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Update from the Field 10/24/02


Buffalo Field Campaign


Update From the Field


October 24, 2002





Greetings Buffalo Supporters,




As the 5:45 AM alarm pulls me out of my warm tipi bed this morning, two inches of fresh snow extinguish my hopes for a delayed winter. After a quick cup of black tea I am out the door and on patrol. Locating the lone bull buffalo in the frosty dawn, the morning's peace is quickly shattered by the arrival of three agents from the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL). The agents quickly wake the old bull with their noisy engines and he is not amused. He jumps up and snorts, hops his heavy body around, and swings his back end from side to side, catching air in the process.




As the agents' horse and 4x4 trucks close in the buffalo darts off toward the woods. The bull rakes his head through small trees eyeing the DOL agents all the while. At one point he takes off running and then suddenly turns in a new direction, on a dime, with the grace of a butterfly. But this butterfly weighs more than a ton.




As the DOL agents chase the bull down a private road two Buffalo Field Campaign video cameras document their every move. Landowners come out of their houses, tell the DOL agents that they are trespassing, then return to their homes to call the police. In and around West Yellowstone the buffalo have many friends, the DOL few. Still the authorities do the dirty work of the DOL. When BFC volunteers trespass we are immediately sent to the Bozeman jail. But the law won't come down on the trespassing agents, as the livestock industry still controls Montana. This type of selective law enforcement is the standard in these parts.




We are very thankful that the old bull is still alive. The DOL left him alone after hazing him to Yellowstone. But he will be back. This morning's snowfall was just a taste of what's to come. In the coming months Yellowstone will fall under a deepening blanket of snow and the buffalo, seeking survival, will leave the park for the surrounding lowlands, where they can access the grass from which their bodies are built. When they do they will find themselves in the cross-hairs of Montana's rifles, and many will likely be slaughtered. We will be here with the buffalo to protect them, to the best of our ability, and to share their stories with you. Together we will make a difference.




A special thanks to all of the people helping us get our kitchen set up and to those who have contacted us to donate VCRs. If you have ever thought about coming out to volunteer, please come this year. It's going to be a difficult one and we need all the help we can get. Thank you all for continuing to spread the word of the buffalo and for your never-ending support.






With the Buffalo,




Mike Mease






Buffalo Field Campaign


PO Box 957


West Yellowstone, MT 59758


406-646-0070 phone


406-646-0071 fax


buffalo@wildrockies.org


www.wildrockies.org/buffalo






----------------------------------




A Note from the Kitchen




Many thanks to all the folks who have responded so quickly to our requests for kitchen equipment!! We have received many of the items we are in need of but our wish list is still considerable. With hazing operations already in full swing we need to be able to have the kitchen ready immediately so that people can be well fed to put their energy into patrols. If you can donate any of the items on this list please let us know with a phone call or an e-mail as soon as possible!




Thanks for the love and kindness,




Amani...kitchen coordinator




10 and 20 quart stainless steel stockpots with lids




Stainless steel hotel pans with lids (deep and regular size)




20-24" professional sautee pans




Large stainless steel pressure cooker




Industrial strength food processor (robocoup)




Kitchen Aid mixer




Champion juicer Large peanut grinder to (make our own peanut butter)




Industrial size coffee grinder




4 lg. hot pots for transporting hot liquids




2-4 quality cleavers




Non-aluminum hot water maker(for tea)




Large stainless coffee percolator




*******************************************************************


Join the stop-the-slaughter listserve! Just click on the link below:


Subscribe: mailto:stop-the-slaughter-on@vortex.wildrockies.org


Send news submissions or problems to: mailto:stop-the-slaughter@wildrockies.org





--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.




Jim

Re: Update from the Field 10/24/02

Buffalo Field Campaign


Update From the Field


October 31, 2002




-----------------------




Mease's Musings




Have you ever just stared up into a snowstorm? Well today, I think I spent too much time doing it. I have always known that each snowflake has its own pattern and is different from all the others. Today I concentrated on how each one's flight is also unique. Some come down straight, some sway, some come sideways, some start down then go up and then back down, expressing their own freedom of flight. There is no controlling the freedom of a snowflake. Unfortunately, if you have four hooves and you leave an arbitrary manmade boundary your freedom is limited.




Some of us two leggeds do not have much freedom either, and local law enforcement officials here in West Yellowstone Montana make sure of it. In our efforts to document the slaughter of the only free ranging buffalo with continuously wild ancestry, our rights seem to be nonexistent. This week marked the third time in recent months that an illegally arrested BFC volunteer had his charges thrown out of court. Vince Godby, arrested in May for trying to document the buffalo slaughter, had to waste six months of his life dealing with this illegal arrest before his charges were dropped. Meanwhile the guilty sheriff still walks the streets and continues his unlawful ways.




On the front lines the DOL gave the taxpayers a break this week, they only had one agent down here in West Yellowstone most of the week. The weather kept him indoors and in front of his TV for most of the time, with a couple of recons to justify his presence. On Thursday another agent showed up, disturbing the taxpayer funded vacation of the other agent. Today, once again a lone bull buffalo was pushed by DOL back towards the Park from Horse Butte. BFC volunteers followed the operation until the agents trespassed onto one of our supporters' yards. When we told them they were trespassing on a "buffalo safe zone" and that the owner did not want them there, the DOL lied and said that they had permission. This marks the second straight week in which DOL agents have violated private property rights and trespassed where they are not welcome. The local police have been informed and still have done nothing. The word justice around here seems to mean "just us." The good news is that once again the wise old bull buffalo outsmarted the DOL and disappeared into the woods.




Until the buffalo are once again free we will stand strong with them.




With the Buffalo,




Mike Mease






-----------------------




The response to our requests for kitchen equipment continues to be wonderful. A special thanks to Francis Carroll who sent us a brand new stainless steel coffee percolator and three big pots.....what an incredible act of kindness! Francis please contact us with your address so we can send you a proper thank you.




We are in full swing with food production and things are getting easier as the supplies come in, but we could still use a few things. Write to buffalo@wildrockies.org if you'd like to help supply our kitchen. If you can help in any way please let us know. Whatever you can give will be put to heavy use for years to come.




Thanks again to all you wonderful folks out there who love the buffalo.




Amani...kitchen coordinator






-----------------------




Greetings! Friend of the Buffalo -


Just a reminder that BFC is a grassroots group. That means you and your efforts are vital to help us truly protect the last wild buffalo. With winter settling in, please take a moment and evaluate what you can commit to doing for the Buffalo!




Can you commit to:


* one letter and one 37 cent stamp a week to write an official responsible for this travesty?


* 2 weeks in West Yellowstone?


* asking a local business to host a Bucks for Buffalo spare change jar?


* hosting a showing of our video and distributing newsletters in your community?


* collecting computer cartridges and recycling them for the buffalo?


* passing these updates on to your friends and family and newsgroups that you are on?


* posting a link to our website?


* holding a fundraiser for the buffalo?




Each of these actions can help! We don't have any fancy offices or high paid staff - just dedicated volunteers working 365 days a year to win true protection for the last wild buffalo. Contact us with any questions or ideas. Together we can make a difference!




Thank you.




Respectfully,




Su Gregerson




buffalo@wildrockies.org


www.wildrockies.org/buffalo


For The Buffalo

Poaching plague spreads to Arco area


Poaching plague spreads to Arco area






ARCO- Just like the old saying, "Bad news travels fast", so it seems thepoaching plague is spreading across the state as the hunting seasons unfold. While the overwhelming majority of hunters are true ethical sportsmen, a small


highly visible number of unethical people with firearms continue to cause problems. This time, two bull elk were shot and left to rot around October 19, 2002 near Arco, Idaho.




Conservation Officers are asking the public to provide any information possible regarding the case of these two bull elk that were shot and left to rot. According to Conservation Officer Barring Cummings, "The animals were shot about 15 miles from Howe, on the east side of the highway, near Uncle Ike Canyon." The animals were about a week old when reported to IDFG, placing the poaching on or about Saturday, October 19th.




Anyone who was in the area and saw any suspicious activity should contact the CAP Hotline at 1-800-632-5999. Caller can remain anonymous and rewards are possible.





--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.




Jim

Update from the Field 11/7/02

Buffalo Field Campaign News From the Field November 7, 2002




In this issue:




*Update from the Field




*The Cook's corner




*Citizen's Buffalo Petition -- We need your help!




----------------------------------




*Update from the Field






Today marks the eleventh day a young man sits in jail in Missoula Montana for nonviolently resisting an illegal arrest. Randall "Locust" Mark is serving a 57 day sentence and will be released at the end of the year. Locust was under house arrest for three months prior to his trial and was ordered to stay at least 100 miles from the Yellowstone buffalo. He was restricted from National Forest lands hundreds of miles from where his arrest took place.




At the sentencing, the prosecutor asked the judge to give Locust six months to deter his friends from, "...engaging in like acts of civil disobedience." Locust is in the process of appealing Judge Erikson's sentence, but he'll be in jail until the court gets around to hearing his appeal. Randal is vegan and his dietary needs are not being met by the jail so he has gone without food for the past eleven days.




Locust has been a BFC volunteer for many years.




He needs your support. Please write him and let him know that his actions have made a difference. Write to:




Randall Mark


Missoula County Detention Center


2340 Mullan Road


Missoula, MT 59808






Meanwhile, down here on the home front, three DOL agents have been busy wasting tax dollars. When they're here they drive around for hours in 4X4 Dodge pickups burning gas and being dodged by wise bull buffalo. Speeding off road vehicles along the Yellowstone boundary, riding horses in the park, and wasting hours in front of the TV, the DOL agents have been vacationing all week with your tax dollars. At least they didn't find any buffalo to harass. Montana's budget crisis has brought deep cuts to education and social programs, but the DOL's bison slaughter budget grows every year. With innocent people crowding our jails and all eyes aimed at war, it can be difficult to focus attention on the buffalo. As long as the senseless slaughter and harassment continues we'll be here.




With the Buffalo,




Joshua Osher & Mike Mease






----------------------------------




*The Cook's Corner




Fortunately here in the kitchen we are blessed to see an incredible use of energy being put in a positive direction. The extended buffalo family has really been coming through, demonstrating what powerful potential generosity and community have in making things happen. We crossed a few more items on our needs list again this week and are very, very grateful to Deana Winstrop who has donated funds for us to purchase several important items we really need. Thanks again to everyone who has responded and to everyone who sends their love and prayers to the buffalo.




Amani








BFC Kitchen Needs:




20 quart stainless steel stockpots with lids




Stainless steel hotel pans with lids (deep and regular size)




20-24" professional saute pans




Large stainless steel pressure cooker




Kitchen Aid mixer




Large Champion juicer




Industrial sized coffee grinder




4 Large hot pots for transporting hot liquids




Various sizes of Cambros for containing and transporting hot meals




Non-aluminum hot water maker(for tea)






----------------------------------






*Citizen's Buffalo Petition -- We need your help




Call.




Write a letter.




Send an email.




Good news for the Common Sense Citizens Buffalo petition - On October 28 Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Becky Heath informed Senator Max Baucus (MT) that the Forest Service would finally get around to addressing the concerns of the more than 180,000 petition signatories who are concerned over the mismanagement of the last herd of continuously wild, free roaming buffalo. She has promised to response by November 15.




This is the wording of the petition: "We sign this petition demanding that the wild, free roaming buffalo of the Yellowstone ecosystem be truly protected for future generations. They must be recognized as a genetically unique herd and allowed to roam on habitat that is their traditional birthright."




More information on citizen efforts to get agencies to take a look at this issue is available at: http://www.wildrockies.org/buffpet/ Signatures are still being collected and we will continue sending them until we are heard. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Secretary of Agriculture Ann Venneman and Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth all continue to ignore citizen demands.




Please invest five minutes in a phone call or 37 cents and a letter and contact Becky and let her know that the Gallatin National Forest should provide adequate habitat for this important wildlife species and that the Gallatin Forest Plan should acknowledge buffalo. This is an important issue to the people of the world and we must let public officials know our concerns.




Becky Heath can be reached at: Supervisor's Office POB 130 Bozeman, MT 59771 Phone: 406-587-6702 Fax: 406-587-6758 bjheath@fs.fed.us




Buffalo Field Campaign


PO Box 957


West Yellowstone, MT 59758


406-646-0070 phone


406-646-0071 fax


buffalo@wildrockies.org


www.wildrockies.org/buffalo


Update from the Field 11/14/02

Buffalo Field Campaign

News From the Field

November 14, 2002




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* New Features on BFC Website



* The Cook's corner



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



As the snow settles in on us around Hebgen Lake, many of our extended buffalo family are finding their way back home. Coordinators and volunteers are filling the cabin as we prepare for winter. While we rejoice in the warmth we share catching up with friends and settling into our home, the buffalo face a cold and difficult winter seeking food in their traditional migrations. Our hopes and prayers are with them now.



While tomorrow is the start of the official field season, patrols have been in the field for weeks already. Three bull buffalo, which cannot transmit brucellosis, were killed on October 3, and hazing has been a weekly disturbance for the buffalo. Just two days ago two DOL agents, returning after a restful Veteran's Day weekend, launched immediately

into a hazing operation. Two bulls were hazed from Duck Creek through a private wood fence and into the Park. While many Americans honored those that gave their lives in past wars, the Buffalo Wars rage on, slaughtering another symbol of our country and leaving few wise old buffalo veterans in peace.



With the buffalo,



Ted Fellman & Jonas Ehudin

Media Coordinators

Buffalo Field Campaign



----------------------------------



*New Features on BFC Website



We are proud to announce that the Buffalo Field Campaign can now accept donations online through a secure site. Many of you have requested this service & now we've aligned ourselves with a reputable nonprofit service that will protect the privacy of our donors. We are a small grassroots group and we hope that this will make it easier for you to support our work!



Please take a moment and check this out -

http://www.wildrockies.org//buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html



Supporter to Supporter
-

In other internet news - some of our committed grassroots supporters are offering special items to help support our work. One such upcoming event is an ebay auction to Save the Buffalo!



A caring supporter, O'Ceallaigh Originals, will auction off a very special Father Christmas on Ebay to benefit the Buffalo Field Campaign. Information on this one of a kind item and the auction are also at http://www.wildrockies.org//buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html. (thanks Melanie!!)



Please send any feedback to me at bfc-programs@wildrockies.org and I hope that this new service is beneficial.



And last but not least - Thank you to everyone who has helped out with a donation as we gear up for a busy winter. We spend funds frugally and don't have any fancy offices or high paid staff - just dedicated folks working to protect the last wild free roaming buffalo and their habitat for future generations. We can't be here without YOU!



Thanks,

For the Buffalo,

Su

Buffalo Field Campaign Programs

POB 957

West Yellowstone, Montana 59758



Donations are tax deductible and go directly to front lines work. BFC is the only group in the field 365 days a year with the last, free roaming buffalo.



----------------------------------



* The Cook's Corner



Howdy folks. The volunteers have been rallying for the buffalo despite a virus making the rounds. We have a lot of folks here and that's good, but it makes for easy transfer of illnesses. To keep everyone healthy, we try to distribute herbal and homeopathic remedies, however we have very few supplies to work with currently. It's going to be a long cold winter and we need to stay physically strong to be out in the field everyday. If you can help us stock up on any healing remedies, please let me know. Thanks for the love.



With the Buffalo,



Amani





BFC Kitchen Needs:



20 quart stainless steel stockpots with lids



Stainless steel hotel pans with lids (deep and regular size)



20-24" professional saute pans



Large stainless steel pressure cooker



Kitchen Aid mixer



Large Champion juicer



Industrial sized coffee grinder



4 Large hot pots for transporting hot liquids



Various sizes of Cambros for containing and transporting hot meals



Non-aluminum hot water maker(for tea)

Snowmobiles back on Jackson Lake

Snowmobiles back on Jackson Lake



JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Public outcry has prompted the reopening of Jackson Lake to snowmobile use this winter, National Park Service officials say.



However, snowplanes still will not be allowed on the lake beginning Dec. 15.



The Park Service still plans to eventually prohibit snowmobile use on Jackson Lake but will now phase-out the snowmachines beginning in the 2003-2004 winter, park officials said Wednesday. Snowmobiles are used on the lake by people who ice fish.



The Wyoming Game and Fish Department lauded the move.



"We've been managing Jackson Lake as a trophy game fishery for a long, long time and we want to continue doing that," said Vern Stelter, a habitat protection biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. "With the snowmobile ban, people wouldn't have been able to get really out onto the lake and now they can."



Stelter said the lake is a popular ice-fishing spot for area and regional anglers and that the majority of ice-fishing at Jackson Lake takes place because people can use snowmobiles to access the center and outer reaches of the lake.



