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* Update From the Field -- Buffalo Roadshow Coming to
Your Community
BFC's Roadshow season is officially underway. Mike and
Josh hit the road last Tuesday, and will kick off their
tour this Saturday at the Santa Barbara Farmer's Market
in southern California. For information on the West
and East Coast Roadshows including full listings of
events, see: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/roadshows2005.html
After sending this update out, I'll be getting in the
car and heading for Spokane, Washington, where I'll
read my buffalo-inspired essay, "Buffalo Field
Campaign" that recently came out in the book Holding
Common Ground: the Individual and Public Lands in the
American West, published by the University of Eastern
Washington Press. BFC volunteer and long-time ally Chuck
Pezeshki will be sharing his buffalo photos and reading
from an essay as well. For those of you living near
Spokane, the reading will take place at 7:30 pm at Aunties
Bookstore.
Thanks to everyone who responded to our plea for help
with a firewood truck. We've been receiving many donations,
including use of an excellent wood-hauling truck. Thanks
Mark, for lending us your brand new truck, which you
still haven't seen. What a selfless gesture. Thanks
also to Clem, for offering us your truck. If anyone
lives on the West Coast and has a trailer we can use
to haul a pickup home to Montana, please let us know
so we can take Clem up on his generous offer.
You are all part of the BFC family. Thank you for making
it possible for us to be here with the buffalo.
Congratulations to Sundog and Amber on the birth of
their new son, the world's newest buffalo warrior.
for the Wild,
Dan Brister
BFC
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* Scientists, BFC Reps Question Usefulness of
Wildlife Vaccines
Scientists from around the world, government agency
representatives, industry researchers,
and a handful of observers including BFC volunteers
gathered in Laramie, Wyoming last week for a three day
"working symposium"to discuss the development
of new brucellosis vaccines, delivery systems, and diagnostic
tools for elk and buffalo in the Greater Yellowstone
area.
The primary purpose of the conference was to identify
research needs toward the development of a safe and
effective vaccine that could be delivered to elk and
buffalo and be tested for efficacy. Throughout the discussions,
government representatives repeatedly recognized that
vaccination of wildlife would not be a "silver
bullet" in their efforts to manage or eradicate
brucellosis, but they still considered it a worthwhile
exercise.
However, some of the conference participants questioned
the value of efforts spent on vaccine research when
the primary issues affecting the prevalence of brucellosis
in the area are wildlife management practices that restrict
natural movements and unnaturally congregate animals.
Several times during the conference, participants and
observers questioned the focus on vaccinating wildlife
while stating the need for a better vaccine for cattle,
the controllable element in the ecosystem. Another option
brought to the table that would ease the pressure on
wildlife is an administrative rule change for the brucellosis
classification system. That system currently punishes
ranchers outside of the affected region unnecessarily
by using state boundaries for classification rather
than zones that directly relate to the incidence of
disease in cattle.
After three days of discussion and debate, one thing
remained absolutely clear: the development of new vaccines,
delivery systems and diagnostic tools for brucellosis
will carry a hefty price tag (between 25 and 50 million
dollars), take many years to develop (10-15 years before
receiving
regulatory approval), and will have little impact on
the real issues surrounding the brucellosis controversy
in the Greater Yellowstone area. While science has its
place in the resolving the current conflict, the primary
issues that need immediate attention are a matter of
policy,
regional, national, and international politics, and
simple common sense.
For press coverage of the conference, check out the
following links:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/press0405/news0405/081905.html
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/press0405/news0405/082105.html
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* Celebrating the Life of a Dear and Departed
Friend, Phil
On Saturday August 20 friends, family and Buffalo Field
Campaign volunteers gathered to put our long lost friend
Phil Morton's ashes in the ground he loved, respected
and fought so hard to protect. Survived by his lovely
partner, Barb a truly beautiful ceremony was arranged
and performed. Megan and Josh from the BFC played music
as Philís ashes where placed in to a sacred secret
spot on Hebgen lake. Walking Jim Stoltz sang to help
the mood and old stories from Doug Peacock and many
other friends filled the air with memories of Phil.
Two years have gone by now since Phil passed from the
world we know, but every critter I look in the eyes
of, lets me know he is still here watching over us.
For more information on Phil's life, click here:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/artthoughts/memorialphil.html
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* Last Words
"Let
the Buffalo Roam!"
--from BFC's newly designed tee shirts (available soon)
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Buffalo Field Campaign
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
(406) 646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
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Send your email address to bfc-media@wildrockies.org
forward this message to friends and family!
Help the buffalo by recycling your used printer cartridges
and cell phones! It's free and easy. BFC receives a
donation for every used cartridge you keep out of the
waste stream. Visit http://buffalofieldcampaign.org/support/recycleprint.html.
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