* Update on Royal Teton Ranch Land Lease

Many heartfelt thanks to all of you who submitted comments to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks on the Royal Teton Ranch land lease, a $3.3 million deal to lease grazing rights for 30 years from the Church Universal & Triumphant west of the Yellowstone River in the Gardiner Basin. The overwhelming number of public comments received showed a strong opposition to this bad deal for wild bison who will be subject to capture, testing, and tagging to be eligible for migrating through a fenced 'corridor' to seasonally graze in limited numbers and potentially hunted or captured again then forced back into Yellowstone National Park by April 15. Thank you for being a voice for wild bison! Unfortunately, it appears that Fish, Wildlife & Parks is ignoring the public once again, and have decided to implement the land lease.

Please consider contacting the new Region 3 Director for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Joe Maurier <jmaurier@mt.gov>, to express your feelings about this decision.

Download a copy of the final $3.3 million dollar 30-year lease agreement December 2008. (PDF, 870kb)

Exhibit B (1 of 4, PDF) Map of Bison Corridor and Bison Use Areas
Exhibit B (2 of 4, PDF) Map of Bison Corridor Northern portion
Exhibit B (3 of 4, PDF) Map of Bison Corridor Central portion
Exhibit B (4 of 4, PDF) Map of Bison Corridor Southern portion

Download FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ROYAL TETON RANCH, GARDINER MONTANA GRAZING RESTRICTION AND BISON ACCESS AGREEMENT December 2008 (PDF, 3.6MB, 83 pages).

Download ROYAL TETON RANCH GRAZING RESTRICTION ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DECISION NOTICE December 2008 (PDF, 876kb, 17 pages).

Download Western Watersheds Project and Buffalo Field Campaign comments to the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Royal Teton Ranch Grazing Restriction and Bison Access Agreement October 30, 2008 (PDF, 88kb, 5 pages).

Download Western Watersheds Project and Buffalo Field Campaign letter to Yellowstone National Park's Superintendent requesting a supplemental environmental analysis on the proposed Royal Teton Ranch Grazing Restriction and Bison Access Agreement (PDF, 40kb, 1 page).

Download Yellowstone National Park Superintendent's response to the request for a supplemental environmental analysis on the proposed Royal Teton Ranch Grazing Restriction and Bison Access Agreement (PDF, 140kb, 2 pages).

Take Action! Contact Decision Makers:

Buffalo Field Campaign encourages you to contact decision makers to let them know how you feel about the lack of accountability and the broken promises made in the taxpayer funded Royal Teton Ranch land deal to provide a "safe haven for the bison." Senator Max Baucus was instrumental in securing $13,000,000 in funding to acquire and conserve wildlife habitat on the Royal Teton Ranch in the Gardner Basin, critical winter range for migrating bison.

U.S. Representative Nick J. Rahall, II and U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey requested the Government Accountability Office investigate and report on the Interagency Bison Management Plan to Congress. Released in April 2008, the GAO's report will play an important role in directing Congressional legislation to help protect America's last wild bison herd and their native habitat, and is available online: http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-08-291

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240
202-208-7351
feedback@ios.doi.gov

Director National Park Service
Jonathan Jarvis
1849 C Street, NW
Room 3312
Washington, DC 20240
Phone: 202-208-4621
Fax: 202-208-7889
email: jon_jarvis@nps.gov

Senator Max Baucus
511 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2651 phone
(202) 224-0515 fax
max@baucus.senate.gov

Senator Jon Tester
204 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2644 phone
(202) 224-8594 fax
jontester@senate.gov

Representative Denny Rehberg
516 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3211 phone
(202) 225-5687 fax

Governor Brian D. Schweitzer
Office of the Governor
Montana State Capitol Building
P.O. Box 200801
Helena MT 59620-0801
(406) 444-3111 phone
(406) 444-5529 fax
governor@mt.gov

Representative Nick J. Rahall, II
Chairman, House Natural Resources committee 
1324 Longworth Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6065 phone
(202) 225-1931 fax
www.rahall.house.gov

Representative Maurice Hinchey
2431 Rayburn H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6335 phone
(202) 226-0774 fax
www.house.gov/hinchey/

Senator Jeff Bingaman
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Energy and Natural Resources Committee Office
304 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4971 phone
(202) 224-6163 fax
http://energy.senate.gov/public/

Suzanne Lewis, Superintendent
Yellowstone National Park
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190-0168
(307) 344-2002 phone
(307) 344-2014 fax
Suzanne_Lewis@nps.gov

Tom Tidwell, Chief Forest Service
US Forest Service
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-0003
(202) 205-8439 phone
(202) 205-1765 fax
ttidwell@fs.fed.us

Jane Cottrell, Deputy Regional Forester, Region 1
U.S. Forest Service
Federal Building
200 East Broadway, P.O. Box 7669
Missoula, MT 59807
(406) 329-3511 phone
(406) 329-3347 fax
jcottrell@fs.fed.us

Mary Erickson, Forest Supervisor
Gallatin National Forest
P.O. Box 130
Bozeman, MT 59771
(406) 587-6701 phone
(406) 587-6758 fax
mcerickson@fs.fed.us

Marty Zaluski, State Veterinarian
Montana Department of Livestock
P.O. Box 202001
Helena, MT 59620-2001
(406) 444-9321 phone
(406) 444-4316 fax
mzaluski@mt.gov

Joe Maurier, Director
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
1420 E. 6th Ave.
P.O. Box 200701
Helena, MT 59620-0701
(406) 444-3186 phone
(406) 444-4952 fax
jmaurier@mt.gov

Pat Flowers, Region 3 Supervisor
Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks
1400 South 19th
Bozeman MT 59718
(406) 994-4042 phone
(406) 994-4090 fax
pflowers@mt.gov

Rev. Kate Gordon, President
Church Universal and Triumphant
ONE EAST GATE ROAD
PO BOX 5000
Gardiner MT 59030-5000
(406) 848-9206 phone
(406) 848-9544 fax
tslkate@tsl.org

M David Allen, President and CEO
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
5705 Grant Creek
Missoula, MT 59808
(406) 523-4500 phone
(800) CALL-ELK (225-5355)
mdallen@rmef.org