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Yellowstone, MT - A Yellowstone National Park
Ranger entered a bald eagle closure area on Horse Butte
while hazing wild buffalo this morning. Despite clear
markings that the area is closed to all human activity
to protect bald eagle nesting sites, the ranger pursued
wild buffalo across the boundary. Buffalo Field Campaign
(BFC) volunteers caught the incident on video and will
be making a formal complaint to the US Forest Service.
A representative of the Forest Service who was present
during the haze confirmed the incident.
"Once again, the people entrusted with protecting
our native wildlife have proven themselves incapable
of fulfilling their duties while in the service of livestock
interests," noted Ted Fellman of the BFC. "Our
government is wasting tax dollars to harass native buffalo
on public lands during their calving season and disturb
bald eagles in the process."
The bald eagle closure area is within 100 feet of the
Horse Butte buffalo trap. The DOL and cooperating agencies
have spent more than ten thousand dollars on construction
and maintenance of the Horse Butte trap and bald eagle
monitoring required under the Special Use Permit authorizing
the trap's presence on the Gallatin National Forest.
The trap is located on the Gallatin National Forest
in an area that provides crucial habitat for the Yellowstone
buffalo and myriad other species.
The Buffalo Field Campaign offered to dismantle the
Horse Butte buffalo trap in separate letters sent to
the Montana Department of Livestock and the Gallatin
National Forest earlier this week. The offer was made
in response to a statement made by the DOL on Friday
April 9, in which the agency said it has no plans to
capture buffalo at Horse Butte for the remainder of
the season. There has been no response to the offer.
The supposed reason for the hazing and slaughter of
Yellowstone buffalo is the fear that buffalo will transmit
brucellosis to domestic cattle. There has never been
a documented case of wild buffalo transmitting the disease
to livestock. Since the Horse Butte grazing allotment
was closed in 2002, there have been no cattle grazing
on National Forest lands on the Butte, making any transmission
of brucellosis impossible.
In the past ten years the Montana Department of Livestock
and National Park Service have slaughtered 2,786 buffalo
in and around Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone
buffalo slaughter is slated to cost taxpayers nearly
$3 million a year until 2015.
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.
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