| HELENA,
MONTANA. Montana residents from Yellowstone's
gateway communities in Gardiner and West Yellowstone,
along with hunters and members of Buffalo Field Campaign,
will meet with Governor Brian Schweitzer at 2:30 this
afternoon to discuss their objections to Montana's bison
hunt and the current management of Yellowstone bison.
The meeting coincides with Montana's unveiling of the
state's new quarter, featuring the skull of a bison.
"The new quarter is appropriate for Montana under
the Schweitzer administration," said Mike Mease
of the wild bison advocacy group Buffalo Field Campaign.
"A bison skull is the perfect symbol for a state
whose policies favor dead bison over live bison. We
were hopeful that Schweitzer would uphold the promises
on which he was elected," Mease added, "but
under his watch nearly every buffalo to enter Montana
has been killed."
Every bison to migrate into Montana across Yellowstone's
western boundary this year has been killed and there
are currently no bison in the area. During the most
recently completed phase of the West Yellowstone bison
hunt, which ran from January 1 to 16, the lack of bison
in Montana resulted in 24 out of 25 hunters being unable
to fill their tags.
Glenn Hockett, President of the Gallatin Wildlife Association,
calls the Schweitzer administration to task: "Using
hunters to systematically kill every bison that enters
Montana is not something I am proud to be a part of.
This bison hunt, not the hunter, is to blame. It is
flawed on so many levels. The IBMP is severely flawed
as well and we can no longer blame the Racicot or Martz
administration or the DOL for that matter. This is now
the Schweitzer administration's responsibility."
The Gallatin Wildlife Association is strongly opposed
to Montana's management of wild bison and, along with
the Buffalo Field Campaign, has asked Montana to provide
year-round habitat for wild bison and to allow the species
to establish a resident population before a hunt is
considered.
Residents living within the bison's migration corridors
are furious at the state's lack of tolerance for bison,
the danger posed to their communities by the current
bison hunt, the disregard for their property rights
and the treatment of bison.
"I've lived here all my life, I'm 51 now, and I
love the fact that we are still able to co-exist with
the wildlife," wrote Horse Butte resident Ann Stovall
in a letter to Schweitzer. "I am really upset with
this whole bison hunt, that it's is being allowed near
a residential neighborhood. It's bad enough that you
are allowing these so-called hunters to hunt these magnificent
animals in the first place, but what is really bad is
that the hunters and the Department of Livestock are
given priority above the safety of the people and animals
that live out here." Ann's letter can be read in
full at:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/bisonhunt0607/anne_stovall_letter.html.
On Tuesday, a hunter illegally shot a bull Yellowstone
bison on private property within Hebgen Lake Estates
where no hunting is allowed. Though Montana Fish, Wildlife
& Parks (FWP) confiscated the bison and recommended
prosecution, a Gallatin County judge refused to look
at the video evidence and ordered the bison meat be
given back to the hunter.
"Do state buffalo hunt regulations stampede our
property rights?" Asked Ed Millspaugh, president
of West Yellowstone's Hebgen Lake Estates, whose home
is less than 125 yards from where the hunter fired upon
the bison.
Hebgen Lake Estates, a buffalo-friendly neighborhood,
issued a notice to the State of Montana in February
2006 outlining their concerns and displeasure with Department
of Livestock activities in their neighborhood. They
received a response from the DOL that essentially said
their concerns would be ignored. Read the covenant at
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/bisonhunt0607/hebgen_lake_estates.html.
Wild bison are native to Montana yet ecologically extinct
everywhere outside of Yellowstone National Park. Montana
provides no year-round habitat for bison. Bison management
currently falls under authority of the Montana Department
of Livestock, who, with state and federal assistance,
manages them as a nuisance animal. Once hunting season
ends, wild bison will be managed by the Department of
Livestock. There is never a time in Montana when wild
bison are not hunted, hazed, shot, or slaughtered.
Buffalo Field Campaign opposes Montana's bison hunt.
BFC maintains that habitat should come before a hunt
and calls on the state to provide year-round habitat
for wild bison and for the restoration of a viable population
on public lands in Montana. BFC has proposed real alternatives
to the current mismanagement of Yellowstone bison that
can be viewed at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/solutions05.html.
American Bison once spanned the continent, numbering
between 30 and 50 million. The Yellowstone bison are
genetically unique and are America's only continuously
wild herd, numbering fewer than 4,000 animals, .01 percent
of the bison's former population.
1,873 bison have been killed since 2000 under the Interagency
Bison Management Plan. Last winter Federal and State
agencies killed or authorized the killing of more than
1,010 bison. So far this winter two bison were captured
and sent to slaughter by Montana Department of Livestock
agents and hunters have killed 30.
Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is the only group working
in the field, every day, to stop the slaughter of the
wild Yellowstone buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo
and their native habitat and advocate for their lasting
protection. For more information, video clips and photos
visit: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
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