the intermittent fevers can be exhausting and last a few days. This disease is CURABLE. No need to clear bison from the landscape, as Christian Mackay suggested.

Given all this information, Brucellosis abortus cannot realistically be considered a dangerous disease. Therefore, the entirety of Section 1 should be revoked.
I do support DOL having to receive landowner permission!

Letter to MDOL on SB 207

SB 207 Managing Bison as Livestock

My name is Julia Vincent.  I live in Helena, Montana.  My grandparents were Montana homesteaders.  My mother's family homesteaded in Daniels County.  My father's parents homesteaded along the north fork of the Flathead river.  My grandfather, Ray Vincent, was acting superintendent of Glacier National Park.  My father, John D. Vincent, was a foreman and a ranger in The Park.

In the 1800's, the Department of the Interior was complaining that Indians and Buffalo are taking grassland away from cattle.  This mentality remains in control to this day.  The attacks on genetically pure bison are fueled by fear, not by reality.  Taxpayers' money continues to be misused to fund an archaic, racist war.  Giving Yellowstone Bison to Ted Turner while refusing to give them to local indigenous nations was borne out of the livestock industry's fear that Indians are going to bring back the Buffalo. Now you are attempting to eradicate them by re-labeling the last remnant of genetically pure bison as livestock. Livestock are animals your ancestors brought to the western hemisphere when they emigrated to this foreign land. Genetically pure bison are indigenous wildlife, sacred to the First Nations.

And, as you already know, there is not even one documented case of bison giving brucellosis back to the cattle who brought it here to begin with.  More taxpayers' money being spent on a lie.

Tatanka is not livestock!  Let the genetically pure buffalo roam.

New Coin Designs to Celebrate Conservation?

You are all familiar by now with the U.S. quarter series in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, featuring each state, including the U.S. territory of Guam. Well, now this year a new quarter series will begin next month in April dedicated to the national parks. Each quarter will feature on one side a 1932 portrait of George Washington and on the other an image depicting a national park totaling 56 coins. The first park will be Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas with the image of the park headquarters with the National Park Service emblem.

Yesterday was a ceremony in WA D.C. unveiling the design for the Yellowstone quarter (pictured right) which will be out in June. What is pictured on the coin is none other than old faithful with a bull bison in the foreground.

"The program is designed to celebrate the nation's legacy of conservation." NPS

Conservation?? Yeah right! For the past 200 years these bison have been slaughtered to near extinction. Even as you read this the Montana Department of Livestock is getting ready for their spring hazing of these remnants. This animal that once numbered into the millions is now down to a meager 3,000 and will be even less if they are slaughtered by government agencies as in the past.

Also, there is a new "study" that is to be carried out this year by Animal Plan Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The guise basis for this is to determine whether or not bull bison (as pictured above in the new U.S. coin) transmit brucellosis to cattle. Of course this is FALSE. First, brucellosis is a reproductive disease brought into this continent by European cattle. It causes cattle to abort their first calf. The disease is transmittable by ingestion of infected afterbirth or infected milk. Brucellosis was first found in Yellowstone bison in 1917 after some buffalo were fed milk from infected cows. Most wildlife are infected or have been at some point and now carry antibodies to the disease. Second, no buffalo would voluntarily mate with domestic cows. This new "study" of APHIS constitutes tranquilizing 50 bull bison, even in rut, in order to study their semen and blood.

Then, there is the deal with Ted Turner where 87 bison, who had been in quarantine were given to Turner for his bison ranch. In a previous post I said 88 were going. This is true, but only 87 went because one cow wasn't pregnant. Here are some more numbers to consider in this atrocity:

40 are still in quarantine at Corwin Springs
86 are housed at Turner's (21 of these are pregnant)
122 have been slaughtered
1 calf died after transport to Turner's land

If this is a "legacy of conservation" then it is very dismal to say the least.

If you would like to help out in saving this countries LAST genetically pure, continuously wild bison check out Buffalo Field Campaign. This is the only group in the field year round documenting the government's actions against the buffalo and taking the issue to WA D.C.

Buffalo Get Double Hit from Ted Turner and MTDOL

BFC file photo.

Tuesday was full of events.

I'll start off with that this was the day it was announced that ALL 88 buffalo who've been in quarantine since 2005, will go to Ted Turner. They won't be hunted.