The National Park Service received a lot of public outcry since it announced in October that the agency was implementing snowmobile and snowplane prohibitions, Yellowstone spokeswoman Marshe Karle said.

Thomas pleased with snowmobile rules

Thomas pleased with snowmobile rules



CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., has applauded the National Park Service for allowing snowmobiles to continue to be used in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.



"This decision affirms the principles I laid out several years ago - that reasonable limits on the number of machines allowed in the parks and cleaner, quieter machines are a crucial part of the new management plan that has been lacking for several years," he said in a release.



"The previous administration put unnecessary restrictions on public access to our parks, and this decision begins to right that wrong while maintaining protection of our unique natural resources.



"I applaud the National Park Service for recognizing how devastating a complete ban would be, and for taking action."



The plan proposes to cap the number of snowmobiles at a level above the current average daily use and to eventually require cleaner burning machines.



The Interior Department released an environmental impact statement Tuesday detailing the plan, which was generally well received by industry and local tourism officials.



The plan is intended to be a compromise between unlimited access wanted by snowmobile makers and users, and a ban that had been proposed by the Clinton administration and supported by environmentalists.



Some environmentalists have said the latest plan does not go far enough in protecting the parks.

Yellowstone poaching still being investigated

Yellowstone poaching still being investigated



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - Investigators still have not caught up with those responsible for illegally killing an elk in Yellowstone National Park last month.



On Oct. 19, the elk carcass was discovered by park rangers in the area of Roaring Mountain, just north of Norris Junction and well inside the park's boundaries.



Yellowstone spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said investigators have received one solid lead since news of the poaching broke.



Matthews said anyone else with information should contact the park headquarters.



A $500 reward is being offered for any information on the case.



Killing wildlife inside a national park is a federal offense, that is punishable by a fine of up to $20,000 and five years in prison.

Teton County installs cattle guard covers


Teton County installs cattle guard covers



JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Teton County is covering up its cattle guards as a way to better protect moose wandering the roadways this winter.



Moose often become trapped on area roads in winter months because snow banks get so high they create tunnels, which gives the animals little room for escape from approaching cars, said Sharon Mader, program director of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation.



Foundation officials worried the animals could break their legs if they ran over the grated cattle guards that line the county's rural roads. They successfully appealed to county commissioners to cover the guards this winter.



"(The ranchers) don't need this cattle guard anymore. This will be a permanent fix," welder Dean May said as he installed a cover on Fish Creek Road near Wilson recently.



At least five moose were killed on the road last winter, though none of the deaths could be directly linked to cattle guards, Mader said.



In addition to the cattle guard covers, foundation officials are talking with commissioners about creating "moose escape ramps."



The idea involves plowing holes into the tall snow walls that form on either side of the road, Mader said. The holes, or ramps, would be located in key areas to allow moose to get off the road.



"The walls get so high in the mid to late winter that there's literally no place for the moose to go," Mader said.



An even bigger problem with no foreseeable solution is how fast motorists drive down the road, she said.



"Every year there are more and more incidents of moose being run down the road by vehicles," Mader said. "People are unfamiliar with or unable to wait until an animal moves off the road."


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.




Jim

Update from the field 11/21/02

Buffalo Field Campaign

News From the Field

November 21, 2002




In this issue:



*Update from the Field--Bull Buffalo Shot this Morning



*Please Take Action!



*Thank You for Supporting BFC



*Media Wish List



*Today's Press Release



----------------------------------



*Update from the Field





Dear buffalo familyŠ



My name is Jonas and I have returned to the campaign this season to work in the media realm. When I first came to this cabin on Hebgen Lake in December of 1999, I was inspired by the people and the energy I encountered here. I was inspired by the buffalo and the slow patience of the herds. I have been involved in various ways since then, and this will be my first full season here. I am grateful for all of your interest and support - I am strengthened by the knowledge that there are so many people out there whose hearts feel the pain of the injustice being done to these sacred beings. I will do my best to keep you all informed as to the current situation, and unfortunately I must warn you that this season looks to be quite hard on the buffalo, and on us all.



This morning, shortly before 9:00 am, a beautiful large bull bison, who had been grazing peacefully for weeks on Horse Butte, was gunned down by an agent of the Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL). The agent was not acting alone, as nine other government officials were actively engaged in this atrocity. Our field patrols witnessed the killing from afar, as their movement was limited during the operation. An MDOL agent told us earlier in the day that this was to be a simple hazing operation, which in itself is too much stress to place on a wild animal trying to survive the winter. The sharp crack of the rifle betrayed that lie, and we were left to film the scene and shed tears for our fallen family member.



This was the first buffalo shot dead in the field this season, but he was not the first to be killed. Three other bulls were captured and slaughtered in early October. This has been a hard day for us all, please keep the buffalo in your thoughts and in your hearts. And please get in touch with Becky Heath, Gallatin National Forest Supervisor - today's actions are especially reprehensible in light of her statement below. Thank you all.



For the buffalo,

Jonas Ehudin

Media Coordinator



----------------------------------



Please Take Action -



Today's murder of a bull bison on Gallatin National Forest land is in direct opposition to a report made to Senator Baucus on November 15 by Becky Heath, Forest Supervisor. She wrote:



The Gallatin National Forest, along with four other govt. agencies, is currently managing for bison according to the Interagency Bison Management Plan. The primary goals of the plan are to preserve a population of free-roaming bison and to significantly reduce the risk of bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle. Bison are allowed to roam free on the Gallatin National Forest, where brucellosis is not an issue. There is currently not an active cattle allotment in the Horse Butte area (near West Yellowstone), nor will there be until a National Environmental Policy Act process/document is done for that allotment. There are cattle grazing on private land east of Horse Butte and other areas both west and north of Yellowstone Park. Cattle grazing on private land will continue to be an issue as long as the bison carry brucellosis.



Clearly, the DOL does not share Supervisor Heath's belief that bison are allowed to freely roam in the Gallatin National Forest. Please take a moment to contact her and ask her why she is allowing a Montana state agency to shoot buffalo on lands she has indicated are designated for their use. Let her know that since there are no active cattle allotments on Horse Butte, there is no reason for buffalo to be turned violently away from those lands. Remind her that she conveyed that logic in her own statement.



Becky Heath can be reached at:

Supervisor's Office

POB 130

Bozeman, MT 59771

Phone: 406-587-6702

Fax: 406-587-6758

email: bjheath@fs.fed.us



----------------------------------



Thank You for Supporting BFC!



A hearty thanks to all of you that have supported the buffalo! Letters, phone calls and donations really can help put an end to this craziness! And thanks for the feedback on the new online donation capability.



Thank you also to Gina for the phones and the kitchen supplies. We have already put those items to good use!



Thanks to John Pisarcik who has made a generous offering on our "From Supporter to Supporter Network" where committed (and talented) supporters are providing an opportunity to purchase quality items and support the buffalo. Sustainable gifts...



John is offering prints of "Hope for Buffalo", a limited run of 600 prints. The scene is a quiet moment where two adult buffalo lay and rest as a calf sleeps close by. This drawing was inspired by the majesty and dignity of an animal deserving our every effort towards ensuring its survival.



Please take and moment and check this out! - http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html



--

Buffalo Field Campaign Programs

POB 957

West Yellowstone, Montana 59758



Donations are tax deductible and go directly to front lines work. BFC is the only group in the field 365 days a year with the last, free roaming buffalo.



----------------------------------



Media Wish List



Our mission as media coordinators is to present the plight of Yellowstone's buffalo to the world. Digital videotape and other Internet-compatible technologies have allowed us to reach a far broader audience than ever before. This year, we hope to be able to put our footage and other material onto Digital Video Discs (DVD's), which are easier to send out and hold much more information.



To that end, we are sending out a request for:



* high-speed Digital Video Disc Recorder.



If you can help with all or part of this request, please contact bfc-media@wildrockies.org



Thanks!



----------------------------------



Today's Press Release





Buffalo Field Campaign

P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, Mt. 59758

Phone (406) 646-0070 Fax (406) 646-0071

E-mail buffalo@wildrockies.org.

http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo



First Buffalo of Winter Shot by State of Montana



For Immediate Release: November 21, 2002

Contact: Jonas Ehudin, Mike Mease (406) 646-0070



West Yellowstone, MT: A lone bull buffalo that had been foraging on Gallatin National Forest land on the Horse Butte Peninsula for weeks was shot and killed this morning by the Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL). Ten government agents, including representatives of the MDOL, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Gallatin County Sheriff's department and the US Forest Service, were involved in the operation. The buffalo was killed under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which aims to reduce the risk of brucellosis transmission from bison to cattle. There has never been a documented case of such transmission in the wild.



"Bison are allowed to roam free on the Gallatin National Forest, where brucellosis is not an issue," said Rebecca Heath, Forest Supervisor for Gallatin National Forest, "There is currently not an active cattle allotment in the Horse Butte area (near West Yellowstone)." Cattle have not grazed on public lands on the Horse Butte Peninsula for over a year. Bull bison are considered to pose a "low risk" of brucellosis transmission by the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).



"While recent news reports indicate that the state of Montana will have at least a $20 million budget shortage, it is absurd that the DOL wastes over $1 million per year to haze, capture and kill buffalo which pose no threat to cattle," said Chris Rota, a Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) coordinator. The Bison Management Plan has a $45 million budget for 15 years. "Education and social programs in this state are grossly under-funded, yet there seem to be limitless funds for the slaughter of bison on our public lands," said BFC volunteer Estee Fleming, "We prioritize the livestock industry over the future of our children and the health of this ecosystem."



The Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on and document every move made against them.



Video footage available upon request.

Update from the Field 11/28/02

Buffalo Field Campaign

News From the Field

November 28, 2002




In this issue:



*Update from the Field--Thankful for the Calm



*Please Take Action!



*Thank You for Supporting BFC



*Last Words





----------------------------------



*Update from the Field





Dear buffalo familyŠ



It has been quieter this week. A new layer of snow has fallen, the ice has proceeded in its yearly march across Lake Hebgen and the buffalo continue to share their calming patience with us in the field. It has not been an uneventful week for them: one bull was hazed across Highway 191 into Yellowstone on Tuesday, in quite a reckless operation. The morning haze and ice-slick roads, combined with the Department of Livestock's (DOL) insistence that a buffalo needed to be chased across the highway, created an extreme hazard for motorists and field patrols alike. Thankfully, there were no accidents. And yesterday, a local DOL agent hazed nine buffalo bulls back into the park, firing over ten "cracker rounds" - explosive concussion charges - at the herd from his shotgun. Imagine you are an animal preparing to face a winter in which the temperature will frequently fall to negative 20 Farenheit and below. Would you appreciate having your winter reserves wasted by the whims of trigger-happy brand inspectors? Me neither.



In other news, Mike Mease will undertake a mini-roadshow in the coming weeks. He will travel to sunny California to spread news of the plight of the Yellowstone bison herd. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, please come see a presentation and video show at 6:00pm on December 9, 2002. The event will be hosted by the Foundation for Deep Ecology - for more information, please call Tracee at 415-229-9339 by December 6th.



And on this day that is set aside for giving thanks, I am grateful to the buffalo. They have taught me much about loyalty and about the sacred. Since last week's murder of a bull bison on Horse Butte, many of our patrols have witnessed something quite profound. The bull's body was driven to the Duck Creek capture facility, where it was skinned and stored in the pens, awaiting transport. Over the next few days, several buffalo made the dangerous trek onto the facility grounds. In what reminded us humans of a mourning gesture, and of a farewell to a fallen brother, the buffalo would stand motionless by the facility for varying lengths of time. Tben, as if they had suddenly finished a deep and meaningful conversation, the buffalo would turn and sprint away from the trap, leaving the killing grounds behind, and continue to run full speed into the safety of the Park. These noble ones reminded me of the grace and dignity that is thrown weekly to the wayside in the name of "wildlife management."



On behalf of all of us here, thank you.



For the buffalo,

Jonas Ehudin

Media Coordinator



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*Please Take Action -



Today's Bozeman Chronicle carried two articles about the Yellowstone bison. In the first, there was much ado about the fact that the herd has actually recovered from the massive slaughter of the winter of '96-'97. To quote the article: "'We're right back to where we were eight years ago,' said Rick Wallen, a biologist who leads Yellowstone's bison ecology and management team. 'Even with all the management actions (killings).'" This ability of the bison to regenerate (somewhat) despite invaders' onslaughts is hardly new, as we can observe if we take a look at the last 150 years or so. Todd O'Hair, natural resources policy advisor for our beloved Governor Judy Martz, threw in his two cents with these gems:



"We're going to have some serious management challenges this winter, no doubt about it,"



and in a second sidebar article:



"Maybe it's time to look at hunts again,"



This person is advising Martz on resource management? If O'Hair's plan for "managing" this bison herd is to increase the number of armed buffalo murderers in the area, then it is our duty to set him straight on the fact that this tactic has been tried and was condemned by national pressure and a threatened boycott. And if we're going to get so excited that the herd has grown to match, "its all time-peak of about about 4,000 animals," then let us remind our dear legislators that the real all-time peak was a herd size of between 50 and 80 million! Let's get the herd back to that state, then talk about hunting.



Alright, enough of my rant. Please take some time this holiday weekend to send off a letter to Todd O'Hair, Natural Resources Policy Advisor for Martz. Let him know that a return to hunting would translate to a sharp increase in the buffalo slaughter, and that is not what the herd needs, ever. Remind him that Montana eliminated the hunt a decade ago due to the unified voice of the public, and that such an outcry would no doubt be repeated should the Martz Administration attempt to reinstate such an atrocity.



Todd O'Hair can be reached at:

State Capitol

Helena, MT 59620-0801

(406) 444-3111



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*Thank You for Supporting BFC!





During this time of being thankful for what we have - I just wanted to give you a quick reminder that one of our supporter's online auction in behalf of BFC is currently underway.

You can check it out at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=733938001&cat egory=1090





and on a blatantly commercialistic note - if you are looking for that "special something" for anyone (or everyone) on your holiday list - our T-shirts and the "hope for Buffalo" print are beautiful and benefit a great cause -

Check then out at :

http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html






John Pisarcik is offering prints of "Hope for Buffalo", a limited run of 600 prints. The scene is a quiet moment where two adult buffalo lay and rest as a calf sleeps close by. This drawing was inspired by the majesty and dignity of an animal deserving our every effort towards ensuring its survival.



Please take and moment and check this out! -

http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html






THANKS! to all of you for your continued support! We couldn't be here without you.

For the future generations of wild free roaming buffalo,

Su

--

Buffalo Field Campaign Programs

POB 957

West Yellowstone, Montana 59758



Donations are tax deductible and go directly to front lines work. BFC is the only group in the field 365 days a year with the last, free roaming buffalo.



----------------------------------



*Last Words



When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting for their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.



- Wendell Berry

Bison in Yellowstone approaching record numbers

Bison in Yellowstone approaching record numbers



BOZEMAN (AP) - Bison in Yellowstone National Park are approaching record numbers and could create problems this winter if they move into Montana to feed, state and National Park Service officials say.



The herd has grown to about 4,000 animals, doubling in size since the spring of 1997, when government shooters and brutal weather cut the herd by more than half.



"We're right back to where we were eight years ago, even with all the management actions (killings)," said Rick Wallen, a biologist who leads Yellowstone's bison ecology and management team.



"It's safe to say there are 3,700 to 4,000 bison in the park," said Cheryl Matthews, Yellowstone spokeswoman.



The numbers suggest a dramatic recovery. During the winter of 1996-1997, government officials shot or shipped to slaughter about 1,300 animals that wandered into Montana. Hundreds more starved.



"We're going to have some serious management challenges this winter, no doubt about it," said Todd O'Hair, natural resources adviser for Gov. Judy Martz.



Yellowstone's bison are infected with brucellosis, a disease that causes domestic cattle to abort and can result in undulant fever in humans.



A bison management plan involving Montana and the Park Service provides more leeway to kill trespassing animals when the park's herd rises above a target population of 3,000 animals.



During the early winter, trespassing bison are first hazed back into Yellowstone. If that doesn't work, the management plan says the animals can be captured and tested for brucellosis, with those testing negative being marked and released and the others sent to slaughter.



If the late winter count by the Park Service, usually done in March, shows the herd is above 3,000, the trespassing animals can be shot or shipped to slaughter without being tested.



Weather conditions, the location of the bison and the timing of their movement will affect decisions on the ground, said Karen Cooper, spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Livestock.



Biologist Wallen said the agreement really means officials will work on disease control until the late winter count, and then they can switch to population control.



Hope Sieck, a bison specialist for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said she's worried about the prospect of lots of dead bison this winter.



"The possibility of massive slaughter is dismaying," she said. "The Yellowstone herd is a national treasure and shouldn't be managed in such a manner."



O'Hair of the governor's office said it may be time to again look at hunting the bison.



