West Yellowstone, MT- A man blocked access to the Horse Butte bison capture facility this morning by suspending himself over the 610 road in a platform that was attached to the gate of the road. Today is the last day this year that the Horse Butte trap is to be used according to the Gallatin National Forest permit.

Seventy-two bison captured yesterday were sent to slaughter this morning without being tested for exposure to brucellosis. BFC spokesperson Peter Leusch said, "Montana has been claiming for over fifteen years that the reason for the bison slaughter is the threat of brucellosis transmission. Their recent actions prove that brucellosis is a smokescreen to hide Montana's intolerance of bison on National Forest lands."

The bison captured on Monday were hazed from an area along the Madison River just outside the Yellowstone boundary and included at least four newborn calves. Cattle are never in this area.

The bison were hazed about four miles to Horse Butte, where at least fifteen escaped the trap. Those bison are now grazing and calving on the butte with approximately seventy-five others. According to Leusch, "If the government is really concerned about brucellosis transmission, why would they haze bison that are supposedly infected from an area never grazed by cattle to one that is used by cattle in the summer?"

The Montana Department of Livestock is violating the intent and purpose of its' capture facility permit by sending bison to slaughter without testing for brucellosis. In his decision memo authorizing the Horse Butte bison capture facility on the Gallatin National Forest, Hebgen Lake District Ranger Stan Benes wrote: "I made this decision to help the State reduce the number of brucellosis exposed bison that have to be killed. In the past, there has been indiscriminate shooting of bison leaving Yellowstone National Park. With this decision, the State will be able to release animals that test negative for brucellosis to continue their migration onto National Forest lands. As a result of this facility, I believe fewer bison will be killed." (Dec 1, 1998)

The government claims that the bison population is over 3,000, the population target for the Interagency Bison Management Plan. Under the plan, bison may now be slaughtered or shot in the field without being tested for brucellosis. BFC believes that the population cap set in the plan is an arbitrary number and threatens the long-term survival of the Yellowstone bison herds.

At a workshop in early April, Dr. Mary Meagher, who studied Yellowstone's native bison herd for thirty-five years, said the government imposed bison population cap of 3,000 is not a biological number or an indicator of how bison can use the land to survive. Setting an arbitrary number for wildlife herds can be very dangerous because of large, natural fluctuations in population.

The Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Our daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on and document every move made against them.

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