| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| Weekly
Update from the Field March 12, 2009 |
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Update from the Field
* Last Words
* Kill Tally
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Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
Patrols have finally spotted a bull buffalo with the naked
eye! After a long, lonely winter with no buffalo in our
company, it has been a great pleasure to see him. This
magnificent, solitary bull is keeping to himself, grazing
along Duck Creek, still keeping his distance from the
Yellowstone/Montana boundary.
Yellowstone National Park recently reported that the presence
of buffalo is increasing near Madison Junction, which
indicates that the spring migration is not far off. It
is possible that we will see mixed groups of buffalo moving
towards their calving grounds on Horse Butte within the
next few weeks. Field activities may soon be picking up,
and BFC and the buffalo will see how the new Adaptive
Management Plan will play out in the field.
We traveled to Helena, Montana on Tuesday to attend the
Montana Board of Livestock meeting. It never ceases to
frustrate us how the state's livestock industry exudes
the notion that the world revolves around their industry,
and anything that appears to threaten it must be intensively
managed or killed. The Montana State Veterinarian, Marty
Zaluski, gave a report to the Board about Montana's Brucellosis
Action Plan, stating that the reception from ranchers
has been good; of course it has, there's not much in the
BAP that requires ranchers to do much of anything, the
burden remains on native wildlife, and any costs accrued
by ranchers will be paid for by the government. Further,
the state vet was "pleased to report" that Montana
Fish, Wildlife & Parks is taking a more active role
in the welfare of the cattle industry, at the expense
of native wildlife. Not only will FWP continue to kill
wolves and buffalo to aid cattle interests, they now will
be involved in harassing (hazing) and killing (through
"special" hunts) wild elk in the Paradise and
Madison valleys where cattle now invade, all in an effort
to scare them off of their native range so cows can have
at the grasses. The only specific mention of buffalo at
the Board meeting was when Zaluski reported on Montana's
buffalo "hunt" which ended on February 15 with
the only buffalo in Montana being shot on opening day.
Zaluski attributed the low hunt numbers to a "reasonable
population size" and a mild winter. Last season's
killing of more than 1600 bison was the most killed in
a single year since the 19th century, and there's nothing
"reasonable" about the results.
While the cattle industry still wields the heavy hand
of tyranny against wild buffalo in the name of "disease
management," their brucellois argument is falling
apart. Their current effort to pass a state law that would
prevent even disease-free bison from roaming public and
tribal lands makes it clear that buffalo just aren't welcome
by ranchers. But decision-making will not always remain
with this unsustainable industry, and sooner or later,
the truth will prevail and wild buffalo will reclaim their
rightful place all over this land!
Roam Free!
~Stephany
P.S. Has President Obama heard from you? If so, thank
you! Please encourage your friends to send a letter to
him, and encourage them to spread the word too. If you
haven't written to President Obama yet, you can send a
letter to him now. Write on for the buffalo!
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* Last Words
"If you tried to design a system that would magnify
wildlife diseases, you couldn't do much better than what
we're doing now."
~ Dr. Thomas J. Roffe, chief of wildlife health at the
US Fish & Wildlife Service, on Wyoming's elk feeding
grounds.
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* Kill Tally
AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population
in the U.S.
2008-2009 Total: 2
2008-2009 Slaughter: 0
2008-2009 Hunt: 1
2008-2009 Quarantine: 0
2008-2009 Shot by Agents: 1
2007-2008 Total: 1,616
Total Since 2000: 3,683*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts |
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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.
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