Turner’s representatives said the Yellowstone bison are too valuable to hunt and will be mixed in with a herd being conserved on another ranch he owns in New Mexico. New Mexico?!
No wonder the buffalo were given to Turner. He's removing them from the state. Exactly what Montana wants!

There were other options other than Turner of course, but these included sending the buffalo to Guernsey State Park in Wyoming, to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. But, Wyoming is too close to Montana and the Reservations are in Montana.

Turner had said that if some of the animals went to Wyoming, Montana would get fewer bison back because he needed a certain number to justify his expenses. Those costs are estimated at $480,000 over five years, or about $2,500 for every bison he will keep.

Turner is going to keep the animals hostage for five years and in return wants 75 percent of their offspring, an estimated 188 bison. He already owns more than 50,000 beefalo but wants the Yellowstone animals because of their pure genetics. Montana would get an estimated 150 bison back. My question is what on earth would Montana do with them other than slaughter them for their heads and hides.

"There were a lot of people that wanted them on public lands. We're not ready," said Montana wildlife chief David Risley. "The Turner option, all it does is buy us time to come up with a long term solution."(More lies...)

Russell Miller with Turner Enterprises said, "We welcome the opportunity to be partners with FWP in the stewardship of these iconic bison." (and make a profit off of them)

Miller said the deal with the state is to (I love this) "conserves Yellowstone bison genetics and increases the number of bison available to populate public and tribal lands." What a bunch of B.S.!

In addition to all this, the MTDOL held a secret "public" IBMP meeting Tuesday. Thanks to BFC's commitment to the buffalo they were on the phone with Department of Livestock (DOL) and Yellowstone National Park officials to learn what's in store for the remaining buffalo in YNP.

What were some IBMP changes--Less tolerance.

• begin hazing and capturing buffalo if more than 100 migrate out of the Park's western boundaries between February 15 and April 10.
• DOL will 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 can do whatever it wants. Period.

You can contact Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis and Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Mary Ericson and tell them to drop out of the IBMP.

The other event of the day was another swarm of earthquakes in YNP that lasted for 6 hours. The 2 largest quakes were 2.8 and 3.1. No coincidence.

Interagency Bison Management Plan

November 17 & 18 were the IBMP meetings to decide the fate of the last remaining genetically pure, continuously wild buffalo in this country. Below are the notes from these meetings written by Stephany Seay.

IBMP MEETING NOTES 1/17/09:

Three tribal representatives were at the table:

* ITBC - Christina Krocher

* Nez Perce - Brooklyn Baptise

* Confederated Salish & Kootenai - Tom McDonald

Good News First:

~AMP changes reflect there will be additional tolerance for bulls North of Duck Creek; expand suitable habitat for bull bison west of Cutler Lake and Cutler Meadow; expand suitable habitat for bull bison in the Maiden Baisen area off Little Trail Creek on east side of Yellowstone River (as outlined in IBMP Annual Report for 2008-2009 - see press release pasted below)

~ APHIS & Idaho Fish & Game want to study bull bison semen more closely to ensure the zero risk, and if that's what they find, bulls may be tolerated in Idaho.

*Adaptive Management / '09-'10 Operations:

~ DOL opened with expressing frustrating at "repeated breaches" of bison moving into Zone 3 via the South Side of the Madison River

~ Zaluski said that 250 on the Butte and 25 on the South Side ("flats" they called it) triggers breeches

~ DOL claims there's "no habitat" on the South Side (they forgot about the burn)

~ Zaluski proposed a change to the Adaptive Management Plan: NO BUFFALO ALLOWED on the South Side, or LIMIT the number of buffalo on Horse Butte

~ DOL wants to take immediate management actions if buffalo are on the south side: 1. Capture; 2. Haze back into Park; 3. Haze to Horse Butte

~ DOL claimed 13 "breaches" on the South Side last spring

"The bison did not behave like we hoped they would" ~ Mary Zaluski

~ Cattle arrived at Povah's on 6/17. Apparenty, he runs some cow/calf pairs, and also 200 steers (brucellosis proof livestock). He leases the land, so DOL says they "never know" what he'll have, since he's a private property owner and can pretty much do what he wants

~ Tierny and Zaluski claimed there were "a lot" of other producers affected by buffalo "breaching" into Zone 3, but they couldn't name any of the ranchers or places.

