|
Dear
Buffalo Friends,
The National Park System Advisory Board (the Board),
the body that advises the Director of the National Park
Service and the Secretary of the Interior on matters
relating to the National Park Service, the National
Park System, and programs administered by the National
Park Service, has scheduled a meeting in Jacksonville,
FL for this Wednesday, March 22, 2006.
According to the March 6 Federal Register announcing
the Jacksonville meeting, NPS Director Fran Mainella
will attend the meeting next week to address the board.
The board meetings are open to the public on a first-come-first-serve
basis and minutes from the board meeting are produced
and available to the public about 12 weeks after the
meeting. In addition, anyone can submit a written statement
to the board regarding any national park system issue.
We urge each of you to contact the the Board liaison
and demand that the NPS refrain from harming and killing
America's last wild buffalo, and take all necessary
and available measures to ensure their lasting protection.
A sample letter is provided below.
You might also mention that Yellowstone National Park
has been completely unresponsive to requests from the
American people demanding the halt of bison slaughter
and harassment, and as a public agency, this behavior
is not only unacceptable but unconstitutional as well.
Below is a breakdown of the aggressive and lethal actions
Yellowstone National Park has taken against America's
last wild bison:
Yellowstone National Park - Bison Slaughter & Removals:
940 Total
1 Shot
849 slaughtered
3 died in capture facility
87 calves sent to quarantine
In addition, Montana's Department of Livestock (DOL)
has, so far, killed 78 wild Yellowstone buffalo, bringing
the total death and removal by state and federal management
activities to an astounding and unacceptable 1,018 buffalo.
TAKE ACTION FOR THE WILD YELLOWSTONE BUFFALO!
Please use the sample letter below for guidance, and
in your own words, ask the Board to address this critical
issue and advise the NPS to protect, not harm or slaughter,
America's last wild bison. Address your emails to Loran
Fraser, Chief, Office of Policy NPS and NPS liason to
the advisory board. Email: loran_fraser@nps.gov
*SAMPLE LETTER (please personalize
for effectiveness!)
Dear Ms. Fraser & NPS Advisory Board:
I am writing to express my outrage over the cruel mismanagement
of Yellowstone's wild bison by the National Park Service
(NPS). In a matter of only a few short weeks this winter,
the NPS has removed 940 bison from Yellowstone National
Park - nearly one-fifth of all bison -- sending 849
to slaughter, shooting 1, killing 3 in the capture facility,
and relegating 87 to confinement for a ill-conceived
experiment which will result in at least half being
killed. The NPS decision to send captured bison to slaughter
without testing for exposure to Brucella abortus violated
its own management plan that requires such testing until
the NPS conducts a late winter/early spring bison count
- a count that was just recently completed. To date,
with several months left before the killing is likely
to stop, a total of 1018 bison have been killed or removed
by the NPS and its partner agencies in their implementation
of the Interagency Bison Management Plan. There has
never been a documented case of wild bison transmitting
brucellosis to cattle, yet bison are being persecuted
and sent to their deaths regardless of this fact.
Today, Yellowstone has less than 3,500 wild, free roaming
bison. The bison of the Yellowstone region are the last
wild, genetically pure, unfenced bison left in the United
States. They are the only bison to have continuously
occupied their native range and they are the last bison
to follow their natural instinct to migrate. Like other
wild ungulates, the region's harsh winters forces necessary
migration into lower elevation lands where available
forage is found. Yet, unlike other wild ungulates, wild
bison are prevented from leaving the confines of Yellowstone
National Park and face a zero-tolerance policy when
they enter Montana and consequently it's killing fields.
The slaughter, harassment and quarantine of America's
last wild bison must cease! Cattle interests should
not take precedence over the protection of the country's
only wild bison herd. I demand that the NPS take measures
to work with state, federal and tribal governments,
as well as willing private landowners, to safeguard
critical winter and spring habitat for wild bison. The
NPS must adhere to the wishes of the American people,
especially First Nations, in regards to the management
and protection of this unique herd.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
MAILING ADDRESS
*THANK YOU for taking action to protect America's last
wild, free roaming herd of buffalo!
Top
of Page
|
