| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
|
| News
Article 3/23/08 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Latest
'deal' won't stop park bison slaughter
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
3/23/08 |
Critical
things are being left out of reports regarding the so-called
deal being negotiated between the Church Universal and
Triumphant, FWP, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, National
Parks Conservation Association, and National and Montana
Wildlife Federations. The public is being woefully deceived.
This "deal" will do nothing to stop the slaughter
of wild bison.
The 30-year lease is a sham, an attempt
to make these entities look like they are finally "doing
something" for buffalo. In truth, they are exacerbating
current mismanagement actions and would continue to block
a significant wildlife migration corridor. Only 25 wild
bison would be allowed to temporarily occupy a portion
of CUT and Gallatin National Forest land. But first, the
"lucky" 25 buffalo will be captured, tested,
tagged, vaccinated, collared, vaginally implanted and
otherwise run through the typical bison torture gauntlet.
U.S. taxpayers have already paid CUT
$13 million for wild bison to access these lands.
CUT has completely failed to fulfill their end of the
bargain, the U.S. Forest Service has neglected their responsibilities,
and this year Yellowstone has slaughtered nearly
1,000 (and counting) wild bison as a result. Why
should more millions be given to CUT so they can add more
insult to injury by letting a handful of mistreated bison be
given temporary access to a fraction of their historic
habitat?
CUT and the Forest Service still have
an obligation to ensure that bison benefit from the
1999 land deal by providing a "safe haven for the
bison" as detailed in that agreement. It is
their failure to do this that is impeding the infamous
Interagency Bison misManagement Plan from moving
into Step Two. The NGOs and FWP who are blindly pushing
this most recent extortion effort as the saving grace
for buffalo should be ashamed for misleading the
public into believing that bison would benefit in
any way. Only by forcing CUT and the USFS to fulfill their
end of the bargain struck in 1999 can we begin to stop
the slaughter of what's left of the northern range buffalo herds.
Stephany J. Seay
West Yellowstone
Top
of Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
