Dear
Buffalo Supporters,
If you have been wanting to help protect the Yellowstone
buffalo, now is your chance. Representative Nick Rahall,
the ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee,
will offer an amendment to the 2004 Interior Appropriations
Bill making it illegal for the Park Service to use funds
to kill Yellowstone buffalo. The Bill will be voted on
next week.
The Rahall Amendment will add language to Interior Appropriations
Bill stating that "none of the funds made available
by this Act may be used to kill, or assist others in killing
any bison in the Yellowstone National Park herd."
As you may know, Yellowstone employees captured 231 buffalo
inside the park during the first week of March, 2003,
and shipped them all to slaughter without testing a single
one for brucellosis, the supposed justification for the
killing. This radical action, which runs counter to the
Park Service mission, caught Representative Rahall's attention
and he has been active in this issue ever since.
During the past two winters park rangers have joined forces
with Montana Department of Livestock agents in and around
Yellowstone to slaughter buffalo. If the amendment passes
the House and Senate, Yellowstone employees will no longer
be able to assist the Montana Department of Livestock
in the bloody work of slaughtering Yellowstone buffalo.
We travelled to Washington DC in May and met with over
seventy Representatives and Senators, building a strong
constituency for the Yellowstone buffalo among our elected
officials and helping to elevate the issue to the national
stage. We will be calling upon those we met with but we
need your help to make this effort a success.
TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ABOUT THE RAHALL AMENDMENT
Yellowstone National Park provided sanctuary to the only
23 free-roaming buffalo that survived the mass slaughter
of the 19th century. Yet present-day park rangers are
taking part in a slaughter that threatens the very survival
of their ancestors.
Call, fax, and email (in that order) your representative
and tell them about the Rahall Amendment. Yellowstone
is supposed to be a sanctuary for our nation's last remaining
herd of genetically pure, free-roaming bison, not a killing
ground. Make a single phone call and let your Representative
know what you think.
To contact your Representative, please visit the following
web site:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Take action today. The future of free-roaming buffalo
in America depends on it!
For more information on the Yellowstone herd and the efforts
of the Buffalo Field Campaign, please read our newsletter.
It is fresh off the press and available online or in hard
copy. Reply to this message with your mailing address
and we'll be glad to mail you one or click on the following
link for an electronic version:
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/BFC_pdfs/BFC-News-2003.pdf
The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in
the field every day to protect the Yellowstone bison,
America's only continuously wild herd. BFC volunteers
defend the bison and their habitat, and document every
move made against them.
Thank you for your help.
For the Buffalo,
Dan Brister
Project Coordinator
Buffalo Field Campaign
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