Yellowstone National Park: Stop the slaughter of North American Bison
Greetings,
I just signed the following petition addressed to: Yellowstone National Park (307) 344-2003 or yell_superintendent@nps.gov.
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Yellowstone National Park: Stop the slaughter of North American Bison
Yellowstone National Park is our first National Park. North American Bison are one of many iconic native wildlife species, including but not limited to grizzly bears, wolves, elk, moose, mule deer, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, that spend at least some time in Yellowstone National Park. However, Yellowstone National Park is not large enough to provide for all the needs of these incredible wildlife species and many migrate to and from the wild lands of the surrounding Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Bison are the only native species that have been singled out by the Park Service, in particular Superintendent Dan Wenk, as needing "control" within the Park and he intends on capturing, confining and sending hundreds of these wild animals to slaughter houses to be killed. This flies in the face of Yellowstone National Park's natural regulation policy, which has been in place since the 1960's. Once numbering in the tens of millions, these few bison (about 3,000 animals) are now one of the only remaining wild herds left in North American. It is critical we send a strong message to Superintendent Dan Wenk to respect and protect these bison as valued native wildlife within Yellowstone National Park. Stop the slaughter! Let them be wild!
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.
Yellowstone Park Rangers captured 340 of America's last wild bison this week, including the one in this photo. Park officials say they will send some of thebuffalo to slaughter and hold some in the pens until spring.
Please take action now and urge the Park Service to set the buffalo free:
CONTACT: Acting Superintendent Colin Campbell
PHONE: 307-344-2003
EMAIL: colin_campbell@nps.gov
I was talking with someone today about MT and the buffalo and I remembered this letter I wrote to Suzanne Lewis-YNP Superintendent in 2009. Here's a copy past from the email I received from Lewis.
Dear Ms. Vincent, Please see Superintendent Lewis' responses to your questions in red below. Thank you for your interest in Yellowstone National Park.
I have a few questions regarding how brucellosis is to be managed. First, the article states, "Lewis said federal researchers are expected to unveil later this year a new study looking at ways of remotely vaccinating bison against the disease. She said all entities in the debate should rally around developing better vaccines and better ways of administering them to wildlife." My question is, why administer it to bison when there has been no evidence of bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle especially when there are no cattle present in the areas the bison roam? This measure will indirectly lead to greater tolerance for bison on low elevation winter ranges in Montana (i.e., on areas outside the jurisdiction of the National Park Service), through reducing the seroprevalence of brucellosis in bison.
Under natural conditions, the risk of transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle is low (only because of our current management practices). The Interagency Bison Management Plan has committed human resources to keep cattle and bison separated, especially during the third trimester of pregnancy and through the end of the birthing season for bison. This measure virtually eliminates the probability of bison to cattle transmission of brucellosis. However, transmission of brucellosis from naturally infected captive bison to cattle has been documented in North Dakota on a range were bison and cattle commingled. Bison to cattle transmission has also been documented under experimental conditions when the two species were contained in pens at Texas A&M University. Bison to cattle transmission is a situation that Yellowstone bison managers can not allow to happen, but is quite likely if bison were to colonize currently vacant ranges outside the national park. Check out these publications for more details about bison to cattle brucellosis transmission:
Flagg, D. E. 1983. A case history of a brucellosis outbreak in a brucellosis free state which originated in bison. Proceedings of the U.S. Animal Health Association 87:171-172.
Davis, D. S., J. W. Templeton, T. A. Ficht, J. D. Williams, J. D. Kopec, and L. G. Adams. 1990. Brucella abortus in captive bison. I. Serology, bacteriology, pathogenesis and transmission to cattle. J. Wildlife Diseases 26 (3):360-371.
Davis, D. S., J. W. Templeton, T. A. Ficht, J. D. Williams, J. D. Kopec, and L. G. Adams. 1995. Response to the critique of brucellosis in captive bison. J. Wildl. Dis. 31 (1):111-114.
To probe even more of the details of interspecies transmission, read "Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area," by Norm Cheville and Dale McCullough, published by the National Academy Press in Washington D.C. You can read portions of the book at the National Academy of Sciences web site.
In order for the state partners to feel more secure about allowing more bison onto low elevation winter ranges in Montana, The NPS needs to make progress toward reducing the brucellosis prevalence in the bison (a part of the agreement settlement from 2000). The goal of a vaccination program would be to break the infection cycle and eventually reduce the impacts of this disease on our wild bison population. This in turn should open up more space for bison on low elevation areas that are outside our management jurisdiction.
The article states that you said the bison will not be 'rounded up and eliminated' in order to get rid of brucellosis. My next question is, then why have over 6,000 bison been slaughtered with 1,613 of those just this past winter?
The article states, 'Yellowstone ought to keep its bison herd to 3,000 animals.' 'Lewis said that number merely sets out how the animals will be managed; it does not require the park to limit the number of wild bison.' What do you mean by 'limit the number'? So far, they can't even reach 3,000 due to the slaughtering every year. Do you mean 'limit' as in lowest number that is allowed to live?
See the web sites listed above for information on the bison population. The current bison population estimate (June 2008) is approximately 2,800-2,900 animals.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Eva Vincent Descendant of former Acting Superintendent of Glacier National Park, Ray Vincent and of John Vincent a previous Foreman of Glacier National Park
Yellowstone Late Winter Estimate Shows 3,000 Bison
Yellowstone National Park recently completed a late winter bison population abundance estimate.
