MONTANA: Wild bison advocates across the state of Montana will be able to show their support for native wild buffalo with issuance of a new license plate. The license plate, featuring an image of a buffalo and the words "Let the Buffalo Roam" is currently available at all Montana Department of Motor Vehicles locations.

"This is a golden opportunity for Montanans to make a positive statement about wild bison in the state," said Buffalo Field Campaign co-founder Mike Mease. "The plate's logo, 'Let the Buffalo Roam' really says it all."

The license plates were made possible by a joint fundraising effort between the Montana-based wild bison advocacy group Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) and Patagonia, Inc. Patagonia is a generous and vocal supporter of Buffalo Field Campaign and the effort to protect the American bison and their habitat.

"We've been supporters of Buffalo Field Campaign since 1997," said Ron Hunter of Patagonia's Environmental Programs Department. "Our partnership with BFC on the Montana license plate project is another opportunity for Patagonia to help BFC highlight an American icon; the wild native buffalo. We believe that buffalo deserve the protection other wild animals have in the Yellowstone ecosystem." 

The availability of the license plates comes at a time when nearly 1,300 wild American bison have been killed at the hands of Montana's cattle industry and Yellowstone National Park. Under a joint state-federal plan, wild American bison, following their natural instincts to migrate, have been captured, slaughtered and hunted for entering or approaching Montana's boundary when they attempt to leave Yellowstone National Park. 

"The government-backed cattle industry has been calling the shots way too long, ignoring the vast number of Montanans who want wild bison to return to their native Montana lands," said Mease. "This new license plate will give everyone who wants bison in Montana an opportunity to not only voice their opposition to current bison mismanagement, but to make a positive statement in support of wild bison recovery in the state."

Information on getting the new "Let Buffalo Roam" Montana license plate can be found on the Montana Department of Justice Driver Services web site: http://www.doj.mt.gov/driving/licenseplates.asp. 

More than 1,300 wild American bison have been eliminated from the remaining wild population this winter under actions carried out under the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), as well as state and treaty hunts. Bison are a migratory species native to vast expanses of North America and are ecologically extinct everywhere in the United States outside of Yellowstone National Park. Buffalo Field Campaign strongly opposes the Interagency Bison Management Plan and maintains that wild bison should be allowed to naturally and fully recover themselves throughout their historic native range, especially on public lands.

Patagonia is noted internationally for its commitment to product quality and environmental activism. Its Environmental Grants Program has contributed over $30M to grassroots environmental activists since the program began in 1985, and its Environmental Internship Program allows employees to work for non-profit environmental groups while receiving their full paycheck. Incorporating environmental responsibility into product development is part of Patagonia's ethos. Since 1996 the company has used only organically-grown cotton in its clothing line, and most recently, launched a fiber-to-fiber recycling program taking back its worn-out clothing and reincarnating it as new products, forever capturing the petroleum used in making virgin fiber. In fiscal year 2007, the company posted $278M in sales. (www.patagonia.com)

Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, every day, to stop the slaughter of the wild American buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo and their habitat and advocate for their lasting protection. Buffalo Field Campaign has proposed real alternatives to the current mismanagement of American bison that can be viewed at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/solutions.html.

For more information, video clips and photos visit: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.

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