"As we continue to wrestle with the disease aspect, we have to look at as many aspects as we can," he told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on Wednesday.



Montana had a bison hunt in the 1980s and early 1990s, but the Legislature eliminated it after a national outcry and a threatened boycott of the state by animal rights groups.

Urgent Update

Buffalo Field Campaign

Urgent Update

December, 1 2002




Greetings friends and supporters,



In a previous e-mail update, we reported that Randall Mark is currently serving a 60-day sentence in Missoula, Montana. Mark, a long-time BFC volunteer, was arrested on April 30, 2002 on Horse Butte, on the 610 road - the same road which witnessed the murder of a bull bison just ten days ago (11/21/02) by the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL). He was standing near a non-violent road blockade of the 610 road, which is used every winter to lead large herds of buffalo to their imprisonment at the Horse Butte capture facility and likely execution in the slaughter house. Randall's arrest -- for not CARRYING ID -- was dismissed, but the fact that he went limp after that false arrest was basis for a 60-day sentence in the judgement of the court.



In the Missoula Detention Facility, where Randall is being held, there are no healthy provisions for vegan prisoners. Mark has followed a vegan diet, which excludes all foods derived from animal sources, for years. The jail serves fruit, vegetables and grains to prisoners who also eat meat, but the vegan option, called "Nutriloaf," is unaccompanied by those important additions. Nutriloaf is a mixture of beans, vegetables and flour that is baked and served by itself. Considered a "punishment food," it is being turned down by Mark, who is requesting a healthy diet.



Randall is on his thirty-fifth day of a hunger strike for healthy food. His spirits are high, but his physical health is in jeopardy. He has trouble standing for longer than fifteen minutes, and his strength is waning. Susan Hintz, who could order him an appropriate diet, feels that Mark is doing fine, even though he has not been visited by one of the jail's doctors.



Randall needs our help now.





Please take immediate action:



******* CALL SUSAN HINTZ AT THE MISSOULA COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY - (406)829-4000



Press "1" , "1" to get through the automatic answering system, then ask to speak to Hintz. Ask her why the jail won't serve Randall Mark an appropriate vegan diet. Tell her that Nutriloaf is a punishment food, and that Randall must not be tortured by starvation. Demand for him a diet of healthy grains and beans, fruit and vegetables. Speak from your heart about what you believe.





******* ATTEND THE RALLY FOR RANDALL AT THE MISSOULA COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY



WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 at 11:30 AM - call (406) 961-0171 for more info. The detention facility is located at 2340 Mullan Road in Missoula (between Reserve and Russell). Please bring a friend and come stand in solidarity with Randall as

he approaches the 40th day of his hunger strike.



COME HELP US GET HIM THE FOOD HE NEEDS.



******* WRITE A LETTER OF SUPPORT TO RANDALL MARK:



MISSOULA COUNTY DETENTION FACILITY

2340 MULLAN RD.

MISSOULA, MONTANA 59808



On behalf of Randall, and all of us, I thank you...



Jonas Ehudin

Media Coordinator, BFC

Re: Yellowstone Newspaper news

Buffalo Field Campaign

News From the Field

December 5, 2002




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* IMPORTANT EMAIL NOTICE



* Special Gift Offer and Thanks to our Supporters



* Help spread the word



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



We are still thankful for the calm of warm days, light snow, and relative quiet in the field. Relative quiet, since yesterday, nine buffalo were hazed back into the Park from around Duck Creek. Here at camp, we are busy both in the field and developing new ideas to complement the field campaign (outreach, education, art, etc.).



We are also pleased to report that Randall Mark, a long-time BFC volunteer and supporter, is being provided with complete vegan meals by the Missoula County Detention Facility. In response to an overwhelming number of phone calls, the jail has begun to offer Mark beans, rice and vegetables. A nurse visited with Mark on Wednesday, the day after his 37-day hunger strike ended. She reported that he is looking and feeling much better and is now ready to shift his focus back to the appeal of the court's ruling in his case. Mark was arrested on Horse Butte last April near the site of a non-violent road blockade of Forest Service Road 610 -- the road which the DOL uses each year to haul hundreds of buffalo to slaughter from the Horse Butte capture facility.



For the buffalo,

Jonas Ehudin and Ted Fellman

Media Coordinators



----------------------------------



* IMPORTANT EMAIL NOTICE



You might notice that this update is a bit later than usual. That's because we had a computer crash this morning and lost all of our email. We are working on getting everything running smoothly again. However, in the meantime we would like to apologize to any of you who have communicated with us through this email address and have not received a response yet. If you do have unanswered questions or requests for information, please send us another email and we will get to it as soon as we can. Also, if in the past month you have sent us press contact information, news articles on the buffalo, offered to do outreach in your town, or some other important information that is still relevant, please resend us an email. Thanks for your understanding and patience.



----------------------------------



* Special Gift Offer and Thanks to our Supporters



We are excited to offer a special gift to supporters who contribute $102 or more. The first 10 donations will receive a "Thunder Hawk" print by Renee Still Day, a Native American political activist. Renee is a long time supporter of BFC, and is active in Pueblo, CO on Native American civil, spiritual and human rights, as well as environmental and wildlife issues. She is also an artist.



The "Thunder Hawk (Oglala Lakota)" prints Renee has donated depict an Oglala Sioux warrior, in honor of the people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The warrior carries a "coup" stick. It was much braver for a warrior to get close enough to the enemy to touch them with a coup stick, than it was to kill them. The Oglala respect all life and to take a life for any reason was/is a very serious thing. Even when they killed for food, thanks was given to the animal for offering it's life to the hunter, so that his family could live. We would like to offer our thanks to both Renee and those supporters who take advantage of this special offer.



On that note, thanks to Marjorie for her ongoing support of the campaign. Thanks also to Beverly who visited from Chicago and contributed to our Thanksgiving meal. Thanks as well to Tom & Darlynn for their holiday gift.



Donations can be sent to:



Buffalo Field Campaign Programs

POB 957

West Yellowstone, Montana 59758



Donations are tax deductible and go directly to front lines work. BFC is the only group in the field 365 days a year with the last, free roaming buffalo.



----------------------------------



* Help spread the word



Another way you can help the buffalo is to get the word out to other folk who might be interested, but might not know about the buffalo slaughter. Our weekly email updates are a simple and easy way to keep up-to-date on the plight of the Yellowstone buffalo. We are always looking for ways to get more people involved, so we're putting out a call to our supporters to spread the word and ask your friends and family if they would like to sign up and keep informed.



----------------------------------



* Last Words



And here's an amusing field story from one of our volunteers. While on patrol near Duck Creek, he watched as some buffalo moved near the capture facility. One bull went right up between the DOL vehicles parked in front of the door to the building where the agents base their activities. One agent came outside and was caught completely off guard by the surprise visit. He jumped back and ran for help, once again proving that the bison have a wise sense of humor.

Update from the field 12/12/02

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

December 12, 2002




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* Take action--write a letter to the editor



* Holiday gift ideas



* Request for warm socks and batteries



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



Thick snow has been falling the past few days, which has been a winter welcome for most of us out here. However, it has also brought more buffalo out of the park. For several days early this week we had around 25 buffalo grazing along the Madison River. For many of us itching for more time in the field it was a return to Madison River patrols. Pushing through the snow on the bluffs along the Madison, you can see all sorts of wild critters. Two days ago, I watched moose and trumpeter swans, as well as that slow moving herd of buffalo dodging in and out of willows and trees, practicing the magic disappearing act of the wise buffalo. Those are the kind of days that inspire us.



Yesterday, however, was an entirely different experience. As early morning darkness gave way to light, our visibility was still obscured by the thick falling snow. Of course, it was hard to miss the motorcade of government rigs gathering in the area--DOL (Livestock), NPS (Park Service), USFS (Forest Service), FWP (Fish, Wildlife & Park), local law enforcement. Six men on horseback eventually rode into the woods along the Madison to flush the buffalo out. The buffalo must've still had a few tricks left since the haze ended up moving south of the river, leaving many of us and the government cheerleaders watching and waiting along the Madison. As it turns out, only about 15 were hazed just over the park boundary in a rather sloppy haze. And for now, all of the buffalo have hidden themselves again.



For many of us, this simple, if sloppy, haze is an ill boding for the season. There has been much news lately, in the Missoulian, Helena IR, Bozeman Chronicle, Billings Gazette, Great Falls Tribune, even the Rocky Mountain News in Denver. Many editorials have been written about the threat of brucellosis, the "record high" number of bison in the park, and new efforts to work together to eradicate disease. So a nice snowy morning horseride haze has the lingering feeling of a public relations show, perhaps a nice guy precursor to more extreme measures being discussed in newspapers and meetings. They have already killed four bison this season, an early start to the slaughter, so we remain skeptical and vigilant as the buffalo begin their yearly challenge to survive a winter of harsh cold, from both the elements and the government.



With the buffalo,

Ted Fellman

Media Coordinator



----------------------------------



* Take action--write a letter to the editor



With all the news about brucellosis and bison "management" lately, we need to keep our side of the issue in the public eye by clearly speaking truth to power. As mentioned above there has been much coverage in the news lately, and very little of it has been balanced. We haven't caught up yet posting articles to our website, but check in soon at: http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/press02/press02.html to read all the latest coverage. Consider writing a letter to the editor in response to an article, or better yet, write one to your local paper on the issue. Our website has lots of information and tips for writing letters. You can also try to pitch a story to your local paper. Or if you have a press contact that you think we should follow up on, just drop us an email.



Below is a reprint of a fairly positive story that appeared in the Missoulian, and a copy of a letter to the editor written in response to an editorial in the Helena Independent Record and reprinted in the Bozeman Chronicle. These serve as examples of the type of stories you could pitch locally or letters that you could write in response to negative coverage (depending on your local situation).





###



If People want Bison, what's the Beef?

Missoulian Editorial Board Opinion

December 6, 2002



SUMMARY: Montana's practice of killing Yellowstone bison is untenable. Perhaps we should step back and search for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity.



A recent report indicating Yellowstone National Park's bison population is approaching record-high numbers has a couple of implications for Montana's policy of laying the beasts low when they leave the park to forage in winter.



First, the wanton slaughter of Yellowstone bison - on the premise that they could infect cattle with disease - doesn't appear likely to wipe out bison in the park. Five years ago, state sharpshooters and a harsh winter combined to kill half of the park's bison. Today, some 4,000 bison roam the park, as many as ever. That is, as many as there's been since the park helped rescue them from extinction a century ago.



Second, shooting bison that leave the park solves nothing. Whatever threat of disease these animals present - minimal, probably - that threat obviously hasn't been diminished despite the killing of thousands of bison. The bison haven't gone away; some of them still carry brucellosis; and state and federal agriculture officials still believe the potential for bison to infect cattle, although debatable, justifies counter-measures lest the state lose its valuable brucellosis-free status. Nothing much has changed.



Shooting all those bison does have a big effect on one thing, though - Montana's image. The slaughter makes for compelling television footage, and it's dutifully chronicled to the horror of our fellow Americans. With today's high bison numbers, a harsh winter could keep film crews busy. While we confess a degree of insensitivity about what people elsewhere think about anything what goes on in these parts, we're not so uncaring as to overlook the role public opinion plays in such things as tourism and federal resource policies affecting us.



For years, the state has argued with the National Park Service over responsibility for the problem. Montana's position has been that the Park Service should control its own bison herd. That argument, however, ignores the fact that the Park Service's mandate isn't to kill large numbers of animals, nor is the agency much interested in the kind of publicity Montana attracts by shooting icons of the Old West.



Frankly, we don't see much changing. Unless, however, Montanans figure out that it isn't brucellosis-free cattle that millions of tourists come to see every year. And while more and more consumers are dining on cheap Australian beef, Americans are clamoring to protect Yellowstone's bison.



Public outrage over the bison slaughter is a measure of how much people value the chance to see these ungainly critters. As an alternative to the current, ineffective practice of killing migrating bison, how about acquiring grazing rights for bison migrating outside the park, maintaining an effective buffer zone between ranging bison and cattle? It wouldn't be surprising to find that larger herds of free-ranging bison have more real economic value than the cattle produced from the generally poor range surrounding Yellowstone.



How much would this cost? A lot, no doubt. But weighed against the perpetual cost of killing bison and fighting over the practice, and the economic fallout from all that bad publicity, maybe it's not too much.



###



Letter to the Editor Helena Independent Record Bozeman Chronicle 12/9/02



It's a shame that the December 9 editorial "State set to get another black eye over bison" was more concerned with shifting blame than understanding a complicated issue. "And it isn't fair" is no excuse for slaughtering the last wild buffalo in the country.



The slaughter is not about brucellosis. Montana's brucellosis free status is not at risk. There are countless arguments that debunk the brucellosis myth. The last 135 bison killed last season were not even tested for the disease. The last four bison killed in the past months were bulls, which pose little risk of brucellosis transmission according to the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Furthermore, cattle won't be present in the area until June, if at all (the cattle allotments on Horse Butte where many of the bison are captured and slaughtered were not granted last summer due to insufficient environmental assessment). Even if cattle were to get brucellosis, from any source, that herd of cattle would be destroyed without affecting the state's brucellosis free status. This happened in nearby Idaho when elk transmitted the disease to cattle, and Idaho is still certified brucellosis free.



And what about the elk? Why doesn't Montana target elk if "of course, it is the disease, not the bison that is the real problem"? Or for that matter, why not inoculate cattle against the disease? The federal government has offered to do so, and many of the cattle herds are already inoculated since they cross state lines. Or why not cancel cattle allotments in bison migratory ranges? It seems that while the bison are "a federal problem," managing the cows are not being considered as part of Montana's solution.



The editorial attempts the same sleight of hand as the Montana Department of Livestock, when they switch arguments to population control. The editors claim that the Park Service's job is to keep bison within their boundaries and that there are just too many bison for the park to accommodate. This is the last herd of wild bison, pushed to some of the most remote and harsh terrain in the county. The bison are following their traditional winter migrations in search of food. They roam onto national forests that were set aside as wildlife buffer zones when Yellowstone National Park was founded. Except now they are harassed and killed by a state agency with no wildlife management experience, even on federal lands. In a way I agree with the editors who bemoan Montana's public image on a national issue, but instead of casting blame, maybe the State of Montana should avoid a black eye by stopping the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo.



Ted Fellman

PO Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758



----------------------------------



* Holiday gift ideas



Looking for holiday gifts that fill you with hope, instead of guilt? Check out: http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html. On our website you can make donations in a loved one's name, order organic cotton BFC t-shirts or notecards, and find limited edition prints like "Hope for Buffalo" by John Pisarcik or "Thunder Hawk (Oglala Lakota)" by Renee Still Day. Great gift ideas that support a great cause!



----------------------------------



* Request for warm socks and batteries



And just in case all of us here in the field are on your holiday list, we have a stocking stuffer idea-stockings! Our volunteers are out in the field every day all winter long and need to stay warm. We have a lot of good gear that gets used, but are still in need of warm socks. So if you have any wool or synthetic warm socks (no cotton please) that you would like to donate, please send them to us at:



Buffalo Field Campaign

POB 957

West Yellowstone, Montana 59758



We could also use good quality rechargeable AA batteries for flashlights and other equipment. Thanks again for your support.

Montana governor concerned about Wyoming's lack of wolf plan


Montana governor concerned about Wyoming's lack of wolf plan



BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - Unless Wyoming officials decide to cooperate with federal wildlife managers, wolves will retain their protected status and create increasing problems for ranchers and hunters, Gov. Judy Martz told the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Thursday.



"We are gravely concerned," Martz said in a letter to Tom Thorne, acting director of the Wyoming wildlife agency.



She said failure to meet requirements of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for delisting will assure increasing populations of wolves, and failure to delist wolves "is not acceptable to Montana."



Wolves have been spreading from Yellowstone National Park since they were reintroduced there in 1995 and 1996. The federal FWS has said it will soon be ready to turn over management of wolves to state governments, providing the states more flexibility in controlling and possibly hunting wolves.



The federal agency, however, said it would delist wolves only if Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have wolf management plans assuring wolves won't become endangered again.



Idaho has finalized such a plan, and Martz said Montana is working on one the federal agency likes.



However, the Wyoming Fish and Game Commission has decided it wants a "dual classification" for wolves: as a "trophy animal" in Yellowstone and nearby wilderness areas, meaning limited hunts outside the park; as a "predator" that can be shot on sight everywhere else.



The federal agency said it won't delist under such conditions.



The Wyoming plan is still in a draft form and public comment was accepted through Thursday. Martz's letter is part of that comment.



"I hope that your final plan clears any barriers for delisting so the three states can move successfully toward managing wolves," she concluded.



A final version of Wyoming's plan is due Feb. 24.


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.




