| Bozeman,
MT: The Gallatin National Forest removed
and may have destroyed public records in a $13,000,000
land conservation and wildlife protection agreement
in Yellowstone.
Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC), a nonprofit bison advocacy
group located near West Yellowstone, has sought the
files through the Freedom of Information Act since June
2004. The group is researching land use within the Yellowstone
bison herd's native and historic range.
"The Forest Service violated their public trust
responsibility by removing records we had been seeking
under the Freedom of Information Act," says Dan
Brister, Buffalo Field Campaign. "The American
people spent over $13,000,000 to protect habitat for
native wildlife. The Forest Service's action has cast
a shadow over the public's right to know how this agreement
is being implemented."
The Gallatin National Forest blocked BFC's access to
its Royal Teton Ranch files in late February, and sometime
in March, removed documents from the public record.
The group was informed March 30 by Bob Dennee, Lands
Staff for the Gallatin National Forest, that he had
removed files from the Royal Teton Ranch project record
at the agency's offices in Bozeman and Gardiner. Files
on the $13,000,000 land conservation and wildlife protection
agreement may have been destroyed.
"The Gallatin National Forest removed public records
after they refused to let me see them," says Darrell
Geist, a research consultant with Darrell Geist &
Associates. "I spent a day and a half trying to
get access in Bozeman which the agency refused to provide.
Officials in the Bozeman office then canceled a visit
I had arranged with the District Ranger in Gardiner
to review public records on the land agreement."
After the Gallatin Forest blocked access to the files
in February, the agency told the group that they would
have to reschedule another visit weeks in advance.
"When I returned in March to see the Royal Teton
Ranch files, I was told by the Gallatin Forest that
public records had been removed from files kept in Bozeman
and Gardiner," adds Geist.
Buffalo Field Campaign has asked Becki Heath, Forest
Supervisor for the Gallatin National Forest, to account
for how the public records were removed, and to retrieve
them if they have not been destroyed or cannot be recovered.
Taxpayer funding for the $13,000,000 land conservation
and wildlife protection agreement was appropriated by
Congress to acquire and protect 6,770 acres of land
just outside Yellowstone National Park along the Yellowstone
River in Montana. The land is situated in one of the
largest migrations of native ungulates in North America
including elk, bison, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and
pronghorn antelope. Habitat is also present for threatened
species including grey wolves, grizzly bears, bald eagles
and Yellowstone cutthroat trout.
The Gallatin National Forest has yet to issue a response
on what the agency did with the public records.
Buffalo Field Campaign has asked Senator Max Baucus
for assistance in recovering and disclosing the public
records removed by the Gallatin National Forest.
Online Resources: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/foiadispute.html
1) Letter to Gallatin Forest Supervisor Becki J. Heath
asking the agency to cease removing public records from
the Royal Teton Ranch project files (April 5, 2005)
2) Letter to Senator Max Baucus asking his office to
assist in publicly disclosing Gallatin National Forest
records (April 27, 2005)
3) Fact Sheet on Royal Teton Ranch
4) Fact Sheet on Devil's Slide
5) Color map of Royal Teton Ranch and Devil's Slide
land conservation agreement
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