They proposed a change to the Adaptive Mangement Plan under 1.1 and 1.1A. to allow NO buffalo on the South Side. This was met with some resistance by Yellowstone and Gallatin.

~ "The triggers we've established are much too tolerant" ~ Marty Zaluski

~ Tierny kept expressing how difficult it is to haze bison from the south side and how much time, people and money it takes to continue to do it.

~ Suzanne Lewis and Mary Erickson were not in agreement with changing the plan to reflect zero buffalo on south side.

~ Lewis actually said that more habitat needs to be established outside the Park. Echoed, strongly, by P.J. White who really raised his voice for the buffalo this time.

~ Mary Erickson said that one year's worth of data is not enough to make such a significant change to AMP, and that if they don't allow buffalo on South Side, then that removes 1/2 of Zone 2

~ Everyone agreed they were in disagreement, and hence at a stalemate and would take it up again on Day 2 of the meetings.

~ Lewis and Erickson said that even though the agents may have had to work hard, there was NO THREAT OF TRANSMISSION with having buffalo on the South Side.

~ Erickson & Lwewis told the DOL that they already had the tools and authority in the AMP to deal with these "breaches" yet they chose not to use them. DOL response was very confusing, but they disagreed.

~ Both Nez Perce and Salish-Kootenai reps said that 1) one year of data is insigificant and should not be the catalyst for such suggested changes; 2) The DOL should be aware of the producers and what they are bringing on to the landscape if they want to make good decisions

Royal Teton Ranch:

~ Fencing will now only be around RTR office; County will not let them put fencing along county access road.

~ Cattle guards have been eliminated

~ There will be a fence along Cinnibar Road to West end of RTR

~ Fence built on north side, south side fence under construction

~ Fencing should be complete 1st week of December

~ Hazing would take place where fencing will now be absent

Lawsuits:

~ DOL: No new action on Stockgrowers' lawsuit

~ NPS: Being sued. It's with Dept. of Justice. 60 days to respond. Likely NPS and GNF will not be able to speak so freely while suit is in progress.

U.S. Animal Health Association ~ 5 Resolutions

* can be found at usaha.org

1. I missed that one
2. Wildlife agencies in GYA are standardizing elk protocall

3. Suport creating of research facilities

4. Ask USDA to commit resources to swine brucellosis (brucella suis)

5. Removal of brucella abortus from (bio-terror) select agent list (a long shot)

Public Comments:

* A rancher from Paradise Valley

* Jim Bailey, GWA

* Glenn Hockett, GWA

* Stephany Seay, BFC

* Matt Skokland, NRDC

* County Commissioner, Paradise Valley

* Rancher, Paradise Valley

11/18/09 ~ ROUND TWO:

'09-'10 Operating Procedures Continued

~ Compromise on AMP changes: DOL wants 15 buffalo only, and only 2 "breaches" are allowed, after which management actions will be triggered.

~ Erickson and Lewis saw no difference then in keeping the number at the current 30, if dates remain same and DOL has authority to take management actions

~ DOL would like agencies to consider a population reduction/cap on Horse Butte (250 too many)

~ Dates bison would be allowed to be on South Side would remain the same as in 2008 AMP

~ DOL wants access to GNF lands that are closed to snowmobiles for management and monitoring.

~ Erickson said that they already have access for management. DOL said they want it for monitoring.

(Randy, GNF biologist feels very strongly that this is a BAD idea as he knows tourists will follow those tracks and he said he would recommend against it)

~ Erickson said that this would be a modification of their travel plan restrictions (the only good thing they've done)

~ Tierny, DOL said that if they can't use snowmobiles, they'll "have no choice" but to bring out the helicopter

~ Lewis agreed that it may be possible that allowing "unlimited" bison on Horse Butte is creating a "spillover" to the South Side

~ DOL wants to monitor and define population CAP on Horse Butte

** By the end of this discussion it appears (but was not clear) that they would continue to allow 30 buffalo on the Southside, dates would stay the same, but after two "breaches" management action would be taken. I asked them to clairify during my comment time, but the agencies will not answer questions from "the audience" as they call us.

DOL Contacting GNF for Authorization in Operations:

~ Erickson wanted to strike language in the AMP that said the DOL will "make a reasonable attempt to contact a rep from USFS to" and make it read: "the DOL will obtain authorization for the use of motorized vehicles on NF roads."

