Dear Buffalo Friends,
WE HAVE BEEN LIED TO. Your calls are needed now.
Approximately 50 wild buffalo are in the trap near West Yellowstone's airport right now. After all their quotes in papers worldwide promising not to slaughter any buffalo left in Montana, the agencies have back-tracked on their word to the American people and others throughout the world.
MONTANA INTENDS TO SLAUGHTER WILD BUFFALO TODAY.
A Montana Department of LIEStock press release stated they will capture and slaughter any bull bison that are in the small group of approximately 50 still in Montana. They claim the bison trap cannot handle bulls, which is another lie because, as you know, they've captured and sent to slaughter hundreds of bull bison over the years. Intent to slaughter bull bison was confirmed by officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
Bull bison pose no risk of brucellosis transmission. With calving season over, none of the buffalo pose any risk of brucellosis transmission to cattle. There are no cattle on the public lands that wild bison are migrating to. There has never been a confirmed case of wild bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle.
Agencies might also send yearling buffalo to the Corwin Springs quarantine facility, where they will be raised like livestock and used in scientific experiments. Half of all the yearlings sent to Corwin Springs will be slaughtered.
Apparently, the agencies will still transport the buffalo mothers and calves they capture in West Yellowstone to the Park's Stephens Creek bison trap near Gardiner. Transport is going to be a living hell for these moms and calves who will be separated for the over 150-mile long journey. They will hold the bison captive for a few days before releasing them.
BFC patrols are in the field documenting everything and doing a lot of community outreach near the capture facility.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION and attempt to save the lives of these bulls and yearlings. We've done it once, let's do it again. Please spread the word to save this herd!
* MONTANA GOVERNOR BRIAN SCHWEITZER: Ask him why he lied. Demand that Schweitzer keep his promise to not slaughter any buffalo! Tell him the solution is in year-round habitat for wild buffalo in Montana.
(406) 444-3111 (phone) * (406) 444-5529 (fax) * governor@mt.gov (email)
* MONTANA ACTING STATE VET JEANNE RANKIN: Urge her to withdraw her decision to slaughter Yellowstone bison bulls who pose NO RISK of transmitting brucellosis. Remind her the whole world is watching!
(406) 444-1895 (phone) * (800) 523-3162 (phone) * (406) 444-1929 (fax) * jrankin@mt.gov (email)
* YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK SUPERINTENDENT SUZANNE LEWIS: Ask her why she is part of the lie? Do not allow Montana to slaughter bulls or put yearlings in quarantine! These are AMERICA'S last wild buffalo, not Montana's. Tell her you know the Stephens Creek trap could hold bulls, so there's no reason that Montana should slaughter them!
(307) 344-2002 (phone)* (307) 344-2005 (fax) * suzanne_lewis@nps.gov OR yell_superintendent@nps.gov (email)
Thank you for keeping the pressure on these officials! These wild buffalo are the country's last. They have never transmitted the cattle-disease brucellosis back to the cows they got it from. They are native to all of Montana and have a right to roam, especially on our public lands.
SPREAD THE WORD ~ SAVE THE HERD!
Media & Outreach Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
BFC is the only group working in the field every day to defend the last wild herd of buffalo in America.
--------
Stephanie Seay of the Buffalo Field Campaign on the Slaughter of Wild Buffalo
George Cadman of Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 fm interviews Stephanie Seay, media coordinator of the Buffalo Field Campaign about the Montana state and the federal government practice of capturing wild buffalo on public lands and slaughtering them or transporting them hundreds of miles in trucks or trains. In Montana in the last two weeks state and federal authorities planned to slaughter 300 wild buffalo, including calves and their mothers. It was stopped by the BFC and public outcry, but this is not the first time this has happened. In the last 7 years the government has trucked 2,000 wild buffalo to slaughter, 1,000 last year alone. Stephanie also talks about the cattle industry, the power they hold in Montana and how they influence decision making on the treatment of wild buffalo, the huge subsidies that the industry receives, and their access to public lands. And she discusses what concerned citizens can do to help defend the last remaining wild buffalo in North America.
Listen to the Audio:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/10/18426620.php
Informant: Eric Stewart
--------
Special Update: Bull Bison Spared; Hazing Continues
All of the buffalo captured in West Yellowstone on Friday - 52 total - were released Sunday morning. This includes the 16 bulls that the Montana Department of Livestock and Yellowstone National Park had intended to slaughter.
THANK YOU! YOUR PERSISTENT ACTION MADE THE DIFFERENCE AGAIN!
In less than two weeks, your calls and emails to Governor Schweitzer and Yellowstone National Park saved the lives of hundreds of buffalo and have brought an incredible amount of media attention to the issue.
While there is a relatively happy ending, these 52 buffalo endured an ordeal. Not only was their migration forcefully choked, they were captured, moms and calves were separated, family groups were broken apart, they were loaded onto livestock trailers, unloaded at the Duck Creek bison trap, re-loaded onto livestock trailers and hauled over 150 miles to the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. Then they were placed in the Stephens Creek bison trap where they spent a few days before being hazed deeper into Yellowstone. Agents released them at 5:30 in the morning. Starting that early indicates that there was something they didn't want the public to see. You can see a short BFC video clip of the capture on our home page:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.
Over the weekend and up through today, the agents have been continuously harassing wild bison in Montana and Yellowstone National Park. Park visitors witnessed the shameful spectacle of the Interagency Bison Management Plan participants hazing wild bison from horseback and with a helicopter inside Yellowstone's boundaries. One Park ranger explained to outraged tourists today that they were witnessing "a buffalo drive." Welcome to the world's first national park.
Wild buffalo are being managed like livestock and treated as vermin under pressure from Montana's cattle industry. The agencies and media have been describing wild, migrating buffalo with words like "renegade," "wandering" and "recalcitrant." These same terms never apply to migrating whales, salmon, birds or other animals; why does Montana insist on such misnomers for wild bison? Native to nearly the entire North American continent, wild buffalo roam. Buffalo are doing exactly what they evolved to do. They are attempting to naturally restore themselves and while this should be cause for enormous celebration, government and industry punish them.
Year-round habitat for wild buffalo in Montana is the solution.
Keep the pressure on the decision-makers and the vision of wild, free-roaming buffalo alive. We will make it happen.
Roam Free!
Media & Outreach Buffalo Field Campaign P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media @wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
BFC is the only group working in the field every day to defend the last wild herd of buffalo in America.
BOYCOTT BEEF! It's what's killing wild buffalo.
Speak Out! Contact politicians and involved agencies today:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html
Write a Letter to the Editor of key newspapers:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/lte.html
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Buffalo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bison
