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Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
While the buffalo are being enjoyed by countless visitors
to Yellowstone National Park, BFC has been busy throughout
the summer talking with many people, educating, engaging
in conversation, inspiring action. Simultaneously,
BFC has been very busy preparing our headquarters for
the coming field season. BFC is also travelling
through some western states to share with people the
buffalo's story. Volunteers currently scattered across
the continent are beginning to turn their thoughts back
to keeping company with wild buffalo and coming home
to the family that awaits them in West Yellowstone.
Meanwhile, the government and cattle industry continue
to argue over all the ways they can harm and insult
the last wild buffalo in the U.S.
Never a dull moment appears to be the theme of this
summer. Opportunities to help wild buffalo are before
us now. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is
currently accepting comments on listing wild buffalo
under the Endangered Species Act; this is extremely
significant, and an opportunity we've been waiting for
for a very long time. Concurrently, Montana Fish,
Wildlife & Parks is gearing up for the next bison
"hunt." Information on both of these
happenings is detailed below. All friends of wild
buffalo have some very important actions to take to
help our shaggy friends into the future. As BFC's
Office Coordinator, barb, said to me the other night:
"None of us have any excuses not to do something."
We have great opportunity before us that will provide
a living legacy of wild buffalo, roaming free throughout
their native homeland.
Your role is critical. Please read on to learn
about the important actions you can take, make your
voice heard for the herd, and please help spread the
word!
Roam Free,
~Stephany
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* TAKE ACTION:
Submit Your Comments in Support of Horsley's Petition
to List Yellowstone Bison as Endangered!
Never doubt the power of one individual! Just
one person - James Horsley, a Minnesota citizen - got
the attention of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
with a letter (petition) he submitted back in 1999.
It took eight and a half years, but his hand-written
petition urging the USFWS to protect the Yellowstone
buffalo under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) received
attention. His words instigated this critical
opportunity for all of us to convince the USFWS that
the wild buffalo of Yellowstone - the last wild American
buffalo in this country - and their habitat, deserve
federal protection under the ESA. If one person
can make this happen, imagine what we can do together.
The USFWS has invited the public to submit information
concerning the last wild herd of American buffalo -
the so-called Yellowstone buffalo - their habitat and
threats to their survival. The Yellowstone buffalo
represent the last remaining herd of wild buffalo in
America, who's native range expanded much of the North
American continent. Now, isolated in Yellowstone
National Park, unable to follow their natural instincts
to migrate due to nefarious cattle politics, wild buffalo
in the U.S. number fewer than 4,500 and are ecologically
extinct throughout their native range. 100% of
their historic migration routes have been denied them,
though migration corridors and vast expanses of their
habitat still exist and should be made available to
them. The Yellowstone herd is genetically and
behaviorally unique, they are the last and only buffalo
to occupy a portion of their native range since prehistoric
times. Current mismanagement practices embodied
in the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) - funded
by the American taxpayer to the tune of millions of
dollars a year - threaten the evolutionary potential
of this irreplaceable herd.
TAKE ACTION:
Please contact the USFWS today. Let them know
you support James Horsley's petition. Urge them
to grant Endangered Species Act protections to the Yellowstone
buffalo, and strongly encourage them to reconsider their
current position not to protect wild buffalo and their
habitat under the ESA. USFWS's finding is deficient
and lacking serious scientific consideration of the
full range of threats that imperil the wild American
buffalo's survival. The agency must be encouraged to
gather and use the 'best available science' when making
their decision. Our task is to identify
important and substantial information that clearly demonstrates
that the last wild buffalo, those remaining in Yellowstone,
and their native, historic range, deserve protection
under the ESA. Include any information you feel
is important to the history and future of wild buffalo
in America. Submit stories, maps, books, papers;
any information we can submit to the USFWS to help them
realize that the Yellowstone herd is, indeed, endangered,
and deserving of ESA protection.
Please visit http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/update0607/082307.html
for more information and talking points. You can also
review Horsley's petition on this page.
Send your comments to:
Michael Stempel
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological Services
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
134 Union Boulevard
Suite 645
Lakewood, CO 80228
mike_stempel@fws.gov
(ph) 303-236-4253
(fax) 303-236-0027
* We will keep you updated and will soon have an ESA
page up on our web site. Please share this important
action with everyone you know, including organizations,
classes, and any groups or individuals who will take
action for wild buffalo in America!
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* Bison Hunt: Save a Buffalo for $3
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) is about to
start taking applications for the state's upcoming bison
"hunt." Once again, we have a hunt without
habitat, wild bison are not respected as native wildlife,
and the Department of Livestock (DOL) is the authorizing
agency. Bison will migrate out of an area where
they have been admired by millions of Park visitors
into Montana and the sites of rifles.
Wild bison are ecologically extinct throughout their
native range - how can Montana justify a hunt?
It's become another way for the state to kill wild buffalo
that migrate into Montana. They are using hunters
to do the dirty work of the DOL.
This year, FWP intends to provide 44 tags to kill buffalo
that migrate into Montana. The Nez Perce and Confederated
Salish-Kootenai tribes, who are hunting under treaty
rights have agreed to take an additional 44 buffalo
between them. Adding insult to injury, should
an additional 60 wild buffalo migrate into Montana during
the hunt season (Nov. 15 - Feb. 15) FWP will issue another
100 tags! In a ridiculous par for the course,
Montana insists on killing buffalo that haven't even
migrated into the state.
TAKE ACTION:
You can save a wild buffalo from being hunted down on
their winter range. Starting tomorrow, Friday,
September 7, FWP will be taking applications for the
bison hunt lottery. If you apply and win the lottery,
you can choose NOT to use your tag and hence save a
wild buffalo for just $3.
