Testimony on SB 184

Dear Chairman Ted Washburn and members of the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee,

On behalf of Buffalo Field Campaign I am submitting testimony on SB 184. Please share my testimony with Rep. Jeffrey Welborn for whom I have no contact for. I would also request that my testimony be entered into the hearing record and transcript. Thank you.

Buffalo Field Campaign is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo herd, protect the natural habitat of wild free-roaming buffalo and native wildlife, and to work with people of all Nations to honor the sacredness of the wild buffalo.

Our members, who come from all walks of life and from places all around the world, envision a life for buffalo in which they thrive within a state of inherent wildness. We also envision a world in which buffalo and all other native wildlife are given precedence on public land, and where buffalo herds remain as a self-regulating sustainable population, and a viable genetic source for the future evolutionary potential of the wildlife species.
I am also a resident of West Yellowstone and live year-round in the Hebgen basin where America's last wild buffalo roam.

Buffalo Field Campaign is adamantly opposed to SB 184 for many reasons.

SB 184 changes current law to mandate that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission issue tags for a hunt of wild buffalo with bows and arrows.

Buffalo Field Campaign opposes Montana's hunt of wild buffalo for "disease control" purposes taking the position of NO HABITAT NO HUNT.

Montana has not provided habitat to sustain wild buffalo populations like our state has done for elk, among other wildlife species.

Montana has no business hunting an indigenous wildlife species for which the state does not provide habitat to sustain wild populations.

Buffalo Field Campaign also objects to hunting wild buffalo with bows and arrows.

In monitoring and observing the buffalo hunt in the Gardiner and Hebgen Lake basins it is rare for a buffalo to be killed by a hunter with one shot from a high powered rifle.

If bow and arrow hunting is permitted it is a foregone outcome that injured buffalo will escape pursuit and end in up residential neighborhoods in Gardiner and West Yellowstone.

Many people do not realize that the buffalo hunt takes place not far at all from neighborhoods, residential villages, and towns.

Our communities do not need stressed buffalo injured by arrows who have to be tracked down and shot by game wardens, town police, and sheriffs.

Thank you for showing common sense by voting to defeat SB 184.
Darrell Geist, Habitat Coordinator
Buffalo Field Campaign
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone MT 59758
phone: (406) 646-0070
fax: (406) 646-0071
email: z@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/habitat.html