| I'm
learning to dread Spring, particularly this month of April.
As I pen these words, the mass migration has begun. And it's
at this time of year that it seems the struggle for wilderness
is no more apparent than at the door steps of our first national
park, Yellowstone. My wintercount has become their death-toll
- the last wild - and I find it more difficult to say, free
roaming - herd of Bison remaining within our borders. And
it should not go unnoticed that this year's toll now rings
at about 90% bulls. This further exemplifies the hypocritical
agenda being played out under the guise of protecting livestock
from disease transmission - a disease whose transmission by
any reasonable measure, could take place only from exposure
to the birthing matter of cows, never minding that any concerns
over potential of transmission of the same disease from Elk
goes largely ignored.
So the genocide continues. And things look to likely get worse.
There's trouble in Yellowstone. According to a recent Montana
Dept. of Livestock report, the Reno meeting of the Western
States Livestock Health Association and U.S. Animal Health
Association Western District included passage of a resolution
directed to the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior and Health
& Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control. The
resolution strongly urges implementation of procedures that
will eliminate Brucella abortus (the bacterium that causes
brucellosis) from Bison and Elk of the Yellowstone ecosystem
- including Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks and
the National Elk Refuge - in the shortest possible time.
To
most casual observers, this seems sensible enough - after
all, anything ending in "osis" can't be good. But at what
price? And in whose interest? The American public should serve
notice, for if some have their way, this could mean the annihilation
of America's last truly wild herd of Bison through either
their continued slaughter or, arguably worse, their domestication.
This, in spite of the fact that there are no documented cases
of brucellosis transmission from wild Bison to cattle in a
natural setting - no insignificant finding, particularly since
cattle and Bison have been sharing the range within Grand
Teton National park for decades. Worrying about the risk of
transmitting brucellosis from wild Bison to cattle would seem
to be a lot like worrying about dying in an auto accident
because your seat belt has trapped you inside a burning vehicle
- available evidence simply does not support the argument
that this scenario is of any meaningful concern. And as the
National Academy of Science report points out, brucellosis
is not merely confined to Bison and Elk but can also infect
wild predators, scavengers and domestic dogs.
So
an operationally acceptable scientific level of risk for the
Yellowstone Bison seems long overdue. Are we to "sanitize"
the entire ecosystem? This notion is particularly ironic since
brucellosis is not native to North American wildlife, but
is believed to have been transmitted from domestic livestock.
And even if 100% eradication were possible (and measurable),
our double standards for risk tolerance would still need to
be addressed - we drive cars don't we? Furthermore, a recent
report from the Texas Animal Health Commission appears to
speak volumes. It seems Texas is now at risk for decertification
from "free" for cattle tuberculosis (TB) eradication. Apparently
Texas livestock brokers routinely import cattle from Mexico,
where it is known that cattle TB is a problem.
To
be sure, the specter of Montana losing it's current brucellosis-free
status is an important financial concern for Montana's vulnerable
ranching community. But it's difficult for most of us to reconcile
this concern when looking again towards the example of Grand
Teton National Park.
Which
is all the more reason to lend our support on this matter
to Montana's ranching community, and insist that the U.S.
Departments of Agriculture and Interior and Montana's Governor,
acknowledge their level of dysfunction to date on this issue
and resolve to address it in an acceptable fashion. The U.S.
taxpayer should stand tall in support of those, who through
no fault of their own, incur financial impact. Do we not recognize
the priority? Have we no empathy?
To plains Indians, continued slaughter of these Bison amounts
to the continued genocide as witnessed during the past 150yrs.
This is akin to the desecration of a church to Christians
or synagogue to Jews - only much worse, since the Bison are
their relatives.
Will
we allow their continued destruction to take place. Have we
no shame? Yellowstone's Bison are a national treasure. They
need our help more than ever.
Dave
Colavito , NY ; dcolavi@catskill.net |