Jim

Blasting begins for North Fork Canyon project

Blasting begins for North Fork Canyon project



POWELL, Wyo. (AP) - Workers planned to begin blasting Thursday as part of a project to widen U.S. 14-16-20 through North Fork Canyon.



The explosions will delay traffic no more than 20 minutes at a time, according to Todd Frost, a resident engineer for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.



Contractor E.H. Oftedal & Sons of Miles City, Mont., has already begun widening other sections of the highway, as well as removing chunks of rock and dirt on the south side of the road.



Frost said the $8 million project will eventually widen the highway to 40 feet in an effort to handle traffic to and from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park.



Besides widening 3.65 miles of road, the latest phase of the project will involve installing five rock retaining walls, installing new lighting in a tunnel, straightening curves and improving guardrails.



Major work on the overall project will continue through May, followed by a month of bridge work.



Crews may work at night during the summer to avoid snarling tourist traffic. The entire project is expected to be done by Oct. 31, followed by a final pavement seal in June 2004.

Update from the field 12/19/02


Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

December 19, 2002




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* Holiday gift ideas



* Thanks for the support



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field





Dear friends and supporters...



Winter has come to us here on Hebgen Lake. More snow has fallen, as has the temperature--yesterday morning's patrols left with the mercury hovering around -2 degrees Fahrenheit. Our maintenance coordinator is busy ensuring that the vehicles, the water pipes, and other sensitive elements of this campaign will continue to function through the intense cold. Gear coordinators begin in earnest to equip volunteers with the cold weather gear they will need as others provide trainings in hypothermia and frostbite. What we lack in natural cold weather protection, the buffalo have in spades; if only they could share our freedom to roam...



As it has been another quiet week, with no hazing operations to speak of, we have been able to turn our resources and attention to the other fronts. On December 6, the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspections Service (APHIS) called a meeting in Billings, Montana with other state and federal agencies to discuss plans to eradicate brucellosis from the wild. This meeting was a precursor to future ones on the topic, including a public meeting that could be held as early as February 2003. All of these meetings are part of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process to examine whether to proceed with complete brucellosis eradication within the Greater Yellowstone Area while maintaining free ranging bison and elk herds. Since the EIS process is required to seek public comment, we will have some opportunities to let the government agencies involved know what our "preferred alternative" is--stop the slaughter. More information on this as it unfolds.



As we write this, several DOL agents are involved in a plowing operation on Horse Butte - the area in which the buffalo capture facility has been installed in previous years has been plowed, as well as the access road, Forest Service Road 610. This action implies that the capture facility, which is stored inside the northern boundary of Yellowstone Park when not in use, may be on its way back to Horse Butte soon. It also raises our yearly concern regarding bald eagle monitoring. According to the Biological Assessment for the Horse Butte Bison Capture Facility, pre-monitoring of the bald eagle nesting territory is required two weeks before scheduled installation of the capture facility. Of course, after we initially complained to the Forest Service over this oversight years ago, they tried to re-write the provisions for eagle monitoring to suit the DOL. We have yet to see any eagle monitoring activities in the field, and we'll be keeping our eye on the DOL to see what happens.



For the buffalo,

Jonas Ehudin & Ted Fellman

Media Coordinators



----------------------------------



* Holiday gift ideas



A final pitch for last minute holiday giftsŠ



Check out: http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html. On our website you can make donations in a loved one's name, order organic cotton BFC t-shirts or notecards, and find limited edition prints like "Hope for Buffalo" by John Pisarcik or "Thunder Hawk (Oglala Lakota)" by Renee Still Day. Great gift ideas that support a great cause!



*** We received these sweatshirts too late for last week's update (this is funny), but ya got to check this out!

Note: Sweatshirts need to be ordered by Friday, December 20th at 5pm to reach you in time! (Please note if you don't care when it gets there & you can save it for next year!)

The sweatshirt reads: "Peace on Earth, Good Will to Buffaloes" (only 20 available!)



GO TO: http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/pcshop/bazaar.html



Have a wonderful Solstice and bright blessings to all,

For all that's wild and free,

Su



P.S. The notecards are an excellent way to say thanks or catch up with old friends...



--

Buffalo Field Campaign Programs

POB 957

West Yellowstone, Montana 59758



Donations are tax deductible and go directly to front lines work. BFC is the only group in the field 365 days a year with the last, free roaming buffalo.

----------------------------------



* Thanks for the support



Thanks to everyone who has supported us and sent gift donations and gift t-shirts to friends. Many thanks to Patagonia and Dennis W. for all the gear donations that just arrived. We are busy sorting through piles of fleece and Capilene that will help our volunteers stay warm throughout the winter. Thanks as well to Patagonia for the grant we recently received. And thanks to Tracee at the Foundation for Deep Ecology for setting up a great presentations for us. Tom, Deb, Carol, and Alyssa of the Guacamole Fund - what can we say? - Thanks! And to Jackson Browne, Donald and Cree - The rig is great!! It was a smooth ride full of gear back to West Yellowstone, and it will shuttle quite a few volunteers on patrol through the winter. Deanna - wish you could come and work in the kitchen with us! Norma Jean - thanks for thinking of us. We are a dedicated grassroots group and it is indeed an honor to be a part of such a supportive community.



----------------------------------



* Last Words



From the December 6th APHIS meeting:



Arnold Gertonson, Montana State Veterinarian, said, "Frankly, I'm tired of being the population control manager." He brings light to the reality of the situation: the bison slaughter has more to do with population counts than it does with the brucellosis myth.



Valerie Ragan, assistant deputy administrator for veterinary services at APHIS, said different options need to be considered. "I don't know anybody who's really happy with the bison management program, because we'll just have to keep killing bison, and I find that unpalatable."



Jim Logan, State Veterinarian of Wyoming, told a story about castrating a 900 lb. boar hog with only the rudimentary tools he had available. He related this story to the current situation in terms of using the "tools" we have now to eradicate brucellosis. "The process would involve lots of squealing and blood, it could be ugly", he stated, "but we can get the job done with what we have now!" The statement was greeted with nervous laughter and a few raised eyebrows.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.




Jim

Update from the field 12/26/02

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

December 26, 2002




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* ESA Lawsuit to be heard in Federal Court



* Bozeman Co-op benefit tomorrow!



* Thanks for your support



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field





Dear friends and supporters...



Our patrol left the cabin yesterday morning for a recon into Yellowstone Park along the Madison River. The day was beginning to warm up from the -16 degree night. As we drove east on Highway 287, the sun shone on the snow-covered surface of Lake Hebgen and Horse Butte rose out of that vast field of ice. We arrived and hiked east along the north shore of the river, heading towards the Park boundary. The air was still and cold, and ice crystals clung to the willows and the sage that line the valley. We would hike a mile into the Park, looking for bison heading west towards Montana.



In the course of three hours, we saw an enormous golden eagle, a bald eagle, a herd of more than 30 elk, and over 20 trumpeter swans, which are considered a sensitive species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Thankfully, there were no buffalo on their way out of the Park, but the abundance of wildlife on our brief trek reminded me of the panic caused by the ripples of disturbance and harassment that shoot out into the wild whenever the DOL are hazing buffalo. We sat for a while on the bank of the Madison, listening to the crunching sounds of the ice floes as they crashed into the bank, broke up and reformed, then moved on

downstream. The slushy sound of the colliding ice rolled on and on, and my mind dreamt of a time when the snowmobiles, the helicopters, and the cracker rounds will fall silent. In my mind the buffalo stand in safety on this shore listening to the ice grind along the bank, free to roam and graze in this incredible valley and beyond.



As I write this, there are two DOL agents in the area. Our patrols haven't reported any activity against the buffalo today. Our hopes go out that the end of this year will be peaceful and safe for the bison in the area. And as always, we'll keep you posted.



For the buffalo,

Jonas Ehudin

Media Coordinator



----------------------------------



* Lawsuit to be heard in Federal Court



On January 7th, BFC's lawsuit against the Montana Department of Livestock and the Federal government will have a hearing in federal district court in Helena, Montana. This lawsuit, filed in conjunction with Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers and The Ecology Center, Inc. is directed at the deficiencies of eagle monitoring, the use of helicopters for hazing, and other activities associated with the Horse Butte Capture

facility. It has been over a year and a half in preparation, and we'll finally get our opportunity to be heard in court.



The heart of the lawsuit rests with the lack of proper analysis of the effects of helicopter hazing on the environment and failure of the Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to properly monitor and enforce provisions of the Horse Butte Capture Facility Environmental

Assessment (EA). Each year the Forest Service and the Montana DOL develop and sign an Annual Operating Plan outlining how the DOL will conduct its activities, and that those activities are lawful and properly authorized. We believe that this Operating Plan violates the EA and the Special Use Permit that authorizes the DOL's capture and hazing activities in the Horse Butte area. In addition to that, we believe the DOL's activities violate NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and other federal laws.



We will be asking the Court for an injunction against the DOL to cease using helicopters for hazing. We'll also be asking for the Forest Service to pull the Special Use Permit that allows the DOL to construct and use the Horse Butte Capture facility and conduct hazing activities in the Horse Butte area.



We'll be asking for the US Fish and Wildlife Service to rescind its Incidental Take Permit (which allows the DOL to "take," or basically kill one eagle--or render one eagle nest unviable). We'll also ask them to re-enter in formal consultation with the Forest Service over the eagle monitoring conflict, the effects of heli-hazing on eagles and on other threatened and endangered species, and on the environment in general. We'll be asking the Court to force the US Fish and Wildlife Service to make the US Forest Service cease using the Horse Butte Capture Facility EA and the Special Use Permit as the basis for allowing any of the actions that they authorize. We'll let you know how the case

turns out as soon as we can.



----------------------------------



* Two Bozeman Community Food Co-op benefits tomorrow!



On Friday, December 27, the Bozeman Community Food Co-op will donate 4% of its proceeds to BFC. The Co-op holds a "4% day" for a local non-profit each month. BFC volunteers will be at the Co-op all day tomorrow - we'll have a table out front with newsletters, photos, and the buffalo petition, as well as our new t-shirts, notecards and other great stuff. If you're in Bozeman, please drop by so that we can thank you personally for your support and perhaps talk you into visiting us down here on Lake Hebgen...



And as if hosting a 4% day weren't enough, there will be live music tomorrow evening in the Co-op's new second-floor coffeehouse. Great local artists are scheduled to play, and there will be an opportunity for others to share during the open mic session. What better way to spend the Friday evening after the holidays than with a warm drink and with good buffalo company? Please come on down and join us.



Our deepest thanks go out to the Bozeman Community Food Co-op for their dedication to assisting us and other groups in our work towards environmental and social justice.



----------------------------------



* Thanks for the support



To the friends of the buffalo who have sent in donations this holiday week, we are grateful to you. This is a hard time of year for non-profits across the board, and your support has ensured that we can continue to send patrols out into the field and get the word out to the world.



Thanks to Jitze and Nancy Couperus for their years of advocacy and support for the campaign.



Thanks also to Barbara for sharing the beautiful photos of her country - they are really amazing. Do you folks need any buffalo activists over there in Switzerland?



Montana Harvest in Bozeman has been an inspiration to us all. We rarely return from Bozeman without a donation from them - we are truly grateful for their belief in this cause and for their decision to do what they can to support us. Please support them!



Also, we are thankful to Jesse Schwartz of Living Tree Community Foods in Berkeley, CA for the organic dates. Your years of support mean a great deal to us.



And to Sherri Wright, a great supporter and letter-writer, thanks for the cutting board and holiday note. The board was whisked quickly away to the kitchen and has already seen quite a bit of action. And garlic...



----------------------------------



* Last Words



Don't wait till moves are made by others,

Or squat near ruins with idle hands,

Though it rain lava, ash or brimstone,

Tend the flower that squats on your land.



- Gerrit Komrij

Avalanche warning issued for southern mountains

Avalanche warning issued for southern mountains



BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - A backcountry avalanche warning was issued Saturday for Montana's southern mountains, where heavy snowfall has been reported.



The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center said the warning includes the southern Madison and southern Gallatin ranges, the mountains around West Yellowstone and Cooke City and the Washburn Range in northern Yellowstone National Park.



''In the last 24 hours, approximately 1 foot to 2 feet of new snow has fallen in these areas,'' the warning said.



Given wind conditions and an unstable base for the new snow, the avalanche danger was rated high on all slopes, with both natural and human triggered avalanches likely, the warning said.

Update from the field 1/2/03

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

January 2, 2003




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* Speak out for the Buffalo!



* Seeking Independent Media Outlets



* Bozeman Benefits



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



Happy New Year. May 2003 be a year of peace for all, including our wild friends. We have been enjoying some peace up here lately. The days have been calm, with very little activity from the DOL. A few DOL agents have come down for brief money wasting visits. The have conscientiously spent their time on the clock driving back and forth to town and plowing the snow on FS 610, the access road to the site where they put the Horse Butte Capture Facility. The DOL has shown a stubborn diligence keeping this road that is closed to the public open to their snowplow, even brazing snowstorms to plow at a time that guarantees them more work the next day. Fortunately, the Horse Butte trap has still not been put up and the buffalo are taking advantage of mild weather and remaining safely inside the park.



More volunteers are arriving every day, including a welcome visit from Randall Mark who was released from jail last week. Randall is doing well and expresses his thanks to all who phoned the jail in response to his 38 day hunger strike for vegan food.



For the buffalo,

Ted Fellman & Jonas Ehudin

Media Coordinators



----------------------------------



* Speak out for the Buffalo!



Make a New Year's resolution to speak out for the buffalo. People are always asking us what they can do back home for the buffalo. One thing you can do is to spread the word by writing to your congressional representatives. Montana's congressional representatives won't change their minds about the buffalo slaughter until long past when the cows come home. But the Yellowstone bison herd does not belong to Montana; they are a wild herd living in a national park and migrating onto national forest. The Yellowstone bison herd is part of our national heritage, and therefore the slaughter is a national issue. Write your congressional representatives and let them know that you want them to get involved and stop the slaughter of the Yellowstone bison herd. Three different federal agencies are involved in the Yellowstone Bison Management Plan -- the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, and the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Ask your representatives to direct these agencies to expose the brucellosis myth and stop the slaughter of the last herd of wild buffalo.



You can find more information to help you write a letter to your representative at our website, http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/speak/speakdo.html.



You can also find out how to contact your congressional representatives at http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.



And of course, if your correspondence results in anything that you think we should know, keep us informed.



----------------------------------



* Seeking Independent Media Outlets



Also, we are always looking for new media outlets to cover the buffalo slaughter. If you know of a local paper that might be open to running a story, especially weekly independent papers, please send us their information so that we can follow up with them. Info such as the paper's name, their contact information and the name of a relevant reporter or editor would be greatly appreciated.



We have been updating our press packet so that we can expand our media outreach efforts in 2003. We are also working on producing more media packets for TV and radio, so let us know if you have other broadcast media contacts that might be interested in the issue. We're particularly interested in independent media outlets since they tend to be more open to covering issues ignored by the mainstream media.



----------------------------------



* Bozeman benefits



This week we send a special thanks to the Bozeman community and the wonderful Community Food Co-op for supporting us last Friday. The Co-op donated 4% of their day's proceeds to BFC and invited us to table in front of the store. It was a warm day (for Montana in December!) and we spoke to many people as they passed through the doors. And at least nine slick new BFC t-shirts are making their way around Bozeman, so keep your eyes out for them and let us know when you decide you'd like one.(www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/teez.html)



The event continued into the evening, as the Co-op hosted a coffeehouse and open mic night in their upstairs coffee/tea/juice bar. We were graced with music and words from a few local artists, and funds were raised for our big benefit concert in March.



Yes, in addition to some great outreach, the day helped provide funding for an all-day music and art festival in Bozeman. The event will take place tentatively on the 7th of March in the Emerson Cultural Center. A chili feed and folk music will start the day off, with higher-energy bands performing into the night. BFC has a sincere desire to build stronger ties to the Bozeman community this season -- this event, along with regular appearances for tabling and

discussion, will be a great opportunity for our coalition to grow.



*** Keep Friday, March 7th clear on your calendars, and please begin to spread the word to friends, co-workers and family -- we'll keep you posted as plans for the fundraiser become more firm.



----------------------------------



* Last Words



"What I fear is being in the presence of evil and doing nothing. I fear that more than death."



Otilia deKoster

Iobst named Yellowstone chief of maintenance

Iobst named Yellowstone chief of maintenance



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - A former assistant superintendent of Grand Teton National Park has been named chief of maintenance for Yellowstone National Park.



Steve Iobst will begin the job in March.



The Yellowstone Maintenance Division is one of the most diverse and complex operating divisions in the National Park Service. About 38 percent of the park's operating budget goes toward maintenance, according to park officials.



