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Earth Day in Honor of Phil Morton 1945-2003 |
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April 22 is Earth Day, a time to give thanks to the Earth and
to reflect upon and redouble our efforts to protect her and
all the creatures she sustains.
April 22 is also Phil Morton's birthday. Phil, a long-time and
ardent supporter of the Yellowstone buffalo and the BFC would
have been 60 tomorrow. For those working on the front-lines
to protect the buffalo, Phil was an inspiration. A first-rate
wildlife videographer in his own right, Phil believed in BFC's
mission to document and share with the world the buffalo's plight.
Shortly before his death, Phil inspired BFC's Campaign Coordinator,
Mike Mease, with the following words:
"When you see the old bull buffler, when your eyes connect
with him, know that i'm eyeing you back, longing for him to
be WILD and FREE again...not in my lifetime, but maybe in your's
and barb's...Love, Phil 'Buffler Bo' Morton"
Phil is survived by his beautiful companion barb, who continues
to inspire us all with her strong and vocal voice for the Yellowstone
buffalo.
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A Letter to Buffalo Supporters from barb
4/21/05
i'm sending this message out early as i will be moving on friday
which is earth day and what would have been phil's 60th
birthday ... he always chuckled over the confluence of these
two events but he truly believed that every day we must work
to protect our lands, air, water and critters, not just on special
occasions ...
one group working every day to protect yellowstone's buffalo
is the BUFFALO FIELD CAMPAIGN and in honor and memory of phil,
i'd like to ask you to send them a contribution in his name
(po box 957, west yellowstone MT 59758-0957)
when mike mease, co-founder of BFC came to west yellowstone
eight years ago, phil and i contacted him and met with him in
our home to hear what his plans were to stop the slaughter of
these great animals. primary among the techniques used by the
few paid staff and many, many volunteers has been to video-document
how the montana department of livestock (DOL), montana fish,
wildlife and parks, APHIS, u.s. forest service, yellowstone
national park and the sheriff's department implement the interagency
bison management plan. the montana DOL shows little tolerance
for wild buffalo on our public lands and is the lead agency
in hazing, capturing and sending to slaughter buffalo who test
positive for EXPOSURE to brucellosis (which does not mean that
they actually have the active brucella organism) ... the new
part of this plan this year is to quarantine sero-negative calves
and put them in a quarantine facility for the next two years,
essentially breaking up their family groups and domesticating
them.
phil has always been a supporter of an independent media in
getting out the information that the mainstream media thinks
unimportant or trivial and for this reason we have supported
BFC since they came here ... the footage the campaign captures
is absolutely invaluable in exposing the actions of the DOL
who use snowmobiles, ATVs, horses, trucks and helicopters in
their relentless efforts to keep the buffalo off the public
lands ... BFCs footage has been shown on national TV throughout
the years of their existence ... they also post volunteers on
the road to warn motorists of the presence of buffalo on the
road ... as i write, the DOL is busy hazing the buffalo off
of their traditional calving grounds on horse butte, driving
these mainly pregnant cows hard and fast, through the national
forest, across the highway and back into yellowstone ... as
soon as the agency personnel leave, the buffs turn around and
come back out onto public lands, lands where cattle are never
grazed ... these agency actions cost taxpayers millions of dollars
per year; the federal trough, in particular, seems to be endless
in supplying state agencies with mega-buck$ for this purpose
...
in addition, BFC has brought lawsuits against some of the agencies
and their agents; continues, under FOIA, to obtain documents
about some of the things the agencies don't want us knowing;
sets up informational tables in yellowstone national park every
summer to educate visitors; has trained thousands of volunteers;
testifies at public hearings; and stages non-violent protests
around the state on behalf of the buffalo ...
despite their non-violent protests, BFC volunteers have been
arrested; cameras and tapes have been confiscated; the lug-nuts
on mike's car tires were loosened and one tire fell off
and volunteers have recently been attacked with paintballs,
a felony, for which two people were arrested last week
you can find out more information about BFC and the buffalo
issue, and see brief videos by visiting their website at: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
as most of you know, phil died regretting that he would not
live long enough to see the yellowstone buffalo WILD, FREE and
eventually HUNTABLE under fair chase conditions ... so,
in his honor and memory, please help support BFC in any way
you can so that they may continue their work in helping to bring
an end to the horrific treatment of the buffalo here in montana
... thanks
for the buffalo,
barb |
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