buffalo field campaign yellowstone bison slaughter Buffalo Field Campaign
West Yellowstone, Montana
Working in the field every day to stop the
slaughter of Yellowstone's wild free roaming buffalo

Total Yellowstone
Buffalo Killed
Winter 2007/2008
1616
(past counts)

Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
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Bison Habitat Lawsuit
Download the Complaint (PDF, 380kb)
Read the Press Release - 11/09/09
A coalition of conservation groups, Native Americans, and Montanans are suing the National Park Service for their role in slaughtering more than 3,300 wild American bison that inhabitat Yellowstone National Park. This iconic species is the last population of wild American bison to continuously occupy its native range and retain its identity as a wildlife species.

The plaintiffs say the National Park Service is violating its mission to leave unimpaired for future generations to enjoy the wild bison inhabiting their native range including Yellowstone National Park.

The U.S. Forest Service is also named in the suit for failing to manage habitat for viable populations of wild bison and sage grouse on the Gallatin National Forest.

The plaintiffs also say the Forest Service is violating its Congressional mandate providing for a diversity of native plant and wildlife species by managing habitat for cattle on National Forest lands to the detriment of native, migratory bison and sage grouse populations.

The coalition has filed a prayer for relief asking the court to:
Direct the Forest Service and National Park Service to analyze new information and changed circumstances and how the agencies actions are harming and impairing distinct bison populations that exist in the Yellowstone ecosystem, and the ability of bison to naturally evolve and survive as an indigenous wildlife species.

Enjoin the Forest Service and National Park Service from participating in or permitting actions that would lead to the slaughter of wild bison on National Forest and Nation Park Service lands including trapping for transport to slaughter houses and quarantine.

The suit does not affect the state of Montana's bison hunt scheduled to begin November 15, 2009 nor does it affect Native American tribes that retain treaty rights to hunt bison on National Forest lands.
Supporting Documentation

GAO Report:
Yellowstone Bison ~ Interagency Plan and Agencies' Management Need Improvement to Better Address Bison-Cattle Brucellosis Controversy
(PDF, 3.1MB, March 2008)

Kilpatrick 2009, Wildlife-livestock conflict:
the risk of pathogen transmission from bison to cattle outside Yellowstone National Park (Kilpatrick, PDF, 3.8MB, 2009)

White Paper by Western Watersheds Project &
the Buffalo Field Campaign:

Bison Without Borders ~ Stopping the Senseless Slaughter of America's
Last Wild Bison (160kb, word)

Wildlife Viewing Economics (720kb, PDF)

 

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