| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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| Weekly
Update from the Field July 16, 2009 |
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Obama Signals Change for National Parks; Names New Director
* Earth Friends Wildlife Foundation Offers Challenge
to BFC Supporters, Funding to BFC
* Federal Government Reinstates Montana's Brucellosis-free
Status
* Last Words
* Kill Tally
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photo 2009 courtesy of Lance Koudele
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* Update from the Field: Obama Signals Change
for National Parks; Names New Director
Last Friday, July 10, was a potentially momentous day
for America's only population of continuously wild bison.
In a move that could end the National Park Service's role
in the slaughter of thousands of bison, President Obama
nominated Jon Jarvis to fill the currently vacant post
of National Park Service (NPS) Director.
Jarvis, a 30-year NPS veteran, has served as Superintendent
of Mount Rainier and Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks
as well as Craters of the Moon National Monument. Since
2002 he has been the Director of the NPS' Pacific Northwest
Regional Office, where he earned a reputation as a defender
of the NPS Organic Act mandate to preserve "unimpaired
the natural and cultural resources and values of the national
park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration
of this and future generations."
During the Bush years Jarvis risked his career by vocally
opposing administration attempts to weaken the Organic
Act to allow for more resource-extractive park policies.
In April he testified before Congress on human-induced
climate change, which he said, "challenges the very
foundation of the National Park System and our ability
to leave America's natural and cultural heritage unimpaired
for future generations."
In light of the winter of 2008, when the Park Service
slaughtered more than 1,400 wild bison from within Yellowstone
National Park, it is hard to imagine a more imperiled
natural or cultural icon than the bison. In naming Jarvis
as NPS director, President Obama has sent a strong signal
that the Park Service's era of pandering to industrial
interests at the expense of park resources is coming to
an end. As The New York Times suggested in an editorial
earlier this week (see "Last Words" below) Jarvis'
first act should be to replace Suzanne Lewis as Superintendent
of Yellowstone. Replacing Lewis, who oversaw the slaughter
of more than 2,800 wild bison to appease Montana's livestock
industry, would be a quick and effective way for Jarvis
to convey his intentions for the parks under his care
and realign the park service with its mission.
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* Earth Friends Wildlife Foundation Offers Challenge
to BFC Supporters, Funding to BFC
If you are on our mailing list, you should have received
BFC's 2009 Newsletter by now. If you did, you're probably
aware of the Earth Friends Challenge Grant, an incredible
opportunity for BFC to raise much-needed funds and for
supporters to increase the value of your donations.
The Earth Friends Wildlife Foundation has agreed to provide
Buffalo Field Campaign a much-needed grant if we are able
to raise $75,000 among our community of supporters. While
this may seem like a daunting task in these difficult
times, it is important to remember that the majority of
our annual budget comes from individual supporters like
you who value wild bison, want to see them treated with
respect, and understand the importance of BFC's field,
outreach, and policy work to protect America's only continuously
wild population of bison.
With the number and amount of donations down in recent
months, and with foundation grants on a sharp decline,
the Earth Friends Challenge couldn't come at a better
time. Many nonprofits have been forced to close their
doors in the past year and countless others have had to
scale back on their programs. Buffalo Field Campaign,
accustomed to accomplishing a great deal on a shoestring
budget and on the brink of achieving many of our goals
for the bison, cannot afford to scale back now.
Please DONATE
NOW, and help BFC meet the Challenge offered by the
Earth Friends Wildlife Foundation.
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* Federal Government Reinstates Montana's Brucellosis-free
Status
On Friday, July 10, Montana was declared "brucellosis-free"
by the US Department of Agriculture. The state had lost
its status in 2008 after brucellosis was detected in two
cattle herds. In neither case, nor in earlier cases in
Wyoming and Idaho, were bison responsible for the infections.
Brucellosis, a cattle disease native to Europe, has been
present in Yellowstone wildlife since at least the first
decades of the 20th century. While the disease has little,
if any, effect on Yellowstone bison, it is used as an
excuse by Montana's powerful livestock industry to kill
bison that cross the Yellowstone/Montana border and enter
the state. Despite the fact that wild bison have never
transmitted the disease to cattle, Montana has adopted
a zero-tolerance, kill-on-sight policy that has resulted
in the slaughter of more than 6,600 wild bison since 1985.
The purported reason for this archaic policy is to protect
the state's brucellosis-free status and save cattle producers
the cost of extra testing procedures. Yet the bison slaughter
didn't prevent the state from losing its coveted status
and in one of the many great ironies associated with Montana's
bison management, the additional costs of losing the status
amount to less than the cost of slaughtering and keeping
buffalo out of Montana. The Montana legislature approved
$2.4 million to reimburse ranchers for the additional
testing requirements while the Bison Management Plan costs
upwards of $3 million per year, gives the state a black
eye in the national media, and jeopardizes the future
of America's only continuously wild population of bison.
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* Last Words
Newly nominated Park Service Director Jon Jarvis "should
begin by replacing Suzanne Lewis, the superintendent of
Yellowstone, who is doing the legacy work of the Bush
administration…"
-- New York Times editorial, July 14, 2009
Read the editorial in it's entirety HERE.
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* Kill Tally
AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the
last wild population in the U.S.
2008-2009 Total: 22
2008-2009 Slaughter: 3
2008-2009 Hunt: 1
2008-2009 Quarantine: 0
2008-2009 Shot by Agents: 2
2008-2009 Highway Mortality: 16
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
Total Since 2000: 3,702*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts,
highway mortalities |
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Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the
U.S.
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