Yellowstone's more than 300 Yellowstone maintenance employees include engineers, landscape architects, mechanics, sewage and water treatment plant operators, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters and heavy equipment operators.



''Steve will be a tremendous asset,'' Lewis said in a prepared statement Tuesday. ''His leadership and management skills will be invaluable and greatly enhance Yellowstone's maintenance program.''



Iobst was assistant superintendent of Grand Teton from 1997 to November 2000, when he became acting superintendent, a job he held until February 2002. Since mid-June, Iobst has been working on a winter management plan for Yellowstone and Grand Teton.



Iobst began his career with the National Park Service as a civil engineer. He has held Park Service jobs in Denver and in Yellowstone, where he was an engineer from 1979-1983 and a management assistant from 1983-1988.



From 1988-1997, Iobst was chief of facility management for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Update from the field 1/9/03

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

January 9, 2003




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* BFC's Endangered Species Lawsuit Heard in Court



* BFC goes birding with Audubon



* E-mail the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture



* Comment on Wyoming Elk Vaccination Plan before Jan. 15th!



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



Many new volunteers have arrived in the last week, filling the cabin with new faces and high energy. Since relatively few buffalo are leaving the Park these days, we have focused a lot of creative energy on planning for rallies in the area. It is inspiring to see so many people come from around the world to defend the Yellowstone bison. The fresh spirit of our volunteers is the lifeblood of this work -- if you have been considering a visit, please get in touch with us. The late spring months traditionally see a drop in volunteer numbers, just at the time when large groups of highly-mobile bison are literally all over this valley. It is a beautiful time to share this land with the buffalo and the abundance of wildlife in the area.



The DOL have been busy burning up their budget with little to show for their efforts. Tuesday, while our ESA lawsuit (more below) was being heard in Helena, a handful of public agents occupied themselves plowing and widening Horse Butte's FS 610 road again, and standing around near their vehicles doing very little but waiting and answering their cell phones.



The next day, after a strong BFC showing in federal court, the DOL was out again in full force. Seven snowmobiles, carrying agents from the DOL, Park Service, Forest Service, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, worked together with agents on horseback and local sheriffs to chase two bull bison back into Yellowstone. The wise bulls led them around the woods for a few hours, regularly losing them and causing one of our favorite DOL agents to roll his snowmobile (he was not injured, and later asked whether we'd gotten his spill on video). While the day's end witnessed the buffalo safely grazing in the Park, the energy wasted during that intense chase will no doubt have a serious effect on their chances for survival this winter.



For the buffalo,

Ted & Jonas



P.S.- A challenge to our readers: please tell two friends, co-workers or family members about the Yellowstone buffalo, and encourage them to sign up for these weekly e-mail updates. They can send us a subscription request at

bfc-media@wildrockies.org. Help us get the word out to the world!



----------------------------------



* BFC's Endangered Species Lawsuit Heard in Court



Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell heard arguments Tuesday in Helena in a case brought against the Montana Department of Livestock, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service by a trio of Environmental groups. Judge Lovell did not issue a decision in the case.



Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers (CMCR), the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC), and the Ecology Center Incorporated (TECI) filed suit in May 2001 alleging that the state and federal agencies' Yellowstone bison management operations are illegally impacting threatened bald eagles, sensitive trumpeter swans, and their habitats. The lawsuit implicates the government's on-going multimillion-dollar plan to haze, capture, and slaughter wild bison on public lands.



TECI spokesperson Jim Coefield said, "We hope that Judge Lovell will make a quick decision and give the bald eagles the relief we are asking for."



The groups are seeking relief from ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, the National Forest Management Act, and the Special Use Permit authorizing bison capture operations on the Gallatin National Forest.



Among the issues raised by the groups is the Department of Livestock's consistent use of helicopters to haze bison in areas where helicopters are specifically prohibited.



The groups are represented by the Helena law firm Reynolds, Motl, and Sherwood. According to their attorney, Brenda Lindlief Hall, "When the sun sets on all of the issues, what remains is that no analysis of helicopters on wildlife has ever been done. This failure is a clear violation of the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act."



"Hazing is taking a tremendous toll on bison, on threatened bald eagles, and on native wildlife in the Yellowstone ecosystem," said CMCR's Darrell Geist, "It needs to stop."



"The judge expressed concern that more bison may be killed without the Department of Livestock's capture facility," said Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign. "The bottom line is they are going to try to kill a thousand buffalo with or without their trap."



We will continue to keep you updated as the legal process unfolds.



----------------------------------



* BFC goes birding with Audubon



On January 4th, ten volunteers from the Buffalo Field Campaign participated in Audubon's Christmas Bird Count in the West Yellowstone Area. Over 20 people from the West Yellowstone community came together for the count. BFC focused on the Madison River Corridor and Horse Butte. The confluence of the Madison River and Hebgen Lake creates a unique open body of water approximately a mile long and two hundred yards wide. It is the most important winter habitat for waterfowl in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The open water is home to 266 Trumpeter Swans, 65 Ring-Necked Ducks, 45 Northern Pintails, 43 Mallards, 23 Canada Geese, as well as Buffleheads, Common and Barrow Golden Eyes, and Common Mergansers. There were also over 320 other waterfowl that were too far away to identify. The variety and the quantity of the waterfowl in the Madison River Corridor/Horse Butte area, especially the density of the Trumpeter Swans, meets and exceeds the criteria for Audubon's Important Bird Area. We are in the process of getting it recognized as such.



Unfortunately, all the waterfowl in this area are sent aflight during the hazing operations of the DOL, especially during helicopter hazing. Other bird species sited were Bald Eagles, Clarks Nutcrackers, Magpies, Kingfishers, Black Capped Chickadees, Mountain Chickadees, Ravens, Red Crossbills, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and Nuthatches. The highlight of our day was watching two river otters eating a fish when all of a sudden a Bald Eagle swooped down, trying to steal their lunch. It was a great day to be birding on the Madison River. I invite everyone to come to this area and view this unique density of birds--nowhere can you see so much from one vantage point.



- Chuck Irestone



----------------------------------



* E-mail the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture



Here's a quick and easy way to send a message to the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture for the buffalo. On our website we have an email letter that you can send asking them to use their authority to protect the Yellowstone buffalo. Over 180,000 folks have signed a citizen's petition that demands that buffalo be given precedence over cattle on public (Forest Service) lands designated as "wildlife habitat" in Yellowstone. Now we are following this effort up with even more letters asking the federal government to simply allow buffalo to utilize our public lands.



Read and send the complete letter online at:



http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/politico00/letter.html



----------------------------------



* Comment on Wyoming Elk Vaccination Plan before Jan. 15th!



The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) has proposed a plan to vaccinate elk on the National Elk Refuge (Refuge) managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Jackson, Wyoming. This proposal conflicts with current Refuge management for habitat improvement to reduce disease transmission and to increase native habitat for healthy, free-ranging wildlife.



Elk, like bison, need healthy habitat, not vaccinations. Elk that winter over on the Refuge actually show a lower rate of brucellosis exposure than elk on other Wyoming feed grounds where the elk are vaccinated on concentrated feeding operations for longer periods each winter. Even the WGFD has called feed grounds "a recipe for disaster," due to the increased likelihood of transmission of diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease, Tuberculosis and Pasturella Pneumonia in such confined areas. Successful management of sustainable wildlife populations requires adequate habitat for all free-ranging, healthy wildlife species.



**** Please send comments to the USFWS by January 15th. More information on the issue, how to comment, and some points to include in your comments can be found at:



http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo/press02/elk.html



The bison could be next. Make it clear that wildlife need healthy and protected habitat, not more harassment.



----------------------------------



* Last Words



Those who practice the Art of Peace must protect the domain of Mother Nature, the divine reflection of creation, and keep it lovely and fresh. Warriorship gives birth to natural beauty. The subtle techniques of a warrior arise as naturally as the appearance of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Warriorship is none other than the vitality that sustains all life.



- Morihei Ueshiba

Update from the field 1/16/03

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

January 16, 2003






In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* High-speed buffalo connection



* Thanks for your support



* Last Words





----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



Mild weather has perhaps contributed to another calm week. The buffalo are living in relative safety within the borders of Yellowstone where winter forage is still available. Yesterday a group of bulls ventured onto the private property that houses the Duck Creek capture facility. Again they caught our local DOL agent unaware, and as he geared up to haze them back into the park, they moved on their own across the border and back into safety. It seems like such a comical game until you pause to consider that the stakes are so high for the last wild, genetically-pure herd of bison.



A dedicated group of volunteers headed for Helena last Friday, where Montana Governor Judy Martz was holding a press conference. While the group flew banners on the capitol lawn, passed out newsletters, and engaged the public in conversation about the bison, Ted managed to get inside the news conference. Once his affiliation with BFC was discovered, he was grudgingly allowed to ask one question. In response to his demand that she justify the bison slaughter, Martz launched into a jumbled medley of excuses which began with, "well, the proof isn't in the pudding." For Martz' complete statement (it's pretty funny), see the Last Words section at the end of this update.



The temperature has begun to fall again, and a fresh blanket of snow has rounded the sharp edges of our landscape. The reports from the field are of calm and grazing buffalo, and the absence of DOL activity. Judge Lovell has not yet issued a ruling on our Endangered Species Act lawsuit, which we hope will prohibit the DOL from using helicopters in bison hazing operations. We hope this update finds you well, and that peace may prevail in the coming week.



For the buffalo,

Jonas and Ted



----------------------------------



* High-speed buffalo connection



We are currently in the process of acquiring a high-speed internet connection via a local internet provider offering wireless service. High-speed access will make a tremendous difference in our ability to gather and disseminate information to you. Some of the projects we would like to initiate with a high-speed connection are more frequent and timely updates from the field, including audio and video posted to our website, and a weekly downloadable production of bison-related issues for media outlets worldwide. Not least of all, a high-speed connection would eliminate countless headaches occurring from sharing our agonizingly slow dial-up connection between three computers.



High-speed access, however, comes with a price. To initiate service, we need approximately $600. This cost includes all the necessary equipment and the first six months of service. The monthly cost of service right now is $65. We would greatly appreciate any help in paying for this service that you could offer.



If just thirty people each donated $20, we would have the necessary funds to go high-speed for the buffalo.



For more information about how you can help, please contact Josh by phone at 406-646-0070 or by e-mail at bfc-advocate@wildrockies.org



----------------------------------



* Thanks for your support



At the top of our thank you list this week are the students from Schermerhorn High School. They held a penny drive in their community and gathered 8,600 pennies! Thanks for your support and please keep spreading the word!



Thanks to Priscilla C. for the generous donation - your contribution makes it possible for us to carry on this work.



A special thanks goes out to Erica for her dedication to the buffalo and all wild creatures, and her delivery of the Mainers. Brian, Matt and Steve - your contributions to our ill vehicles and woodstoves were wicked helpful. We look forward to your safe returnŠ



Thanks as well to Tom & Darlynn for their visit and donation to the kitchen. It was great to have you see what we're all about and hope you enjoyed a night in our lodge.



And finally, we send our sincere thanks and hopes for strong collaboration to the newly formed Greater Yellowstone Wildlife Alliance (GYWA). BFC is proud to be part of this pro-bison group, and we were pleased to host GYWA visitors this past Sunday for a field tour and video presentation. Please feel free to come down again, and we look forward to working with you on this and other crucial wildlife issues.



----------------------------------



* Last Words



At last Friday's press conference in Helena, Ted asked Governor Judy Martz how she could justify spending nearly $3.5 million on the killing of 2,264 wild buffalo when Montana has a budget deficit and a growing tourist economy dependent on wildlife, not livestock.



Her response:



"Well, the proof isn't in the pudding, as it contributes to the tourism industry. Uh, the other thing is, there are only 2000 head of cattle, if your figures are right around that area. Two thousand head of cattle with brucellosis can infect millions of cattle. We will not jeopardize our brucellosis-free, uh, status for even one, uh, uh, and when you call it a slaughter, it is not a slaughter, um, it is not a slaughter, uh, you used the word kill - that was good, that was better - it's the same, it's the same thing. We will not jeopardize our cattle, uh, in the state of Montana, or the brucellosis-free. The, uh, risk of that is far greater than what we're having to do now. In fact, if you really care about the buffalo, you will help us to get the Park to control the numbers so they aren't coming out. That's the true problem. And you will help us to get them vaccinated so we can kill the brucellosis in the buffalo so we can save the bison. There's not one of us that wants to put down one bison a year. I don't want to kill even one, or send them to slaughter. I want them vaccinated. When Marc Racicot was governor, he asked for that. It's been nine or ten years we've been asking for that. It's about time we get that done. You can help with that, so thank you for the question."



Thank you, Judy

Update from the field 1/23/03

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

January 23, 2003




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* Buffalo News on TV



* Responding to Governor Martz



* Update on Government Brucellosis Eradication



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



The snow has arrived at last, covering the landscape in a soft white blanket. Winter finally feels like winter, which is a mixed blessing for the buffalo and us. More snow sends the buffalo wandering in search of winter forage. That wandering often leads them out of Yellowstone and into Montana's deadly political conflict. As if to remind us of this fact, yesterday we witnessed the first captures of the new year. Accompanying the captures was a confusing emotional rollercoaster ride for all of us.



The day started before sunrise with our patrols taking positions near some of the bull bison outside the Park. The usual motorcade of acronyms arrived--DOL (Department of Livestock), USFS (Forest Service), FWP (Fish, Wildlife & Parks), NPS (National Park Service), as well as county sheriffs and highway patrol officers--with an assortment of trucks, trailers, snowmobiles, and horses.



Just after sunrise, four bull bison were hazed near the Duck Creek Trap. The largest bull managed to escape just across the Park border, while the other three were hazed into the trap. The government agents then turned their attention to another two buffalo across the highway near Cougar Creek and the Bear Trap housing development. They hazed the first buffalo across the highway and toward the trap. Fortunately, he managed to slip across the border into the safety of Yellowstone. Unfortunately the other buffalo wasn't so lucky. He was also hazed across the highway and along the Park border. For nearly a mile he was pushed towards the trap and actively blocked by snowmobiles from crossing into the safety of the Park. It was a capture day--there would be no hazing into the Park.



All of us assumed that the four captured buffalo would be shipped to slaughter. The last 139 buffalo killed were not even tested for brucellosis. The last four buffalo killed this season were all bulls, which the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) considers to pose a "low risk" of brucellosis transmission to cattle. We all waited nervously as the buffalo were loaded onto trailers.



But then we had another surprise. Instead of heading north towards the slaughterhouse, the trailers moved south. Patrols followed the trailers as they moved out to Horse Butte and released the four bull buffalo. Agents on snowmobiles then proceeded to haze the buffalo further down the peninsula, deeper into the national forest, and even further from the Park. So at the end of the day, four buffalo were tested, tagged and shaved, and released about six miles outside the Park. The government managed to spend a day chasing and capturing buffalo and moving them from the proximity of Yellowstone to national forests much further away from the Park where they can be hazed again next week. Of course, the buffalo themselves were harassed, chased, trapped, confined, moved, and forced to expend much needed energy for surviving winter.



Today we will leave the buffalo in peace. Soon we will check to see how they are doing and how badly they were injured. It is hard to determine exactly why the DOL needs to harass bull bison in the middle of winter, when no cattle are present, but for now they appear to be following their plan very carefully. And despite the needless harassment of bull bison seeking winter forage, at least these four buffalo are roaming free today.



For the buffalo,

Ted



----------------------------------



* Buffalo News on TV



A few programs will air on television in the next weeks featuring BFC footage.



BFC will be on CNN this Saturday, January 25th at 12:00 noon Mountain Time. A short piece will air on CNN globally, so please spread the word. CNN journalists joined us in the field for an afternoon and also used some recent BFC footage from various events.



Brooklyn residents will have a chance to learn more about the buffalo by watching "Buffalo Soldier" on Brooklyn Cable Access Television. "Buffalo Soldier" will air on BCAT channels 34 and 67 on Friday, January 31st and Friday, February 7th at 6:30 PM. If you live in or near Brooklyn, NY, please spread the word so that more people learn about the senseless slaughter of the Yellowstone buffalo. Thanks to Carl Lawrence from Greenvision for producing the show.



----------------------------------



* Responding to Governor Martz



We have received a number of responses from last week's email, in which we quoted Judy Martz' response to our question about how she can justify Montana's policy of killing wild buffalo. Many folks expressed their gratitude for our dedication in the face of such government doublespeak. Others asked about the validity of Judy's call for bison vaccination. So here is our response to Judy...



First of all, I had an opportunity to try to continue the dialogue in person with the Governor. After her statement focusing on the risk to Montana's brucellosis free status, I informed her that a herd of cattle in Idaho contracted brucellosis from elk last year and that Idaho did not lose it's brucellosis free status. The Governor began to walk off. I continued that APHIS, the agency in charge of determining a state's brucellosis free status, does not agree with Montana's zero tolerance policy for wild bison. By this time Judy had left the room, leaving me wondering how many more buffalo would be killed under the political smoke-screen of "protecting Montana's brucellosis free status."



