| My
name is John Katz and I have joined Buffalo Nations on several
weekends in their efforts to protect the Yellowstone buffalo
herd. As I am a full time student at Idaho State University,
I won't be able to be here every day to save the wintering herds
like the rest of the volunteers. I
am embarrassed at my country for this slaughter. It is a dreadful
repeat in U.S. history that our government has chosen to kill
these symbolic animals to please money interests. I believe
that many people across the country would support the bison
as I do. It is now becoming very clear to me that the Department
of Livestock's (DOL) work here is dirty. Their motive is only
money, which is not a good reason for the deaths of these
animals. Now that I have seen firsthand what is going on here,
I realize how silly it is that the DOL can get away with this.
After
spending the weekend in this Madison Valley, a natural corridor
for bison migration, I can see that there are no cattle for
hundreds of miles and there won't be for months. Brucellosis
should not be a concern and should not be debated further.
The fact remains that the disease cannot be spread from bison
to cattle and no cows are even present on the Park boundary
range land during the winter anyway. The bison need
safe lower elevation wintering grounds.
There
is no excuse for another 1100 bison to be slaughtered. If
shooting starts in 1998 the Department of Livestock needs
to be stopped. DOL agents have already shot 11 buffalo whose
only crime was to walk into the state of Montana in search
of food.
I
urge anyone who is concerned about this issue to write letters
to Montana a federal government leaders or volunteer to help
Buffalo Nations. With free meals and a warm winter cabin to
stay in, the accommodations are wonderful for the bison volunteers.
What
these last wild bison need are American voices to speak for
them and volunteers to act. |