~ DOL moaned that they need to be able to do what they want, when they need to, especially at Duck Creek.

~ Tierny reminded Mary Erickson more than once that DOL "is a law enforcement agency" (IS THAT TRUE??)

~ Randy, GNF biologist said that there is always someone available for them to call and there's never been a problem in the past.

~ DOL (Shane Grube and Tierny) continued to complain and moan

~ Language will be reworked to satisfy both GNF & DOL

Brucellosis:

~ Brucellosis prevalance study was dropped from the agenda

~ Brief mention of Brucellosis Concept Paper (comments through 12/04)

~ Montana's Brucellosis Action Plan "sunsets" in January 11

~ National Brucellosis Zone being discussed/developed

~ There is a Comment Period Open for the Brucellosis Survelience Area through 12/16 (I have no info on this currently)

Quarantine:

~ Very brief report about agencies considering placement of bison. NO MENTION was made that they were recommending they go to Turner!!

Public Comments:

~ Rancher from Paradise Valley

~ Another Rancher from Paradise Valley (Ranchers complained that they had no representation at the table!!!)

~ Glen Hockett, GWA

~ Matt Skokland, NRDC

~ Mike Pearson, GYC

~ Stephany Seay, BFC

~ MIKE MEASE!!!! Had the last and most beautiful-to-the-point words. :)

*NEXT MEETING: April 18 & 19 @ FWP in Bozeman

NEWS ARTICLES & IBMP Press Release:

11/18

Bison get more tolerance in Montana, but fix elusive (B.S.)

KIVI-TV

http://www.kivitv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11527558

11/17

Wind Cave NP bison arrive in Mexico

Rapid City Journal

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_6f09c994-d3a7-11de-aee3-001cc4c002e0.html

BLM, DOA, DOL, FWP Are the Same Thing

I was interested in what was happening to wild horses in the US, and came across an article from June 16 on a New Zealand site called Horse Talk. The entire article is about meetings the BLM and DOA have on reducing (slaughtering) the number of wild horses currently being held in facilities and those still wild. (This sounds familiar) The article says a horse welfare group obtained BLM documents under the Freedom of Information Act by The Conquistador Program.

Here are some of the document's proposals:

• Wild horses could be rendered at the Reno Rendering plant or "disposed of in pits".
• The possible creation of gelding herds, and sterilization of mares to create non-reproductive herds in the wild in place of natural herds.
• Change the sex ratio from the normal 50% males and 50% females to 70% males and 30% females. Then the experimental two-year infertility drug, PZP-22, would be given to all mares that are returned to the wild. Plans call for rounding up the wild horses every two years to re-administer the drug.
  

The BLM also considered their facilities:

• "Security at facilities and at gathers would need to be increased to combat eco-terrorism." (The BLM is the eco-terrorist!)

This removal is scheduled to begin in Montana this August.

Here are past numbers regarding wild horse removal.
According to the GAO:
"The number of animals removed from the range is far greater than the number adopted or sold, which has resulted in the need for increased short-term and long-term holding. Since 2001, over 74,000 animals have been removed from the range, while only about 46,400 have been adopted or sold. Thirty-six percent fewer animals were adopted in 2007 than compared to the average adoption rates in the 1990s. As of June 2008, BLM was holding 30,088 animals in holding facilities, up from 9,807 in 2001. To accommodate the increased removals and declining adoptions and sales, BLM has increased the number of short-term and long-term holding facilities."

This really shows there is NO difference between the BLM, DOA, DOL, and FWP.

4 Buffalo Slaughtered

MT DOL and FWP are back to the B.S.--buffalo slaughter. Yesterday they hazed and captured 3 bull bison in the Duck Creek bison trap. The buffalo were grazing near the park border north of Duck Creek. This isn't allowed by the 'adaptive management' changes to the IBMP.

In addition to this, agents shot a bull bison in Gallatin National Forest on Tuesday. To add to the tragedy, FWP agent, game warden Jim Smolzynski brought his young daughter to watch. She had participated in Chief Looking Horses' prayer ceremony last May. Smolzynski's dog was also at the killing and allowed to eat some of the carcass!

To watch footage of the events click here

All this for WHAT? Control over land. Cattle in Montana is a BILLION $ industry! It's NOT about brucellosis. Currently MT officials are asking the federal gov't to declare the state's cattle free of brucellosis. In MT more than 150,000 blood tests on cattle for the disease have come up NEGATIVE.