The population is estimated at 3,000 bison.
The aerial survey was difficult to conduct this year, due to low snowpack and the resulting bare patches of ground. These conditions are likely to have resulted in an underestimate of the population by as much as ten percent.
Fifty-six percent of the bison are in the Northern Range herd, with forty-four percent in the Central Interior herd.
Last year's late winter population estimate was 2,900 bison.
State licensed and tribal hunters removed four bison from the population this year. No other bison have been captured or shipped to slaughter, or otherwise removed from the population this winter. [What about the 87 that went to Ted Turner? Interesting that this was left out.]
This population estimate is used to inform adaptive management strategies under the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP). Specific management actions may be modified based on expected late winter population levels, as corroborated by the summer population estimate.
The IBMP is a cooperative plan designed to conserve a viable, wild bison population while protecting Montana's brucellosis-free status. [B.S.]
The five cooperating agencies operating under the IBMP are the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Montana Department of Livestock, and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Same song, umpteenth verse at refuge November 25, 2009 Jackson Hole News & Guide page 5A
GUEST SHOT By Lloyd Dorsey
It's been said that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different outcomes. So it is with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's recent decision to spend another $5 million of taxpayer monies to construct yet another new sprinkler system on the battered National Elk Refuge.
The refuge has irrigated pastures and fed hay or pellets to the elk for nearly a century now Š and the elk defoliated the refuge and become sick with brucellosis, necrotic stomatitis, scabies, hoof rot and other diseases due to too many animals in unnaturally close quarters.
In more recent times the old irrigation ditches on the refuge were augmented with costly side-roll and pivot sprinklers, the elk were fed alfalfa pellets Š and the elk still defoliated the refuge and became sick. So, in 2007, after a $4 million Environmental Impact Statement, the expensive feeding and irrigating continued Š and the elk still defoliated the refuge and got sick.
Now in 2009 their plan is to spend $5 million on more sprinklers Š and the elk . . . well, you get the grim picture.
None of us needs to be reminded that while Wyoming does have an arid climate, rain and snow still falls here. Native plants still grow in the spring and summer. Elk, bison and other wildlife evolved over thousands of years to thrive in western Wyoming's environment along with such native plants as willows, aspen, bunch grasses and rabbit brush. It was a healthy system.
The natural capital in such a system is free. We just need to quit baiting elk on the Elk Refuge with irrigated plots or pellets and give those willow shrubs nibbled to their nubs a chance. Imagine, Jackson Hole, watching the Elk Refuge return to such a healthy condition with native flora and fauna right before your very eyes. Not unlike the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone.
Instead, in a state that prides itself on fiscal responsibility we have a financial boondoggle. The new irrigation system was supposed to cost $2.8 million; now it's at $5 million. From 2001-07, the Fish & Wildlife Service and Park Service spent millions of dollars analyzing how best to manage elk and bison in Jackson Hole. They ignored their own scientists who recommended a route that would have, "result(ed) in the greatest overall benefit to the biological and physical environment", the alternative recommended overwhelmingly by the public and by biologists who believe phasing out feeding is necessary to stop habitat loss and prevent epidemics of Chronic Wasting Disease.
It boggles the mind- in the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the home of internationally treasured fish and wildlife species and the site of some of America's most spectacular landscapes, an intensely artificial wildlife management approach has developed that has turned the Elk Refuge into a glorified winter zoo. With sick animals.
By heavily manipulating wildlife and their habitat the consequences on the Elk Refuge are habitat destruction, loss of wildlife diversity and disease. A century of evidence proves this no matter how good the original intentions were. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) in June 2009 determined that the Elk Refuge was one of the 10 most imperiled wildlife refuges of 540 in the entire nation. They called the circumstances on the Elk Refuge a "wildlife time bomb".
The USFWS now turns to a California-based contractor to waste millions of hard-earned American taxpayer dollars to artificially water plants that would still attract elk and bison in unnaturally dense concentrations. Meanwhile the USFWS reneged on pledges to help with fencing projects that would allow elk and bison to range freely without commingling with the few cattle remaining in local valleys during winter.
Same old, same old. The dominant theme on the Elk Refuge under the current plan is still artificial feeding no matter what they call it.
Elk herds no longer require this kind of intensive manipulation to survive or even thrive. Populations are at record levels in Wyoming and other regions. After a century, it's time to expeditiously take the Jackson elk herd off its circa-1912 life-support. Science tells us that free-ranging elk herds have the best chance of being healthy and sustaining themselves well into the future - not dense concentrations of elk chasing after feed trucks to irrigated plots where they wallow in the disease-ridden muck.
It's high time we start solving old problems with new ideas that really aren't so new. It's time we allow elk to thrive in native habitats, in populations balanced with the carrying capacity of the native plants and soils that sustain them. After all, we know from most valleys in surrounding states and elsewhere in Wyoming that Rocky Mountain elk are faring quite well in Rocky Mountain winters - without hay, alfalfa pellets and $5 million sprinklers.
Lloyd Dorsey is a conservation advocate for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition in Jackson.