Information on how to apply for a bison hunt tag is
at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/legislative/bisontags.html.
For questions or more information, contact Jesse Crocker
at jesse@thisside.net
or call him at 406-646-0070.
Please also continue to write to FWP and Montana Governor
Brian Schweitzer to let them know you oppose Montana's
bison hunt. Letters to the Editor of Montana and
national papers are also critical. Yellowstone buffalo
that migrate into Montana are never left alone. They
have no year-round habitat in the state, and are "managed"
as a nuisance animal by livestock interests. Whenever
wild buffalo enter Montana, they are chased back into
the Park by government agents and cattle interests on
horses, snowmobiles, ATVS and helicopters, atrocious
activities called hazing that not only harm buffalo,
but disrupt the entire ecosystem. Many times wild
buffalo that continue to follow their instincts and
don't "respond to hazing" are captured and
sent to slaughter and quarantine facilities. These
cruel and senseless actions are all based on the cattle
industry's fear that wild bison "may" transmit
brucellosis to livestock. Brucellosis came from
the European livestock that now swarm this country in
the tens of millions, and wild buffalo have never transmitted
the disease back to them. Brucellosis is being
used as a tool to keep wild bison from reoccupying their
native habitat. Montana's hunt is just one more
way for cattle interests to "justify" killing
wild bison that cross that nonsensical, man-made border.
Contact Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks as well as
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and let them know
you OPPOSE the bison "hunt" and why:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html
Please write Letters to the Editor of local, state and
national papers. Contact information for some
papers as well as tips on writing an LTE are found at:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/lte.html
Remember: printed buffalo-friendly letters get
you a free "Let Buffalo Roam!" BFC t-shirt!
Just send you letter, mailing address and t-shirt size
to bfc-media@wildrockies.org
or to BFC, P.O. Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT
59758.
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* BFC's West Coast Road Show
Mike, Fischburne and Chris are underway with BFC's West
Coast Road Show! The tour began last night in Nevada,
and heads to California tomorrow. Throughout the tour
BFC's work and the message to let wild buffalo roam
is being supported by incredible musical acts such as
Phoenix, After Buffalo, Good Shield & 7th Generation
Rise and more! Mike Mease will speak to the beautiful
masses at this Saturday's Power to the Peaceful in San
Francisco's Speed Way Meadow. Check out the schedule
and join this awesome BFC crew if you can! http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/roadshowswest2007.html
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* Summer Outreach Wrap-up at BFC
As the summer of 2007 wraps up, Buffalo Field Campaign
would like to thank everyone who makes it possible for
us to tell the world about the Yellowstone Bison. This
past summer was eventful, and we are reminded of the
people who make it possible for us to be in the field
with the bison, advocate, and be a worldwide source
for media, educators, and folks who are interested in
the plight of the Great American Bison.
Summer is our primary time to do outreach inside of
Yellowstone National Park. This is a great opportunity
for us to share not only our knowledge but our experiences
with park visitors from around the world, many of whom
come chiefly to see the Yellowstone Bison. Two Buffalo
Field Campaign volunteers set up in a 'designated free
speech' zone inside of the park each day from June 1
through September 3 to advocate for bison habitat on
the Gallatin National Forest that surround the park
and gather signatures to have the Yellowstone Bison
listed as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered
Species Act.
We would like to thank all of the visitors from within
the park who took time to stop and learn about the Yellowstone
Bison.
We also had many classes visit us this summer, including
Myron Blosser's Discovery Group who travelled all the
way from Virginia! Greg Gordon's class from Montana
State University also came to BFC this summer for two
days. Not only did these students learn about bison,
they helped haul 12 cords of wood to campaign headquarters
to keep volunteers warm for the frigid, harsh Montana
winters. The Yellowstone Association visited the
headquarters in August. Filled with college professors,
this class asked in-depth questions about the Interagency
Bison Management Plan and sound science regarding brucellosis.
We were glad to be able to answer their questions, and
be honest about the history and prior management of
the Yellowstone Bison in the early 1900's.
Again, we would like to show our gratitude for the people
and supporters who make it possible for Buffalo Field
Campaign to document and record actions taken against
the bison, advocate for bison to roam, and have a true
desire to protect these great creatures. We would not
be able to tell the world about the Yellowstone Bison
without you!
Stephanie Munce
------------------------------
* Last Words
"It is the doggonedest thing. When the buffalo
leaves the Park, then the State of Montana is responsible
to chase them around, to round them up or have a hunt.
We have been hunting them for the last couple of years....
So we have been hunting them when they leave the Park
but we have to wait until their nose crosses a line,
and then we can shoot them... So, I would suggest if
we could hunt them on one side of the line we ought
to be able to hunt them on the other side of the line
and open up the entire basin for hunting."
~ Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, advocating for
opening up Yellowstone National Park to hunting bison,
in statements before the House Resource Subcomittee
on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, March 20,
2007
"You know this species is really the symbol of
human's destructive capability. I mean you look
at all the species in this country, and you just contemplate
the idea of 30 to 50 or even 60 million bison brought
down in the span of just a few decades ... to just dozens
or hundreds of individuals. I mean the destructive
capacity is extraordinary... This is a special population
of animals. They have a special place in the country
with Yellowstone as the world's first national park.
They are a symbol of the west. They are an icon
of western Americana. They are treated like shaggy
members of a dispossessed cattle herd that are encroaching
on adjacent and occupied cattle ranches."
~ Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO, Humane Society
of the U.S., before the House Resource Subcommittee
on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, March 20,
2007
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