| BFC Buffalo Field Campaign
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| Honoring
Mothers, Human and Wild
by Kathleen Stachowski 5/05/05 |
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In 1905 Anna Jarvis swore upon her mother’s grave that
she would dedicate her life to establishing a day to honor all
mothers living and dead. President Woodrow Wilson signed a Congressional
Joint Resolution in 1914 and Mother’s Day was born.
But Anna subsequently despaired over the increasing commercialization
of the day, feeling it should be “a day of sentiment,
not profit.” She opposed even greeting cards as “a
poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write.”
This Mother’s Day, I plan to avoid the commercial morass.
I’ll still send a gift card for groceries – after
all, my mom is a disabled widow living on social security. But
I also plan to honor her by supporting persecuted mothers of
another species.
Pregnant bison cows spend the frigid Yellowstone winter as all
bison do, with perseverance and quiet patience, their massive
heads sweeping deep snow aside to reveal frozen grass. When
early spring creeps toward lower-elevation lands around the
park, the migratory instinct in these shaggy beasts calls them
forth. They frequently exit the park near West Yellowstone,
making their way to Horse Butte Peninsula, for generations now
their traditional birthing ground on national forest land belonging
to all Americans. Here, on sunny slopes, they find new grass,
tender and nutritious, to nourish their winter-weary bodies
and the growing calves within. As winter recedes in Yellowstone,
the new families return to the park.
But Montana – the Last Best Place – is not the best
place for bison, and too often, it’s simply the last place.
Recently, a pregnant mom, her yearling, and a calf were repeatedly
hazed into high tension wire and barbed wire fencing by Montana
Department of Livestock personnel – sadists on ATVs, horseback,
and snowmobiles, hell-bent on confining America’s last
wild bison to Yellowstone’s arbitrary boundary. Those
they don’t haze back to the park are captured; many are
slaughtered. “Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam”
– but it had better not be in Montana’s cattle empire.
The mom and two little ones, terrified and bleeding, sought
refuge in the park. But at the end of April, DOL decided to
really show those bison who’s the boss. A helicopter joined
the arsenal on Horse Butte, where many pregnant cows, some nearly
in labor, peacefully grazed. Flying low, joined by ATVs and
horse riders on the ground, the chopper (paid for with our federal
tax dollars) forced the creatures to flee in terror. Big-bellied
moms-to-be were chased relentlessly. The emotional and physical
stress must take an immense toll on their pregnant bodies.
Bloated with entitlement and greed, DOL tolerates no wild bison
in Montana, whether on public or private land, whether cattle
are present or not. The National Park Service, the Forest Service,
and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks are partners in this
crime against native wildlife and wild motherhood.
This Mother’s Day, I’m opting out of the commercial
frenzy. Since I have no control over the tax dollars that fund
bison persecution on my public land, I’ll counteract it
with a tax-deductible contribution – in my mother’s
honor – to Buffalo Field Campaign. They’ll send
her a nice card (sorry, Anna!) informing her of the donation,
then they’ll get back to work. The hardy volunteers at
BFC spend every day – including the most frigid –
standing with the wild bison, documenting the atrocities committed
against them, and informing the world. To learn about the ongoing
slaughter (including hazing video), visit their website at www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.
Should Mother’s Day be more about sentiment than profit?
If you agree, consider honoring (or memorializing) your own
mother with a similar gift. By supporting BFC, we can all stand
in solidarity with these wild moms, even from afar. Indeed,
maternal love crosses species lines, and the wild mothers with
whom we share this earth deserve the same dignity and respect
we wish for our own.
Kathleen Stachowski
P.O. Box 191
Lolo, MT 59847
406.273.0186
wildbison@bresnan.net |
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