The buffalo slaughter is not about brucellosis. There has never been a single documented case of bison giving brucellosis to cattle in the wild. In Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, cattle and infected bison have intermingled for decades without jeopardizing Wyoming's brucellosis free status. As noted above, the last 139 buffalo killed in Montana were not even tested for the disease. The last four buffalo killed this season were bulls, which APHIS considers to pose a "low risk" of brucellosis transmission to cattle. Besides which, why are buffalo being killed in October and November when no cattle will be present in the area until at least June, if at all. Add to all these points the fact that the test the DOL uses is remarkably inaccurate and the high costs poured into a policy that affects less than 2000 head of cattle in the affected area, and you begin to see a pattern of refusing to accept reality.



As to vaccinating bison, as Governor Martz requested in her response, at present there is no safe and effective vaccine for wildlife. Furthermore, there is no way to deliver the vaccine without negatively impacting all wildlife in the area. It would be impossible to vaccinate every buffalo in the Park, let alone every member of every other species known to carry the bacteria (elk, bears, coyotes).



A far easier, more cost-effective approach, would be to focus on the cattle, which are routinely rounded up and vaccinated for a host of other diseases anyway. A fraction of the money being spent on the bison slaughter could be directed toward developing a safe and effective cattle vaccine, which would put the entire brucellosis argument to rest.



----------------------------------



* Update on Government Brucellosis Eradication



Below is some information, compiled by BFC board member Flo Gardipee, from a government panel that has been meeting periodically to discuss scientific issues related to brucellosis. Much of the information is fairly scientific. We will keep you updated on future developments.



The Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee (GYIBC) held its first meeting of the year last week in Bozeman. The meeting was attended by representatives from the various state and federal agencies, scientists, and interested public. Dr. Valerie Ragan, Assistant Deputy Administrator for APHIS, introduced discussion of plans to move forward with brucellosis elimination in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA). This directive was handed down from the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Interior, who has set a target date of 2010 for this goal. Dr. Ragan emphatically reiterated that "test and slaughter" operations alone would not be on the table. Several members of the Executive Committee expressed concern that this new effort would duplicate the current function of the GYIBC. After lengthy discussion it was decided that APHIS, in conjunction with the GYIBC, would take the lead in planning a public meeting sometime early this spring. The purpose of this meeting would be to solicit input from all concerned public stakeholders regarding how to proceed towards brucellosis elimination in the GYA. Particular emphasis would be given to obtaining input from the 80 affiliated tribes who have a vested interest in YNP. The date and location for this meeting will be announced in the near future. We will include this information in a future update when we receive notification of this meeting.



Dr. Don Davis, of Texas A&M University, presented the latest results of research on a calfhood vaccination study to the GYIBC. The study, titled "Failure of RB51 as a calfhood bison vaccine against brucellosis," detected no observed differences in the number of live or dead calves between vaccinated and control groups. Non-vaccinated and one-time vaccinated bison calves were obtained from a private brucellosis free herd in South Dakota. A third group, vaccinated three times in calfhood (at 6, 12, and 18 months), was obtained from another herd in South Dakota. All bison naturally were bred at three years of age and challenged at mid-gestation with field strain 2308 brucellosis at a dose of 1 x 107 cfu via conjunctival inoculation. Results of this study are outlined below:



Numbers of live vs. dead bison calves following 2308 challenge:



GROUP LIVE CALVES Abortions/stillborns/dead calves



Non-vaccinated controls 18 9



1 x RB51 21 7

3 x RB51 20 8



Colonization of bison calves with strain 2308:



GROUP INFECTED CALVES NON-INFECTED CALVES



Non-infected calves 27 0



1 x RB51 28 0



3 x RB51 19 9





Dr. Tom Roffe discussed research on newly developed DNA vaccines and alternative delivery methods, such as micro-encapsulated vaccines which could be delivered through the oral and nasal mucosa. He also discussed ballistics problems of the "bio-bullet," which affect it's accuracy and range and suggested that further refinement is needed.



Montana Department of Livestock officials reported that they sent four seronegative bulls to slaughter last fall. The bulls were just outside of the park. One was shot in the field, three were captured and sent to slaughter. MDOL intends to continue use of the Card test alone (a qualitative test which determines the presence or absence of antibodies to brucellosis exposure) in the field for testing captured bison.



Research on the Fluorescent Polarization Assay (FPA), a quantitative test that determines the level of brucellosis antibodies present in a blood sample, is ongoing. Seronegative bison from a private herd are being used for the study. Scientists are evaluating both the sensitivity and specificity of this assay for detecting actual brucellosis infection in bison captured in the field. They want to insure that this method does not cross react with antibodies to other organisms, which may be present in blood samples. However, it will not be ready for use in the field this season.



Idaho is concerned about their brucellosis free status. Last spring migrating elk from feed grounds in Wyoming migrated into Idaho and transmitted field strain brucellosis to a cattle herd there. The owner of the herd had been feeding the elk alongside her cattle. The herd was killed and adjacent cattle herds were screened for brucellosis. No other reactors were found. The owner has replaced the cattle herd and erected a fence to keep out wildlife. Another outbreak in Idaho could jeopardize it's brucellosis free status. Since elk are vaccinated against brucellosis with strain 19 on Wyoming's feed grounds, there is a question of why these elk were infectious.



Rick Wallen, Bison Biologist for YNP, reported that Yellowstone's bison herd is in good shape this year. It has been a mild winter in the park and they are doing well. He also stated that most of the herd has remained near the interior of the park and reported adequate forage quality and quantity.



----------------------------------



* Last Words



The Peace of Wild Things



When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.



Wendell Berry

Protect bison habitat: Comments needed ASAP

Buffalo Field Campaign

Special Update

01/24/03






Folks,



Your comments are urgently needed to protect potential buffalo habitat outside Yellowstone's western boundary. Please read the following information and send comments by the end of the day on Monday, January 27.



The Antelope Basin Environmental Assessment (EA) contains some interesting information. After the first edition of the EA came out in February 2002, there were a lot of negative comments on it, and the Beaverhead National Forest went back to work on it. On 5-15-02, the Bozeman Chronicle ran an editorial suggesting that Antelope Basin, if cattle grazing were to be suspended (Alternative C) or grazing were shifted to horses and/or sheep, would be prime summering and wintering grounds for bison.



Right now, there are about 11,225 Animal Unit Months (AUMs) allowed in the planning area and under Alternative A it would stay that way. Alternative B, the preferred Alternative, would reduce that number to about 10,453 AUMs. Alternative C suspends cattle grazing in the grazing allotments.



Antelope Basin is about 15 miles SW of Hebgen dam, not too far from Horse Butte, where the majority of bison slaughter has taken place in recent years. It is on the SE corner of the Gravelly Range between Cliff Lake and Raynolds Pass. Obviously, if you can graze 11,000+ cattle in the area, you could graze a lot of bison in the summer. They may even consider wintering there, instead of returning to Yellowstone, or migrate to there from Yellowstone in the winter as they did in 1997, only to be shot down by the Montana Dept. of Fish Wildlife and Parks.



This area also runs into the Centennial Valley area and the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness Area. To the west, north and south of Antelope Basin, there are three large roadless areas in the Gravelly, Snowcrest and Centennial Mountains, and huge basins in and between the three ranges. In other words, this could be an excellent area to consider for an expanding bison herd in search of new range.



Unfortunately, the Beaverhead NF has chosen to dodge the issue of bison habitat by concluding that because there are no bison there now, and that the Bison Management Plan for Yellowstone and Montana Environmental Impact Statement (BMP EIS) supposedly restricts bison to Yellowstone and a few minor areas outside of its boundaries, they aren't including analysis of bison or suitable habitat in its EA. The BMP EIS is an adaptive management plan, and can be revised to allow for bison migration or relocation to other areas under certain conditions.



Comments on the EA are due next Monday, January 27th, 2003 and either need to be postmarked and mailed to:



Mark Petroni, District Ranger

5 Forest Service Road

Ennis, MT 59729



--or emailed before close of business on the 27th to:

r1_b-d_comments@fs.fed.us (notice that's a number one in r1, and the spaces between are underscores.



Use the Subject: "Antelope Basin/Elk Lake AMPs in the subject line of your email.



Comments should include:



* Name, Address and telephone number, and organization represented, if any;

* The title of the document ("Antelope Basin/Elk Lake AMP Updates EA"), which the comments address; and

* Specific facts and supporting reasons for the District ranger to consider



Anonymous comments will be accepted and considered, however, those who submit anonymous comments may not have standing to appeal the decision on this EA.



Urge Mr. Petroni to decide on Alternative C, and to consider utilizing the habitat in the area for wild bison from Yellowstone.



The text of the EA is available online at:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/bdnf/eas/ant_elk/ant_elk.htm



If you want to see a topographic map of the area, go to Topozone.com at:

http://www.topozone.com/map.aspz=12&n=4950747&e=462855&size=m. You can zoom in or out at Topozone, or pan sideways, cornerways, or up and down to see the surrounding area.



The editorial in the Bozeman Chronicle by Glenn Hockett can be viewed online at:

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2002/05/15/news1799.txt



"Bison migrated along the Madison River to the edge of the Antelope Basin during the winter of 1997 before they were gunned down by government agents acting on behalf of the livestock industry" --Glenn Hockett



An article in the Bozeman Chronicle, Jan. 30, 1997 entitled "Witnesses horrified by bison shoot," describes the end of the 22 mile journey from Yellowstone to Antelope Basin for 5 bison: http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/1997/01/30/news35820.txt



Thanks,



Jim Coefield

Update from the field 1/30/03

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

January 30, 2003




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* Make your conservation dollars double!



* Thanks for the Support



* What does "hazing" mean?



* Donate Vitamins to keep the Buffalo Defenders Healthy



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



It's been another week of hope and sadness, excitement and

disappointment -- another week of learning from the buffalo.



Late Wednesday afternoon two bull buffalo were captured at the Duck Creek Trap. It's been difficult for our Fir Ridge patrols, which have been in the field 24 hours a day, trying to keep the buffalo from wandering onto private property and into the trap. The buffalo, however, have been persistent and ultimately roam where they want to roam. Of course, the fact that the Department of Livestock (DOL) is baiting the trap with hay is certainly another draw to the buffalo. And so it is that many times buffalo wander over to the trap, eat some hay, bed down for the evening, and then run off in the morning when DOL agents arrive. It has been a difficult and tense cycle. Perhaps the buffalo are demonstrating their bravery, much like Native American warriors who would get close enough to their enemy to touch them with a "coup stick". Last week, this was the situation when three bull buffalo were captured and one escaped from near the Duck Creek Trap.



This Wednesday was similar. As more DOL agents arrived in town, two bull buffalo lingered near the trap. In a rather brief operation, agents on snowmobiles forced the buffalo into the trap. They remained there for two nights, ramming against the walls of the trap, trying to escape. However, there would be no escape for these bulls. This morning they were shipped off to slaughter. A spokesperson for the DOL said that they both tested positive for brucellosis. However, as many of you know, the test does not determine whether the bison actually have the disease, just whether they have been exposed to it. Montana has killed another two bull buffalo, considered "low risk" for brucellosis transmission, in the middle of winter when no cattle are present.



Yesterday was a day of more hope. Last Sunday the Yellowstone bison made the front page of the Sunday New York Times. BFC got a few paragraphs of ink, which generated more media attention. Yesterday morning Jonas and I took a crew from NBC nightly news into the field with us. And what an exciting day it was. The buildup of government agencies included the usual suspects--DOL, FWP (MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks), NPS (National Park Service) and Gallatin County Sheriffs--with snowmobiles, trucks and horses. Snowmobiles raced down the residential roads in search of buffalo. For a while it was a frenzy of noise and activity as suddenly and without warning the Lower Bear Trap housing development was turned into the site of a government operation.



Eventually, the government agents found a lone bull buffalo, after spooking a herd of about a dozen elk from a riparian area along Duck Creek. The bull was then hazed through a barbed wire fence at least four times as snowmobiles circled it in a sloppy effort to push the buffalo towards the Duck Creek Trap. The bull was hazed across the highway into the woods near the Yellowstone Park boundary where the chase continued on terrain more favorable to the persistent bull. After more confusion and waiting, agents closed Duck Creek Road in preparation for the final push to the trap. However when the bull was hazed onto the driveway, he turned and jumped a fence and disappeared back into the woods. The agents tried again, but eventually gave up, claiming that they had "successfully hazed the buffalo back into the Park." What really happened is that after running a bull buffalo for nearly three hours, the government agents were outwitted by a wise old warrior that fought to remain free.



The chaos of the day was captured by the NBC camera crew, and will hopefully be aired soon. We'll keep you updated about the time and date. For now, say your prayers for the two buffalo on their way to slaughter, and thanks to the one bull buffalo that escaped. May their spirits roam free, and the example of the one who outran the government agents spread to other buffalo this winter.



For the buffalo, Ted & Jonas



----------------------------------



* Make your conservation dollars double!



Greetings! Friends of the Buffalo!



I wanted to take a moment and tell you about a wonderful opportunity that we have. Our allies at Earth Friends have offered an impressive $1750 matching grant for the important work that we do.



Yellowstone's buffalo are the only wild, free roaming buffalo left. If they are not protected, that wildness will be lost. Buffalo in this ecosystem are the last remnant of the more than 60 million buffalo that once roamed North America. They are the most distinct and unique herd of buffalo on the planet and a critical reservoir of genetic diversity. As a keystone species, essential to the maintenance of native biodiversity within the Yellowstone ecosystem, they have immense ecological and evolutionary importance. By protecting this habitat, all the species that live here will benefit.



Over 1500 volunteers have walked through our doors. We have trained, outfitted, fed and housed them all. Each goes forth to other endeavors (many to other nonprofits) with great skills and integrity. We frugally stretch each donation--last year we fed the 350 volunteers that joined us healthy food for about 36 cents a meal! We have also been very successful in informing the public about the issue, and more importantly, what they can do to help affect lasting change. We follow up on our daily monitoring with successful "big picture" strategies such as litigation that holds public agencies accountable for their actions and scientific research to help secure a future for these majestic creatures and the ecosystem that they live in. We couldn't do it without support from concerned folks all over the country!



So if you can help out, your donation will be leveraged and doubled. Please consider making a donation! You can donate online at our website:



http://www.widlrockies.org/buffalo



or send your donation to:



BFC

PO Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758



**** Please note: write "MATCH" in the memo



All donations are tax-deductible and we thank you for your support! We couldn't be here without you! Grassroots activism really does work--no fancy offices or high paid staff--just passionate individuals joining together!



Feel free to contact me with any questions.



For the Buffalo,

Su

bfc-programs@wildrockies.org



As an additional incentive, ten CD's are being offered to high donors. The CD's "Beauty in the Feast" were donated by the artist, Eldorado Gene. He describes the music as "an album of epic ballads." You can find out more about the CD at: www.eldoradogene.com



----------------------------------



* Thanks for the Support



Thank you to Allison Silveira and the Yellowstone Loons. Allison collected $705 in donations from folks in memory of James Musgrove, a great friend of wildlife and wild places. The contributions were collected in his memory by a group of "internet friends" known as the Yellowstone Loons.



----------------------------------



* What does "hazing" mean?



We often mention that government agents spent a day "hazing" bison. We thought we'd clear up the meaning of haze as we see it in the field, and also offer Webster's definition. Agents force buffalo to run, which is not their natural winter gait, as energy conservation is a top priority. According to Mary Meagher, who spent over 30 years studying the Yellowstone bison, for a buffalo to stand up in three feet of snow takes 35% more energy than it does during the warmer summer months. These animals are chased at high speeds, through barbed wire fences and waterways, and stressed by the unnaturally loud helicopters, snowmobiles and cracker rounds.



According to Webster's New World dictionary, haze is defined as "to oppress, punish or harass by forcing to do hard and unnecessary work. To initiate or discipline by forcing to do ridiculous, humiliating or painful things."



Hazing is wrong, just as shooting buffalo in the field or shipping them to slaughter is cruel and unjust. That the DOL regularly uses the word "haze" to describe their activities betrays their basic loathing for these magnificent beings.



----------------------------------



* Donate Vitamins to keep the Buffalo Defenders Healthy



In addition to keeping us well fed, our kitchen crew makes every effort to help us stay healthy. However, lately our supply of vitamins has been greatly diminished due to a "crud" that has been making the rounds in the cabin. So we are asking for donations of Vitamin C in 1000 mg capsules and any other vitamins for maintaining a healthy immune system, like Zinc and B complex.



Thanks you.



