| The
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) released
a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on June 7, 2004 to analyze
the possibility of a “sport hunt” of buffalo that
cross the borders of Yellowstone National Park into Montana.
FWP’s modified preferred alternative calls for issuing
up to 25 permits to shoot any wild buffalo that may be in
small areas of public and private land adjacent to the Park
on the north and west borders. The purpose of the EA is to
determine what course of action the agency should take. The
EA includes four alternatives including a “no action”
alternative that would maintain the status quo. The other
three alternatives discuss hunting scenarios that range from
25 to 225 permits being issued with slight variations in the
areas involved and the length and timing of seasons. The EA
also discusses the possibility of conducting an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) requiring a more in-depth analysis.
Unfortunately, FWP’s EA presents a biased and skewed
picture of the real situation relating to wild buffalo in
Montana. The EA is rife with unsubstantiated assumptions and
inaccuracies. It does not consider the real possibility of
a future for wild Montana buffalo in which they are not killed
in the gateway communities. In addition to the multitude of
problems with the EA, FWP has repeatedly changed their story
over the past year and has not been forthright in their analysis.
Only a month ago, agency representatives said that the hunt
would not begin until the fall of 2005. Now they want to start
this fall. In addition, the FWP Commission has the authority
to change both the seasons and number of permits issued regardless
of the determination made in this EA. In other words, even
if after all the analysis, if FWP chooses the modified preferred
alternative allowing for up to 25 permits during a three month
season from November to February, the FWP Commissioners could
choose to extend the season into the spring and issue 225
permits. So much for the public process.
Given these facts, the only way to respond to FWP’s
Environmental Assessment is to flood them with comments and
call for choosing the “no action” alternative.
If FWP is unwilling (as they are likely to be) to give up
on this horrendous idea at this time, then they must complete
an Environmental Impact Statement before going any further.
An EIS is required under both Montana and federal law if the
action proposed will have “a significant impact on the
human environment”. As with any action taken against
America’s only genetically pure wild buffalo to continuously
inhabit their native range, a buffalo “hunt” certainly
falls under this category.
Please review the following list of suggested subjects
for public comment and/or letters to the editors of your local
or national newspapers:
1. FWP is proposing a “sport hunt”
of a species that is not officially recognized as wildlife
in the state of Montana. Currently, once buffalo enter Montana
they fall under the authority of the Montana Dept. of Livestock
(DOL) and are considered a “species in need of disease
management”. They are subject to hazing by helicopters,
ATV’s, snowmobiles and horses, being captured in cattle
pens and sent to slaughter, or being shot by government agents.
None of these activities will stop if a “hunt”
is initiated nor will buffalo be recognized as a native wildlife
species in Montana. Furthermore, wild buffalo should be considered
a recovered resident native wildlife species before a hunt
should even be considered. Free ranging buffalo do not have
access to any habitat on the west side of Yellowstone National
Park. All buffalo that cross Yellowstone’s boundary
are hazed and/or captured by DOL and the other agencies involved
in the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP). Buffalo that
are captured and test positive for exposure to brucellosis
are sent to slaughter. Buffalo that are captured and test
negative for brucellosis (if testing is done at all) are tagged
and released. Within the next year, DOL will vaccinate all
test-negative calf and yearling buffalo before release. The
IBMP currently allows for up to 100 negative testing (vaccinated)
buffalo to be in Zone 2 on about 10,000 acres of public land.
These buffalo that have been tortured by DOL and released
will then be available for “hunters” to shoot.
2. On the north side of the Park, there is
one place where wild buffalo have habitat in Montana. Up to
100 untested buffalo are allowed in the Eagle Creek/Bear Creek
area above Gardiner. If they leave this small portion of public
land they are immediately shot by the DOL. FWP proposes to
take away this one safe haven by allowing “hunters”
to shoot buffalo in this open sagebrush flat.
3. FWP says that this will be a “fair
chase hunt” by claiming that a small numbers of hunters
will have to search for buffalo adjacent to the Park. They
claim that buffalo will have a reasonable opportunity to escape
hunters. The simple fact is that Yellowstone buffalo are not
afraid of people. After 20 years of intense management during
which over 4,000 buffalo have been shot or sent to slaughter,
while the remaining buffalo are incessantly hazed back into
the Park, they still continue to migrate into Montana in search
of food and calving grounds. DOL agents have to get within
a few feet of buffalo on their snowmobiles, ATV’s or
horses, hoot and holler at the buffalo, and then continue
to pursue them if they want the buffalo to move. “Hunters”
will have no difficulty in finding a buffalo along their three
primary migration routes (Duck Creek, Cougar Creek and the
Madison River) west of the Park. “Hunters” will
be able to walk within a few feet of the animals and blast
them with high-powered rifles, as the buffalo stand there
unafraid. The other buffalo in the area will not run away,
rather they will stand by and mourn their dead brother or
sister (or get shot themselves).
4. FWP claims that hunters will be doing
a service to the local communities by removing “problem”
buffalo that are causing damage to private property and threatening
human safety. This claim is absolutely ludicrous. Very little
if any property damage is caused by buffalo migrating into
Montana with the exception of damage caused when DOL agents
haze buffalo through people’s fences on private property.
The vast majority of residents in the West Yellowstone area
where buffalo migrate enjoy the privilege of seeing buffalo
in their yards. They are actively working to stop the DOL
from trespassing on their land to haze buffalo and want wild
buffalo to visit their community in peace. Very few private
landowners, if any, will allow hunters on their property to
shoot buffalo. The primary human safety concern from local
residents stems from DOL’s hazing activities whereby
they give no warning nor take any precautions when they haze
buffalo through local neighborhoods.
It is very important for all supporters of the buffalo to
rally now and send comments to FWP. Let them know that people
all around the world care about Yellowstone buffalo. Tell
FWP to chose the "no action" alternative and scrap
this horrible idea.
Let your voice be heard by sending comments to:
Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks
Attn: Bison Hunt Comments
1400 S. 19th Ave
Bozeman, MT 59718
Email:
bisonhuntcomment@montana.edu
Those of you living in Montana can attend a public meeting
in Bozeman on June 21 at 7pm
at the Holiday Inn, 5 Baxter Lane |
| Suggested
points to make in your comments:
1) Only 4,200 wild, free-ranging buffalo
remain in America and a hunt would endanger the viability
of buffalo everywhere;
2) There's nothing "fair" about
hunting gentle buffalo as these animals don't give fair chase
like deer or elk;
3) A buffalo hunt could have severe social, economic
and environmental impacts on the state of Montana and Yellowstone
National Park - the last time Montana authorized a buffalo
hunt they received a "black eye" from the public.
A repeat of this blunder would damage Montana's tourism industry,
which is the fastest growing sector of the state's economy
and is dependent upon wildlife, not cattle.;
4) Not a single hunting group supports the
bill as written;
5) The bill was devised and written by Montana
livestock interests, seeking to shift public blame for killing
over to hunters;
6) The absurdity that the DOL - the agency
that carries out the buffalo slaughter - would also retain
authority over the hunt, and the final proposal must have
their blessing;
7) This hunt is packaged as part of a brucellosis
management plan but the random hunting of bison that have
not been tested can hardly be considered a solution to the
brucellosis issue. In fact, allowing hunters to handle
potentially infected carcasses increases the chance of both
transmission to humans;
8) The current Interagency Bison Management
Plan is specifically a "no hunt" alternative, therefore
the state would be in violation of federal law if hunting
of bison were to commence; and
9) Treaty rights and hunting agreements with
tribes in the Yellowstone Area must be recognized before a
public hunt should even be considered.
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