Contact Montana Department of Livestock State Veterinarian Marty Zaluski and tell him how stupid and senseless these incidents are: mzaluski@mt.gov / 406-444-0782

HelenaIR

BFC Update

"WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA: The Montana Department of Livestock initiated full-scale hazing operations today to force wild bison off of cattle-free Horse Butte and surrounding public lands on the Gallatin National Forest.

The Department of Livestock also violated the private property rights of the Galanis family, who owns the 700+ acre Yellowstone Ranch Preserve on Horse Butte. The DOL sent in their helicopter (photo by Lance Koudele) to chase bison family groups from Galanis' property. Mounted horsemen and a Forest Service law enforcement officer also violated the covenants of Yellowstone Village residents by entering the private subdivision to look for bison and chase them into areas where the helicopter could haze them. The Galanis Family and residents of Yellowstone Village have designated their properties as "Buffalo Safe Zones" (photo by Lance Koudele) and have repeatedly told the agents and the MT Governor that bison are welcome, agents are not.

"I had fifty bison on my property this morning, and now they are gone," said Horse Butte resident Susan McClure. "The DOL is destroying the very reason people like me live in this state and they are destroying the reason people come here to spend money: they come to see the bison. We're being told by the Department of Livestock that as private property owners, under the Interagency Bison Management Plan we don't have a say, our private property rights are null and void."

In addition to the MT Department of Livestock, agents from Yellowstone National Park, Gallatin National Forest, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, and Gallatin County also participated. Montana State Veterinarian Marty Zaluski and Montana Department of Livestock Executive Officer Christian Mackay were also present.

During today's operation Buffalo Field Campaign patrols documented a newborn bison calf being hazed for miles with a broken leg along Forest Service Road 6697. Another newborn was separated from its mother during the hazing operation and is now orphaned.

"This week's operation is a shockingly clear demonstration of wildlife harassment and abuse and if someone treated a domestic animal this way, they'd find themself in jail," said BFC's Stephany Seay "Bison family groups of bison, including pregnant cows, yearlings, and newborn babies whose legs are just developing are being cruelly run nonstop for miles through difficult terrain and rushing river currents, hounded by screaming horsemen and a deafening helicopter."

The agencies' goal is to appease cattle interests and rid Montana of wild bison family groups by Friday, May 15th.

"There is not a single cow anywhere near here, and there will never be cattle on Horse Butte," said Buffalo Field Campaign spokeswoman Stephany Seay. "Livestock interests have no business wasting millions of federal tax dollars to chase bison off of their native habitat where they should be free to roam."

Today's hazing operation, like those throughout this week, push bison from Horse Butte deep into Yellowstone National Park, using a helicopter and mounted horsemen (photo by Lance Koudele). Bison will be chased to areas seven to twenty miles within Yellowstone National Park's interior. In the past three weeks government officials have commenced large-scale hazing operations on Gallatin National Forest, where there are no cattle, disrupting the ecosystem while forcing wild bison - including many newborn calves - off of their spring calving grounds deep into Yellowstone National Park. Agents use horses, snowmobiles, ATVs, and a helicopter to coerce the buffalo.

"Here we are at the edge of the world's first national park, and each spring it becomes a war zone, with the DOL's helicopter even flying miles into Yellowstone's interior, disturbing wildlife and park visitors, all for the sake of the 'holy cow,'" said Mike Mease, Campaign Coordinator of Buffalo Field Campaign. "It's time to stop mismanaging bison for cattle interests."

Fewer than 3,000 wild bison exist in the United States, all inhabiting areas in and around Yellowstone National Park. Since 2000, under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, thousands of wild American buffalo have been harassed and killed, with millions of federal tax dollars wasted each year to carry out these abusive, superfluous operations. The purported excuse for the brutal activities is to prevent the transmission of brucellosis, a European cattle disease, from wild bison to livestock. Wild bison have never transmitted brucellosis to cattle, and further, there are no cattle within miles of the area where the bison were grazing. Closer investigation of the issue and the history of the livestock industry reveal that brucellosis is being fraudulently used to cover up the industry's gratuitous control of grassland use.

Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, every day, to stop the slaughter of the wild American buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo and their habitat and advocate for their lasting protection. For more information, video clips and photos visit Buffalo Field Campaign."