----------------------------------



* Last Words



What would the world be, once bereft

Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,

O let them be left, wildness and wet;

Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.



- Gerard Manley Hopkins





Buffalo Field Campaign

PO Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758

(406) 646-0070

buffalo@wildrockies.org

Update from the field 2/13/03

Buffalo Field Campaign

Update From the Field

February 7, 2003




**********************



In this Issue:





* Update from the Field



* Montana Agriculture Committee Passes a Resolution Urging Brucellosis Eradication



* Volunteers needed for Buffalo Exchange Fundraiser April 26th



*Boise Rock and Roll Benefit for the Buffalo Field Campaign





**********************





*Update from the Field





Greetings Buffalo Supporters,



We skied out before sunrise to find them. When we did, they were still bedded down in a grove of pines beside a quiet river. As the first rays of sun tickled their backs they began to move, very slowly at first, like shadows. Later they were all on their feet, grazing in the snow as only bison can, with sweeping head-strides, plowing craters in the snowy floor of the meadow and exposing the life-giving grass hidden below.



Since October, the Montana Department of Livestock has killed seven bull buffalo. Bulls can't transmit brucellosis, the supposed reason behind Montana's slaughter of this most special herd of buffalo. Even if bulls could transmit, there are no cattle in the area, so there is zero chance of them contracting brucellosis.



Of the ten buffalo now outside the park, two have been shaved and tagged--signs that they were captured earlier this season, processed through the steel corridors of the DOL's Duck Creek trap, clamped in the hydraulic jaws at the end of the squeeze chute, and prodded, poked, shaved and syringed by men with no training in wildlife biology.



With ten buffalo facing potential capture, we were happy when our shift ended without the appearance of a single Department of Livestock (DOL) snowmobile. Relieved, we returned to the cabin at the end of our shift and went to work, as we do every day, to raise support for the buffalo and bring about an end to the needless killing.



Below you will find updates on some crucial issues facing the buffalo and ways you can become involved. The Yellowstone herd needs your help.



With the Buffalo,



Dan Brister

Project Coordinator

Buffalo Field Campaign





**********************



* Montana Agriculture Committee Passes a Resolution Urging Brucellosis Eradication



On February 11, after very short notice, House Joint Resolution No. 15 was introduced before the Montana House Agriculture Committee. The purpose of the Resolution is to urge the federal government to expedite the process of brucellosis elimination in the Yellowstone National Park bison and elk herds. Testimony before the committee consisted of brief statements in favor of the Resolution by Jeff Hageman, Director of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and Arnold Gertonson, Montana's State Veterinarian, among others. Supporting testimony repeated old arguments that brucellosis in bison presents an imminent threat to Montana's livestock industry, and that herd population size and brucellosis should be dealt with inside Yellowstone National Park by the Park Service. Representative Wagman, the author of Resolution 15, stated that by eliminating brucellosis in Yellowstone bison, brucellosis in the region's elk would naturally disappear. No evidence was presented to support this assertion.



Opposition to Resolution 15 was voiced by Jim Coefield of the Ecology Center, Josh Osher, of the Buffalo Field Campaign, and Will Patrick, of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, among others. The opponents of Resolution 15 stressed the very low risk of transmission that bison present to cattle, the necessity of recognizing that wild bison exist in Montana and should be treated as wildlife, and the benefits of wild bison in Montana as a source of tourism revenue. Opposition to Resolution 15 also focused on alternatives to protecting Montana livestock such as development of a better vaccine for cattle and expanding rangeland adjacent to Yellowstone National Park by offering incentives for ranchers to remove cattle from the area.



After nearly an hour and a half of testimony and questions from the committee members, the House Agriculture Committee approved Resolution 15 in a fifteen to one vote. The Resolution will now move to the full House for hearings and a vote. It is very important that supporters of wildlife voice opposition to Resolution 15.



The federal government and the state of Montana are already in the process of developing a new plan for eradicating brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This plan would call for a massive program of capture, test, slaughter, and quarantine for bison, elk, and numerous other wildlife species known to carry brucellosis. The new plan would call for this program to be carried out both inside Yellowstone National Park and in the surrounding areas. The result would be the end of the Yellowstone bison and elk as free-roaming wild herds and an unprecedented disturbance to the entire Yellowstone ecosystem.





Everyone who cares about wild bison and elk in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) should take a few moments to ask Federal officials to support wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.



Call the Department of Agriculture and make the following points:



Bill Hawkes

Undersecretary of Agriculture

(202) 720-4256

bill.hawkes@usda.gov



Tell him:



* Brucellosis eradication is impossible without destroying the wildness of bison and elk in the GYE.



* It would be easier and more effective to protect cattle through the development of a livestock vaccine than it would to subject Yellowstone's wildlife to a regime of capture, test, quarantine, and slaughter.



* Tell them you don't want the Montana livestock industry to control the fate of Yellowstone's irreplaceable wildlife.





**********************



* Volunteers needed for Buffalo Exchange Fund-raiser on April 26th



The Buffalo Exchange is celebrating Earth Day for the second consecutive year by generously hosting a fund-raiser for the Buffalo Field Campaign on April 26th. Stores across the West and in Philadelphia will host information tables and donate special proceeds to the Buffalo Field Campiagn.



We are in need of volunteers to hand out information and answer questions at the stores in various cities. If you live in or near the following and would like to help, please contact Justine at: buffalo@wildrockies.org



Albuquerque, NM

Austin, TX

Berkeley, CA

Boise, ID

Boulder, CO

Dallas, TX

Denver, CO

Eugene, OR

Flagstaff, AZ

Houston, TX

Las Vegas, NV

Los Angeles, CA

Philadelphia, PA

Phoenix, AZ

Portland, OR

Sacramento, CA

San Diego, CA

San Francisco, CA

Seattle, WA

Tucson, AZ

Tempe, AZ





**********************



*Boise Rock and Roll Benefit for the Buffalo Field Campaign



Who: Doug Martsch (of Built to Spill), The Magnetics, and others (TBA)

What: A benefit concert to support the work of the Buffalo Field Campaign

When: Thusday February 20th,

Where: the Mardi Gras, 9th and River, downtown Boise





**********************

Buffalo Field Campaign

PO Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758

(406) 646-0070

buffalo@wildrockies.org

www.wildrockies.org/buffalo

**********************

Colorado middle school class witnesses bison capture

Colorado middle school class witnesses bison capture



For Immediate Release: February 19, 2003

Contacts: Ted Fellman, Jonas Ehudin (406) 646-0070



West Yellowstone, MT -- Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) agents hazed and captured 9 bull buffalo grazing on national forests along the Madison River while a middle school class watched nearby. The students from Sojourner Middle School in Boulder, CO have been researching the Yellowstone bison slaughter in preparation for their weeklong field trip to the Buffalo Field Campaign. Rangers from Yellowstone National Park, the US Forest Service, and game wardens with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks assisted the DOL agents in pushing the bulls over 9 miles to Duck Creek where they were captured.



Most of the students saw their first wild buffalo today. "It was nice to see their last free moments in the wild," said Analee Perez, an 8th grader from the Sojourner School, "but they were not treated like wild animals, but like livestock."



"I felt sad because the DOL ran the buffalo for ten miles alongside the highway. The buffalo were not females, they were males, and the males are not able to transmit brucellosis," remarked Noe Molina, another Sojourner student in the 7th grade, "For me, it was difficult to watch the buffaloŠ the leaders of the group tired, with their tongues hanging out, without energy and scared by the snowmobiles."



The bull bison had been grazing peacefully on national forest land outside of Yellowstone National Park for over a week. Montana justifies its "bison management" activities in response to threats of brucellosis transmission to cattle from wild bison. There are currently no cattle present in the area, and ranchers will not bring cattle onto private ranch land for several months. Bull bison are considered to pose a "low risk" of brucellosis transmission by the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Two of the bulls were already marked, signifying that they have been captured, tested negative for brucellosis exposure, and released previously by the DOL.



At least 11 snowmobiles and 3 law enforcement vehicles were involved in the capture. While Montana faces an enormous budget deficit, the Montana Department of Livestock continues to spend tax dollars every week hazing, capturing and killing wild bison. The DOL has spent nearly $3.5 million since 1996 on bison management operations that have killed 1,827 wild bison.



The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on and document every move made against them.



Video footage is available upon request.

Update from the field 2/20/03


Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

February 20, 2003




Apologies for the duplicate email. Our earlier email was an unfinished version. This is the completed update.



In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* Colorado Middle School Witnesses Bison Capture



* Sojourner School Shares Life Lessons at Buffalo Field Campaign



* Calls and Letters Needed to Oppose Montana Bill to Allow Sport Hunting of Bison



* Bozeman Benefit on March 9th



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



We bring a close to this week with a mixture of emotions, from joy to outrage, and with much good news to balance the bad. We are thankful that it has been a week of visits and field trips, with a Sierra Club chapter from Missoula journeying here last weekend to learn more about the Yellowstone bison. Also with us last weekend were the Great Old Broads for Wilderness - a group of feisty eco-defenders of all ages and genders who, "use the voices and activism of elders to increase, protect and preserve wilderness." Check out their website: www.greatoldbroads.org



Our star visitors, without a doubt, have been the students and teachers from Sojourner Middle School in Boulder, Colorado. I cannot do their experience justice with a few lines here in this update, but here's an example of the dedication and heart of these incredible young people: their caravan pulled in just before midnight on Monday, and by 10am on Tuesday, the twelve students had already witnessed their first bison capture, and were standing together with signs and cameras, trying to get DOL agents and law enforcement officers to answer their questions about bison management. They have been a true blessing -- their laughter and energy have rejuvenated our spirits. Look for their words elsewhere in this update and please take a moment to learn of the potential fate of their school.



It has been a difficult week here too, as each of us, from Great Old Broad to youthful Sojourner, has been forced to accept the death of six more wild bull buffalo. During the haze witnessed by the students, 9 bison were captured (see our press release below). The next day, after a long night of captivity and its related injuries, four were released onto Horse Butte, delivered by the DOL almost to the same lands they had peacefully grazed upon the day before. Six were loaded into cramped trailers and driven to the slaughterhouse, to be held in fear until the moment of their horribly unjust fate. We hold those six brave teachers in our hearts, and will work to defend those remaining wild and free buffalo.



For the buffalo,

Jonas Ehudin & Ted Fellman

Media Coordinators

Buffalo Field Campaign



----------------------------------



* Colorado Middle School Witnesses Bison Capture



West Yellowstone, MT -- Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) agents hazed and captured 9 bull buffalo grazing on national forests along the Madison River while a middle school class watched nearby. The students from Sojourner Middle School in Boulder, CO have been researching the Yellowstone bison slaughter in preparation for their weeklong field trip to the Buffalo Field Campaign. Rangers from Yellowstone National Park, the US Forest Service, and game wardens with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks assisted the DOL agents in pushing the bulls over 9 miles to Duck Creek where they were captured.



Most of the students saw their first wild buffalo today. "It was nice to see their last free moments in the wild," said Analee Perez, an 8th grader from the Sojourner School, "but they were not treated like wild animals, but like livestock."



"I felt sad because the DOL ran the buffalo for ten miles alongside the highway. The buffalo were not females, they were males, and the males are not able to transmit brucellosis," remarked Noe Molina, another Sojourner student in the 7th grade, "For me, it was difficult to watch the buffaloŠ the leaders of the group tired, with their tongues hanging out, without energy and scared by the snowmobiles."



The bull bison had been grazing peacefully on national forest land outside of Yellowstone National Park for over a week. Montana justifies its "bison management" activities in response to threats of brucellosis transmission to cattle from wild bison. There are currently no cattle present in the area, and ranchers will not bring cattle onto private ranch land for several months. Bull bison are considered to pose a "low risk" of brucellosis transmission by the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Two of the bulls were already marked, signifying that they have been captured, tested negative for brucellosis exposure, and released previously by the DOL.



At least 11 snowmobiles and 3 law enforcement vehicles were involved in the capture. While Montana faces an enormous budget deficit, the Montana Department of Livestock continues to spend tax dollars every week hazing, capturing and killing wild bison. The DOL has spent nearly $3.5 million since 1996 on bison management operations that have killed 1,827 wild bison.



The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on and document every move made against them.



----------------------------------



* Sojourner School Shares Life Lessons at Buffalo Field Campaign



From Lee Azar, a teacher with Sojourner Middle School:



This trip to the Buffalo Field Campaign has been a really powerful way to start ending our school's short history. As a charter school in the Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, we have been given a lot of autonomy and flexibility in creating and implementing our curriculum. We believe the most meaningful and lasting learning comes from service and through our trips. Our students have studied civil rights in the South, and some of our students are right now looking at community-sustainability and endangered species in Baja, Mexico.



At the Buffalo Field Campaign we have learned about activism and seen democracy in action. How can a civics teacher and textbook in the classroom compete with the lesson taught by the Montana Department of Livestock, the West Yellowstone Sheriff's Department, and the Forest Service on Tuesday? Sojourner students politely and inquisitively asked officials their serious and legitimate questions about the buffalo hazing and capture only to be met by a stonewall of silence, stern faces, and police barricades. Compare that to the Buffalo Field Campaign's nightly meetings, which are based upon consensus and volunteerism, and you have a very personal lesson on democracy that students will carry with them for life.



We have studied biology in preparation for our trip, experienced cold-weather and simple living, learned survival skills, and had physical education class snowshoeing to Houdini's Meadow or going on early morning patrol to Fir Ridge. We studied geography as we learned about where the buffalo choose to roam and where the patrols go and we have been writing and talking and thinking since we arrived.



Unfortunately, Sojourner also has some of the lowest state- administered test scores in Colorado, and our low-income students have been labeled, along with the school, as "unsatisfactory." Our compassionate, resilient, engaged students often struggle with reading, writing and other "basic skills." These factors, as well as an acute lack of funding, have left us little choice but to close our doors at the end of this school year.



Our students, however, will continue to be Sojourners wherever they go and this experience with the Buffalo Field Campaign will contribute to creating empowered and passionate young people who will continue working to create a more just world.



For more information on Sojourner Middle School, call us at 303-494-9210 or email Lee Lazar at lazar@bvsd.k12.co.us



---------------------------------



* Calls and Letters Needed to Oppose Montana Bill to Allow Sport Hunting of Bison



Senate Bill 395, introduced by Montana Senator Gary Perry (R-SD 16) and assigned to the Montana Senate Fish and Game Committee, will open a sport hunting season on bison in the state of Montana under the guise of disease control.



The bill, if passed, will immediately allow the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) to issue special licenses to hunt bison when authorized by the Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL). The bill instructs the MDFWP to adopt rules in cooperation with the MDOL that provide for, among other things, license drawing procedures, notification of license recipients as to when and where they may hunt, possession limits and transportation and exportation requirements. A copy of the text of the bill can be found at:

http://laws.leg.state.mt.us/pls/laws03/LAW0203W$BSRV.ActionQuery?P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SB&P_BILL_NO=395&P_BILL_DFT_NO=&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SBJ_DESCR=&P_SBJT_SBJ_CD=&P_LST_NM1=&P_ENTY_ID_SEQ



More than a decade ago, Montana stopped bison hunting due to enormous public outcry stemming from national media coverage of hunters shooting bison as they left the boundaries of Yellowstone Park. Having no fear of human presence after years of Park protection, the bison did not try to escape their gruesome fate and were gunned down at point blank range. Despite the firing line advantage, many animals suffered terribly prolonged deaths (15 minutes or more) due to hunter ineptitude, shocking the national public and contributing to a negative image of hunters and hunting. Sport hunting animals who have no fear of people can in no way be characterized as "fair chase" and should be condemned by hunters and nonhunters alike. Montana must not repeat the mistakes of the past.



Montana residents should contact your state Senator and Representative IMMEDIATELY and ask that they vote NO on Senate Bill 395. To find out who your legislators are or for contact information, please visit the following link:

http://action.fund.org/directory/



In addition to contacting your own representatives, please send a message to members of the Senate Fish and Game Committee. A list of members can be found at:

http://leg.state.mt.us/content/committees/standing/2003_senate_committees.pdf Currently, the bill is scheduled to be heard in this committee on February 25, 2003.



For those people living outside Montana, please leave a message for all Montana legislators expressing your opposition to this bill by calling 406-444-4800 or by visiting the following website for e-mail addresses for all Montana legislators:

http://leg.state.mt.us/css/sessions/58th/Roster.asp?HouseID=2&SessionID=80



Points you may want to make to legislators:



* Opening up a hunting season on Yellowstone bison will seriously damage the image of Montana, hunters and hunting in the eyes of the general public. These animals are accustomed to human presence. Hunting an animal with no fear of people is unsporting and unethical.



