| BFC Buffalo Field Campaign
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| Voices
from the Community |
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Bison
vs. Montana, by Carol Hoffmann, West Yellowstone News, 02/02/07
And then there were none.
The last of the three bull bison on Horse Butte, thought to
be the only ones that have left the Park this winter via the
western boundary, was killed by a hunter last week.
The first of the three to die was killed illegally on private
land within Hebgen Lake Estates on January 23rd.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) initially confiscated
the bison and recommended prosecution. Gallatin County Justice
of the Peace Gordon Smith fined the hunter, Eric Thunstrom of
Helena, the amount of $135.00 for hunting on private property
without permission. The judge did so without viewing the video
evidence supplied by the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC), and he
ordered the bison meat returned to Thunstrom.
FWP spokeswoman Mel Frost said Thunstrom shot the animal first
on land where he had permission to hunt. The bull then jumped
a fence onto property where hunting was not allowed, Thunstrom
shot again and the animal eventually died.
"It's the judge's discretion and we respect his decision,"
said Frost, "We did recommend that the bison meat not be
returned."
Horse Butte residents of Hebgen Lake Estates vehemently disagree
with the state's bison management policies, and are angered
by their lack of respect for their property rights or the dangers
posed by the bison hunt in their neighborhoods.
In a letter to Governor Brian Schweitzer, Horse Butte resident
Ann Stovall wrote, "It's bad enought that you are allowing
these so-called hunters to hunt these magnificent animals in
the first place, but what is really bad is that the hunters
and the Department of Livestock are given priority above the
safety of the people and animals that live out here."
The Gallatin Wildlife Association (GWA) and the BFC have asked
that Montana allow year-around habitat for Yellowstone bison
in their natural migration corridors and to let the species
establish a viable population before a hunt is considered.
In a recent BFC press release, Glenn Hockett, President of the
GWA, took the Schweitzer administration to task saying, "Using
hunters to systematically kill every bison that enters Montana
is not something I am proud to be part of."
A group of bison advocates, including BFC and GWA representatives
and Horse Butte residents, met with Governor Schweitzer's policy
advisor, Hal Harper, in Helena on Monday to encourage the state
to stop the bison hunt and give Yellowstone bison some room
in Montana, where the wild bison are native.
They met the same day the new Montana state quarter was released,
which features a bison skull on its back. Mike Mease of the
BFC said, "All the buffalo in the state are dead now, so
the skull is kind of poetically fitting." |
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