* Update from the Field

This bull buffalo sought - and found - shelter at Buffalo Field Campaign, as he was eluding the cops, the local game warden, and the DOL. BFC file photo by Darrell Geist. Click photo for larger image.

Summer is the time for family for me. It is also usually the slow time for buffalo harassment. This week combined the two and this story has come out of it.

A week before my parents, along with three of my four sisters and three more nieces and nephews arrived on July 2nd, I was entertaining my two 14-year-old nephews. In the middle of rafting, hiking, swimming in Hebgen Lake, and other outdoor fun, we heard the news that on Saturday June 30th the Department of Livestock (DOL) shot and killed a bull buffalo.

The day my parents and rest of the family where to arrive, a story of a big bull buffalo that had gored a dog just up the hill from our cabins had the DOL, Gallatin County Sheriff and our local Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) game warden combing our neighborhood in search of the bull. According to locals this dog was aggressive and attacked anything it could, mainly people. In all of the chaos the buffalo showed up in our yard and came up to my cabin. He squeezed between a wood pile and my cabin and bedded down out of sight from the agents who were looking for him.

Minutes after he had taken refuge in my yard, the local FWP officer drove onto our property and I went to talk to him. He asked about the buffalo and told me that he had gored a dog that attacked him. As little white lies came out of my mouth I told the agent the buffalo had just passed by our land. This bull buffalo spent three and a half hours bedded down in my yard and after all the agents left for the day he came out for food. My nephews said to me the buffalo know where they are safe and it opened their eyes to my other family: the buffalo and Buffalo Field Campaign. The buffalo then wandered down valley and was not seen again until sunset.

At that point, the rest of my family had arrived and watched the buffalo briskly walk through our yard and back up to the housing area where he had gored the dog. We followed with video and still cameras to make sure he was not shot. The next day he had wandered a few miles back towards Yellowstone National Park and our patrol was out there to document a DOL agent on horseback and an FWP agent on an ATV go after the buffalo. The bull ran from them and jumped into Hebgen Lake and swam over to Horse Butte for safety. The agents did not follow and our friend is still at large today. These days will forever be in my heart. The buffalo have shown me and my family just how special and magical this relationship is and our work to protect them. Our families are linked for life.

With the Buffalo,

Mike Mease

P.S. Here is a special BFC video about this bull, called "Bull Buffalo on the Run." Click the image to watch the video.

Buffalo Field Campaign Video 7/11/12 A bull Buffalo that gored an angry dog seeks refuses from the Police, Department of Livestock and FWP agent at Buffalo Field Campaign's headquarters. More video from the field

* HOT OFF THE PRESS! Newsletters & Wild Bison 2013 Calendars

Can you help distribute BFC newsletters in your community? Please email Kasi if you can, or if you'd like to be added to our mailing list, or need to update your information.


Click image for a larger view of the front page.

Hot off the press! BFC's 2012-2013 newsletter is complete and on it's way to you! If you want to be sure that you receive yours, please contact our office coordinator, Kasi, to ensure we have your correct mailing address. And if you are able to place newsletters around your community to help spread the word, please let Kasi know how many you would like and where to mail them. Thank you!

You are going to love this new calendar! Click image to order now!

BFC is proud to present our 2013 "Yellowstone Country Wild Bison Calendar." This is our third year of producing these amazing calendars, and this year's is our most thrilling and inspiring version yet! Loaded with amazing new photos, artwork, poetry and wild buffalo facts, this calendar is a must have. Great for your home or office, and a wonderful gift idea. Celebrate wild buffalo 365 days a year with BFC's 2013 Wild Bison calendars! ORDER TODAY!

* Wanted: Summer Outreach Volunteers

Buffalo Field Campaign is a presence inside Yellowstone National Park every summer, and we are looking for passionate, articulate folks who can help run our information table, discuss the buffalo with park visitors, and help build support for wild buffalo. BFC provides food, lodging, and transportation to and from our table in the Park. We ask for at least a two week commitment in order to accommodate training and orientation. This is a great opportunity to get involved and advocate for America's last wild buffalo! Please contact Demmi for more information.

* Join BFC for Wood Cut Week at BFC September 10-15, 2012

Mark your calendars and come to BFC! The week of September 10th through the 15th is BFC's Annual Wood Cut Week! We will be gathering, cutting and stacking wood for the coming winter field season. Bring your chain saw if you have one, and bring lots of friends! Room and board provided, and there's also plenty of camping space available. Please contact Mike Mease for more info by email or call 406-646-0070.

* BFC Wish List: Mike Mease Needs a Laptop!

Having had the honor of spending nine years working by the side of Mike Mease, I get to hear him typing emails to you, our beloved wild buffalo supporters, and it cracks me up because, well, Mike is not the fastest typist in the world. Using one finger of each hand, it is the sound of a chicken pecking grain. He puts a lot of time and effort in staying in touch. We have good laughs about it, to be sure. Well, Mike is traveling a lot more these days, and putting out videos more frequently, to the point where he is in need of a new laptop that he can take with him on the road, and also produce all the footage from the field that we share with the world. If you can help, Mike specifically needs one of these two Mac Book Pro makes:

15-inch: 2.6 GHz Retina display
* An awesome monitor $600 more that uses flash hard drive

15-inch: 2.6 GHz
* Just as fast with a solid state hard drive more suitable for video production

If you can help make this wish for Mike, please get in touch with him at mease@wildrockies.org or 406-646-0070. More about the computer he's in need of can be found right here. Thank you!!

* Bay Area/SF Supporters: BFC Needs Help with the John Trudell Event!

If you live around San Francisco or the Bay Area, BFC is looking for folks who can help us with a very exciting BFC Road Show event with John Trudell. If you are able to lend a hand, please contact Mike Mease at mease@wildrockies.org or 406-646-0070. Thank you!

* By the Numbers

AMERICAN BUFFALO ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S. The last wild population is currently estimated at fewer than 3,700 individual buffalo. Wild bison are currently ecologically extinct throughout their native range in North America.

2011-2012 Total Buffalo Killed: 31

2011-2012 Government Capture: 10
2011-2012 Buffalo Released from Capture: 7
2011-2012 Government Slaughter:
2011-2012 Held for Government Experiment: 3
2011-2012 Died In Government Trap:
2011-2012 Miscarriage in Government Trap:
2011-2012 State & Treaty Hunts: 28
2011-2012 Quarantine:
2011-2012 Shot by Agents: 1
2011-2012 Killed by Angry Residents:
2011-2012 Highway Mortality: 2

2010-2011 Total: 227
2009-2010 Total: 7
2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631

* Total Since 2000: 4,006*

*includes lethal government action, trap-related fatalities, quarantine/experiments, hunts, highway mortality

* Last Words

"Wherever you go there once were buffalos & forests.
Plant & protect Danny's trees & buffalos for life.
Trees are the lungs of the earth & the buffalos are
the spirit."

~ Bette Mioduski

This poem was inspired by Bette's son, Danny, who took her to Yellowstone to meet the buffalo, before he left this world far too soon.

Do you have submissions for Last Words? Send them to us. Thank you for all the poems, songs, quotes and stories you have been sending! Keep them coming!

Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media"at"wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
BFC is the only group working in the field every day in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the U.S.