* Hunting bison allegedly for disease control purposes lacks scientific basis. Given that there has never been a documented case of bison transmitting the disease brucellosis to livestock in the wild, there is no justification for hunting bison for disease "management." To claim otherwise, is to mislead the public and to cave in to the unsubstantiated fears of the livestock industry.



* Allowing sport hunters to kill and remove bison will negatively impact numerous species in the Yellowstone ecosystem, including imperiled species such as the grizzly bear, by reducing the potential number of bison carcasses that these animals rely on in order to survive.



* Yellowstone bison are genetically unique. From studies recently conducted, this herd may be the only wild bison in America not tainted with cattle genes. The carnage of the last century when bison were virtually eliminated by market and recreational hunters to subdue and conquer Native American cultures should serve as a reminder that these magnificent animals deserve our protection today both inside and outside park boundaries.



Andrea Lococo

Rocky Mountain Coordinator

The Fund for Animals

P.O. Box 11294

Jackson, WY 83002

Telephone 307) 859-8840

Fax 307) 859-8846

www.fund.org





HR 15, the Resolution to expedite brucellosis eradication reported in last week's update has passed through the House and was sent to the Senate on Monday. No hearing date has been set yet. If you are a Montana resident, please contact your state senator to voice your opposition to this resolution as well.



---------------------------------



**** Bozeman Benefit on March 9th!!



The Buffalo Field Campaign and our supporters invite you to a benefit event to celebrate the wild bison of Yellowstone National Park.



Join us in Bozeman at the Emerson Cultural Center on Sunday, March 9, 2003 from 3 PM until late. We'll have improvisational comedy, children's activities, copious bison footage, great food, an open mic, and live, local music from bands such as Andrew Gromiller & The Organically Grown, Wayne Stevens, Spruce, Joe Man, O.B.1 and The Force, Two Handed People and others (perhaps even a BFC band!)



Learn about the struggle of the Yellowstone bison and our efforts to protect them. We also welcome local environmental and social justice activists to set up tables and share your information. Admission will be free for tablers.



This is an event for the entire family, so bring the gang and we'll see you there.



Entry will be by suggested donation, on a sliding scale basis.



For more information about this event, please call (406) 646-0070 or

e-mail bfc-media@wildrockies.org



And spread the word to those you know in the Bozeman area!





Also, thanks to the great city of Boise, Idaho for hosting an incredible benefit show tonight (details next week) and keep your eyes peeled for info on a BFC Film Festival in Missoula in early April!



----------------------------------



* Last Words



What do the bison mean to you?



"They mean solidarity, they mean peace, they're gentle and nice creatures and they're just innocent."



from Casey Williams, Sojourner student



Buffalo Field Campaign

PO Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758

(406) 646-0070

buffalo@wildrockies.org


--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.




Jim

Update from the field 1/26/03

Buffalo Field Campaign

News from the Field

February 27, 2003




In this issue:



* Update from the Field



* Sport Hunting of Bison Off Target (Legislative Updates)



* Buffalo Exchange Earth Day Benefit for BFC



* Help Keep the Buffalo Volunteers Warm



* Thanks for your Support



* Bozeman Benefit on March 9th



* Last Words



----------------------------------



* Update from the Field



Dear friends and supporters...



It has been a peaceful, yet cold, week for the buffalo. Temperatures have dropped to -30 degrees Fahrenheit several mornings this week. Volunteers along the Madison River have recounted stories of the river freezing over and then cracking and thawing with the mid-day sun - a truly rare event, even in these chilly parts. Perhaps the cold has kept the whole Department of Livestock entourage away for the week, since only a few agents showed up for brief errands and snowmobile rides in the area.



Meanwhile, the buffalo continue to seek winter forage to survive the extreme cold of winter. We have observed some of the tagged buffalo in the field, having survived the harassment of last week: being hazed over 9 miles, captured and confined, put in a headlock for testing, transported to Horse Butte where they were released and hazed another few miles to the end of the peninsula. Even the brucellosis free bison have to endure harassment at the hands of the DOL.



For the buffalo,



Ted Fellman

Media Coordinator

Buffalo Field Campaign



----------------------------------



* Sport Hunting of Bison Off Target (Legislative Updates)



On Tuesday, February 25, the Senate Fish and Game Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 395, Sport hunting of wild buffalo as a management tool. With little debate, Senators passed the bill without amendment, completely ignoring the concerns voiced by both supporters and opponents of the bill.



While it is a good sign that we are looking into new ways of managing Yellowstone buffalo, a hunt is not the appropriate step to take at this time. There are several steps the State must take before a hunt can be considered a viable management option. First, wild buffalo must be designated as wildlife in Montana and management authority be transferred from Montana Department of Livestock (MDoL) to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP). Second, range land within Montana must be created for wild buffalo so that the species can grow to sustainable levels and truly be free-ranging wild animals. Third, Montana must recognize the federal definition of low-risk wild bison. Fourth, agreements must be reached in cooperation with federal agencies whose participation is essential for the success of any changes in the Joint Bison Management Plan (JBMP). When all of these conditions are met, then a hunt can be considered as a tool to manage bison populations in Montana.



Senate Bill 395, Sport hunting of wild buffalo, is packaged as part of a disease control program, consistent with the Joint Bison Management Plan. The stated goals of this plan are to insure free-ranging wild bison and to prevent the spread of brucellosis from bison to domestic cattle. There has never been a documented transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle in the wild. Federal standards consider most wild bison a low-risk for transmission. Montana is not at risk of losing class-free brucellosis status because of infected Yellowstone bison. In fact, last year in Idaho, a documented case of transmission from elk to cattle did not jeopardize Idaho's class-free brucellosis status. This hunting bill does nothing to insure free-ranging wild buffalo or to address Montana's concerns about brucellosis transmission. This is simply a measure to control migrations of buffalo out of Yellowstone National Park by appeasing a minority hunting interest (The Montana Wildlife Federation did not endorse this bill) and to take pressure off of the MDoL for their part in killing Yellowstone bison.



According to SB 395, the MDoL would establish the terms for when, where, and which animal would be hunted. FWP would then issue a permit. There are no provisions in SB395 to insure a "fair-chase" hunt, a condition that all of the hunting interests in support of the bill required for their approval. Concerns were also raised about the need for MDoL's involvement in a hunt. Elk carry and have transmitted brucellosis but are not under MDoL authority.



Additionally, Montana is currently obligated by federal and state law to participate in the Joint Bison Management Plan. The plan that Montana agreed to specifically excludes hunting as a management tool. Initiation of a hunt would be a violation of both state and federal law, forcing the federal agencies to withdraw their participation in the Plan. This action would lead to a lengthy court battle and would cost Montana taxpayers a small fortune. Currently, the State contributes less than $3,000 of the million plus that is spent on bison management. If Montana were to lose federal support, it would also lose federal funding. There would also be public outcry over a bison hunt that could lead to costly tourism boycotts of Montana. Tourism is Montana's second largest and fastest growing industry.



SB 395 will lead Montana down a path that we have traveled before with dire consequences; massive public outcry, costly lawsuits, high costs to taxpayers, and a big black-eye for the State. I urge you all to call your State Senators and Representatives and voice opposition to SB 395.



Joshua Osher

Legal Coordinator

BFC-advocate@wildrockies.org



-- Information on Contacting Montana Legislators



The phone number for the Montana Legislative Information Office is (406) 444-4800. At this number you can receive information related to the session, and leave messages for legislators.



FAX numbers:

House of Representatives (406) 444-1865.

Senate (406) 444-4875.



Session mailing addresses:

Representative _______

MT House of Representatives

PO Box 200400

Helena MT 59620-0400



Senator ________

MT Senate

PO Box 200500

Helena MT 59620-0500



You can send a message to a legislator online. There is a web form as well as links to many legislators' personal email addresses available online at:

http://leg.state.mt.us/css/sessions/58th/default.asp



We will, of course, keep you informed as this bill reaches the floor of the Montana Senate or House of Representatives.



* Also, House Joint Resolution 15, the Resolution asking the federal government to expedite brucellosis elimination in bison will be heard in the Montana Senate Agriculture committee on March 10th in room 422 at 3pm. Any letters, calls, or personal testimonies would help the buffalo.



----------------------------------



* Buffalo Exchange Earth Day Benefit for BFC



Thank you to all BFC supporters for your timely and enthusiastic response to our open call for volunteers to help with this year's Buffalo Exchange Earth Day Benefit! It has been an inspiration to us here in the field, to know our extended BFC family is ready and willing to help in whatever capacity necessary.



The Buffalo Exchange will be hosting an all day, Earth Day, benefit for the BFC at their 28 stores in 11 states on Saturday, April 26, 2003. We have heard from willing volunteers from all but four cities. Please contact me at buffalo@wildrockies.org if you can help out in Dallas, Flagstaff, Las Vegas, or Sacramento. For those of you who have already expressed interest in participating, please bear in mind that it is an all day event and that several cities have more than one store to cover, as outlined below.



Phoenix/Tempe 2 metro area stores; 1 Buffalo Kids store

Bay Area 2 San Francisco stores; 1 Berkley store

Tucson 4 stores

San Diego 2 stores

Portland 2 stores



Other stores include: Seattle, Eugene, Boise, Philadelphia, Denver, Boulder, Albuquerque, Austin, Houston, and Bozeman.



If you have not yet responded but would like to help, don't be shy -- the more the merrier and the more effective this benefit will be. In addition, there are opportunities to help promote the event even if you cannot table on April 26. We could use assistance with posting fliers, getting out petitions, recruiting volunteers to table the event, community outreach before and/or after the event, etc. All Buffalo Exchange store managers will receive a video from the BFC entitled "Why We Exist". All interested volunteers are welcome to use this video and other promotional materials to organize a presentation in your local community and to educate Buffalo Exchange employees as to the perils facing our wild buffalo. To find the Buffalo Exchange location nearest you, go to buffaloexchange.com, go to location, then all stores. To access more information about the event go to buffalo news at the Buffalo Exchange web site -- you will find a link to the BFC there as well.



Thank you, again, for your commitment to our nation's last wild buffalo! Whether in the field or in your local community, any effort to change the current mistreatment of wild bison is important and just! Please contact me with any further questions and/or concerns.



For the Buffalo,



Justine Sanchez

Volunteer Coordinator

buffalo@wildrockies.org



----------------------------------



* Help Keep the Buffalo Volunteers Warm



As the winter progresses, our gear supplies are diminishing. Thank you to everyone who has helped us in the past by sending us gear to keep us warm and mobile in the field. Our gear gets very well used by all of our volunteers, and so it is that we are putting out another call for winter gear.



Here are a few of the things that we need:

… Winter boots. Boots need to be able to withstand extreme cold, like the -30 degree temperatures we have experienced lately.

… Wool pants. Wool pants are the survival gear of choice for our volunteers in the field. Old wool pants can often be found in Army/Navy surplus stores.

… Long underwear bottoms. We can use any polypropelene thermal bottoms. Please no cotton - it gets wet in the field.

… Long ski poles for cross country skiing. Please only send functional poles, i.e. no broken baskets.

… Also, if anyone has a good functioning sewing machine that they are no longer using, we could use it for repairing our gear. Please call or email first so that we don't get more than we can use (just for the sewing machine, that is).



Thank you in advance for any gear donations that will help us stay in the field all winter long.



----------------------------------



* Thanks for your Support



Thanks to Felixa and Jib from Minneapolis for the bulk herbs. Thanks as well to the Sisters of Camelot for donating the bulk food.



----------------------------------



* Bozeman Benefit on March 9th



The Buffalo Field Campaign and our supporters invite you to a benefit event to celebrate the wild bison of Yellowstone National Park.



Join us in Bozeman at the Emerson Cultural Center on Sunday, March 9, 2003 from 3 PM until late. We'll have improvisational comedy, children's activities, copious bison footage, great food, an open mic, and live, local music from bands such as Andrew Gromiller & The Organically Grown, Wayne Stevens, Spruce, Joe Man, O.B.1 and The Force, Two Handed People and others including the Buffalo Field Orchestra.



Learn about the struggle of the Yellowstone bison and our efforts to protect them. We also welcome local environmental and social justice activists to set up tables and share your information. Admission will be free for tablers.



This is an event for the entire family, so bring the gang and we'll see you there.



Entry will be by suggested donation, on a sliding scale basis.



For more information about this event, please call (406) 646-0070 or e-mail bfc-media@wildrockies.org



And spread the word to those you know in the Bozeman area!



----------------------------------



* Last Words



I have stood with the buffalo.

I have felt their spirit

Move through me like the wind.

Their presence I can feel

In the contours of these mountains,

In every tree,

In every bush,

In every willow,

Every track,

In my soul.

I have looked deep into their eyes

And felt their power

Run through me like

The river from which banks they have fed off,

And I too have been nurtured.

And in my hand, I have held their hair

Plucked from the side of a tree.

And I can see that it is no different from mine,

And I know that we are brothers.



I have seen the meaning of non-violent resistance,

In the face of hatred and ignorance,

In the face of oppression

I have been moved to tears

By the beauty of their gentle nature,

Their resilience - their determination.

And I am learning from them the meaning of patience,

Of love and of living the way they know is rightfully theirs,

Even if it means Death -

And I know I am only beginning to understand.



--Román Sanchez, BFC volunteer





Buffalo Field Campaign

PO Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758

(406) 646-0070

buffalo@wildrockies.org

Update from the field 3/4/03


Special Update from Gardiner, Montana

3/4/03





Dear friends and supporters of the buffalo,



For the first time since the 1996-1997 season, Yellowstone National Park has reopened the Stephens Creek buffalo trap, which is inside the Park near the north entrance. Yesterday, agents from the Park and the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) captured over 100 buffalo there, and as I write this they are being driven in several trailers to area slaughterhouses. The trap can hold 125 bison, and after sending approximately 50 bison to slaughter today, the Park rounded up the other 60+ bison in the area. As many as 50 more bison will be driven to their death tomorrow. In a matter of hours, this has become the most disastrous season for the bison in the last five years.



In response to the building tension in the Gardiner area, five BFC volunteers traveled to there on Monday morning. They were present during the capture yesterday and were even allowed to document the activities inside the trap. Marsha Karle, Park spokesperson, granted access to the operation for two members of our film crew. Today, access was denied to all but a Park journalist for the reason of overall safety. We have been assured that a media tour and opportunity to gather more footage will be made available tomorrow.



This is a hard day for us all. We send our thoughts and prayers out to you, our worldwide circle of support, and look forward to the day when we will put a stop to the killing.



For the buffalo,

Jonas Ehudin & Ted Fellman

Media Coordinators





Today's press release:



Yellowstone National Park Sends Over 100 Wild Bison to Slaughter; Over 60 More Buffalo Captured Today



For Immediate Release: March 4, 2003

Gardiner contact: Mike Mease (406) 848-7414

West Yellowstone contacts: Ted Fellman, Jonas Ehudin (406) 646-0070



Gardiner, MT - Yellowstone National Park sent approximately 47 wild bison to slaughter today without testing them for brucellosis. Over 100 buffalo were captured yesterday inside the Park at the Stephens Creek trap near the north entrance. A similar number of captured buffalo will be shipped to slaughter tomorrow. Over 60 buffalo in the area near the trap were hazed and captured today. The Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) assisted with the operations.



Trailers with heavy police escort moved the buffalo through Gardiner this morning on their way to the slaughterhouses. Mike Mease, a Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) coordinator, was on the scene. "The Lamar Valley herd was almost completely wiped out back in 1997 and now these bison are being killed off again inside Yellowstone National Park without even being tested, " said Mease. "There are over 50 native tribes that have requested live bison to be introduced onto their reservations, and yet the state of Montana considers killing to be the only solution."



Since the Winter of 1996-1997 when 1,084 wild bison were killed, the National Park Service (NPS) has taken a back seat to the Department of Livestock as the lead agency for bison management activities in Montana. The DOL has spent over $3 million since 1996 on bison management operations that have killed 1,833 wild bison. The NPS is one of five federal and state agencies bound by the Interagency Bison Management Plan. The plan has a $45 million budget for 15 years. This is the first time since 1997 that wild bison have been captured at the Stephens Creek trap north of Gardiner. This is also the first time since 1997 that the Park Service has been the lead agency in a capture and slaughter operation.



The Yellowstone herd is the only continuously wild herd in the United States. It is descended from just 23 wild bison that survived the mass eradication of the 19th century and is the largest remaining single population of genetically pure bison. "An estimated 60 million wild bison once roamed this continent, and now 4,000 is considered too many?" remarked BFC volunteer Larry Godby.



The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on and document every move made against them.



Video footage is available upon request.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

I will be posting articles on the Yellowstone region on the discussion forum, especially AP stories reported in the Casper Star-Tribune. This paper has a lot of useful stories, especially from the Grand Teton region, but they roll their stories off every few days. I want them up much longer. This discussion forum only rolls off as it gets too large.




Jim

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