| April
10, 2007
Dr Rankin, Montana State Veterinarian:
I am writing today to inform you that Montana Dept. of Livestock
agents, at the direction of Rob Tierney, hazed nearly 250
bison from public land all the way back into Yellowstone National
Park. This seems to be in direct contradiction to the "adaptive
changes" agreed upon by all of the agencies this past
summer. When asked about the adaptive changes in regard to
today's operation, Tierney responded that they only applied
to bulls. This is clearly not the case according to the document
signed by Dr. Linfield and and the other agency directors
and approved by the Board of Livestock. Then Tierney went
out of his way to haze bull bison
as well.
All of the bison hazed today were on public land. No cattle
will ever be present on any of these lands. There is very
little liklihood that any cattle will even be on the private
land of the Horse Butte Peninsula as that operator is under
contract to sell the land. In any case, the
earliest cattle would potentially arrive is mid June. This
is specifically why May 15 was selected as the date for which
bison would be moved all the way back into Yellowstone. Today
is April 10, a full two months before any cattle will be in
the West Yellowstone area.
The adaptive changes were touted by the agencies as an example
of how the IBMP could adapt to current science and circumstances.
If today's actions are any indication of how the Department
of Livestock intends to follow through with it's agreements,
then there seems to be a significant cause for distrust.
I am not sure if you were even aware of the current situation
or if Tierney is acting of his own accord. In either case,
an explanation is warranted as to the rationale for today's
operations. If today's hazing operation is an example of how
the Department intends to proceed under
the "adaptive changes", I would greatly appreciate
clarification on your interpretation of high/low risk bison
and high/low risk areas outside the Park.
Your immediate attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Josh Osher
--
Josh Osher
Public Policy & Research Coordinator
Buffalo Field Campaign
bfc-advocate@wildrockies.org
www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
Phone: (406) 646-0070
Fax: (406) 646-0071
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