Who:
Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers
Buffalo Field Campaign and The Ecology Center Inc.
vs.
Marc Bridges, Executive Officer of Montana Dept. of Livestock
Dale Bosworth, Chief of U.S. Forest Service
Ann Venneman, Secretary of U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior
Fran Mainella, Director of National Park Service
What:
The environmental groups 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 Yellowstone's wild
bison herd on public lands.
When:
10AM, Tuesday, January 7, 2003
Where:
U.S. District Court, Paul G. Hatfield Courthouse, Helena,
MT
before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell
901 Front Street, Courtroom II, 3rd floor
Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers
Buffalo Field Campaign and The Ecology Center Inc.
v.
Montana Dept. of Livestock, et al
Case Number: CV 01-27-H-CCL
COUNT ONE - ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
* Defendants violated the Endangered Species Act by failing
to protect threatened Bald Eagles and their habitat in
Yellowstone.
* Defendants failed to adequately analyze the cumulative
effects of hazing, capturing and slaughtering Yellowstone
bison in occupied bald eagle territories.
* Defendants failed to establish an annual environmental
baseline for bald eagle nesting and habitat use on Horse
Butte Peninsula.
* Defendants failed to adhere to the non-discretionary
terms of the Incidental Take Statement issued by the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service and failed to analyze the
effects of the use of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft
on threatened, endangered and sensitive species and their
habitats.
* Defendants have consistently and systematically violated
the terms of the Special Use Permit for the Horse Butte
Bison Capture facility, and changed the terms of Annual
Operation Plans in violation of federal law.
* Defendants have consistently and systematically used
helicopters to haze bison in areas where they are specifically
prohibited.
* Defendants have attempted to circumvent the helicopter
hazing proscriptions by redefining the "no-fly"
zone for helicopters in the 2000-2001 and subsequent Annual
Operation Plans.
* Defendants have failed to consult regarding the effects
of the project on the Canada Lynx, listed as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act in 2000.
COUNT TWO - NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
* The Federal Defendants failed to take the requisite
hard look at impacts on threatened species as required
by the National Environmental Policy Act.
* The environmental analysis is fundamentally flawed because
it fails to address all of the impacts associated with
the operation of the Horse Butte Bison Capture facility,
including the direct and cumulative impacts of this project
authorized for ten years.
* The use of helicopters or other aircraft for hazing
bison was never addressed in the environmental analysis
and the current extent and use of snowmobiles in bald
eagle closure areas was not adequately analyzed. Further,
there has been no analysis for Canada Lynx pursuant to
the Endangered Species Act.
COUNT THREE - MIGRATORY BIRD TREATY ACT
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the "taking"
of migratory birds, including the Trumpeter Swan.
* Defendants actions, particularly the use of helicopters
in sensitive wildlife habitat, have directly and negatively
impacted trumpeter swans and their habitat and resulted
in the 'take" of trumpeter swans. (The Greater Yellowstone
Tri-State trumpeter swan population was petitioned for
listing under the Endangered Species Act by the Fund for
Animals and the Biodiversity Legal Foundation in August
2000).
COUNT FOUR - ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT
* In addition to, and in conjunction with, the statutory
violations of the Endangered Species Act, the actions
of the Montana Dept. of Livestock, U.S. Forest Service,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service
are arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion and,
therefore, violate the Administrative Procedures Act.
* Despite the Defendants' statements to Judge Charles
C. Lovell (May 15 2000 order) that they had no intentions
for future helicopter hazing on Horse Butte Peninsula,
the Defendants have systematically, consistently, and
intentionally hazed bison with helicopters on Horse Butte
Peninsula and in bald eagle closure areas.
* The Montana Dept. of Livestock's Annual Operation Plan
approved by the Gallatin National Forest on November 27,
2000 clearly contemplates helicopter hazing. Furthermore,
the plan allows helicopter hazing on Horse Butte Peninsula
where it is prohibited by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service's Biological Opinion and where the Defendants
represented to the Court that they would not haze in the
future.
COUNT FIVE - SPECIAL USE PERMIT VIOLATIONS
The Gallatin National Forest issued a ten-year Special
Use Permit to the Montana Dept. of Livestock to construct
and operate the Horse Butte Bison Capture facility and
conduct associated bison hazing activities. The Special
Use Permit was issued by the Gallatin National Forest
on the condition that the nondiscretionary terms of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Biological Opinion are
strictly adhered to.
* The Defendants have continuously, systematically, and
willfully violated the terms and conditions of the Horse
Butte Bison Capture facility Special Use Permit.
COUNT SIX - NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT ACT VIOLATIONS
The Gallatin National Forest Plan requires the management
of threatened, endangered and sensitive species to provide
habitat sufficient for recovering populations. The National
Forest Management Act provides for the implementation
of Forest Plans.
* Bald Eagle management guidelines for the Gallatin National
Forest have been bypassed through illegal bison hazing
activities, in violation of the National Forest Management
Act.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers; Buffalo Field Campaign; and
The Ecology Center Inc. respectfully requests that this
Court:
* Void the Montana Dept. of Livestock's Special Use Permit
to construct and operate the Horse Butte Bison Capture
facility.
* Issue an injunction prohibiting operation of the Horse
Butte Bison Capture Facility and all hazing of bison on
Horse Butte Peninsula.
As non-preferred alternatives:
* Require that activities be limited to those analyzed
in the Horse Butte Bison Capture facility Environmental
Analysis and other NEPA and ESA analysis documents. Such
activities do not include helicopter use, and require
the Defendants to strictly adhere to all terms and conditions
set forth in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Biological
Opinion.
* Prohibit helicopter hazing of bison on Horse Butte Peninsula
and use of aircraft over open waters of the Madison River,
the Madison Arm of Hebgen Lake, and Hebgen Lake.
* Require the Federal agencies to conduct the appropriate
levels of analysis required by the Endangered Species
Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
* Issue such other relief as the Court deems just and
proper.U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Biological Opinion
and Incidental Take Statement
for Horse Butte Bison Capture Facility, December 18, 1998
File: M.19 Gallatin National Forest (Horse Butte Bald
Eagle Nest)
Biological Opinion -- addresses the terms and conditions
permitting the annual operation of the Horse Butte Bison
Capture facility in occupied bald eagle territories from
February 1 through April 30, and bison hazing activities
from February 1 through August 15.
Bison Hazing Requirements -- conditions that apply
to all three active bald eagle nest sites on Horse Butte.
Includes time, place and manner restrictions on hazing
bison and a prohibition on helicopter activities within
bald eagle zones and on Horse Butte Peninsula. "Helicopter
activities will not be permitted in the Horse Butte area."
(B.O. page 10)
Reasonable and Prudent Measures -- legal measures
designed to minimize take of threatened species includes
minimizing human-caused disturbances to Horse Butte, Ridge
and Narrows bald eagle nest sites and to foraging bald
eagles along the Madison Arm of Hebgen Lake and the Madison
River.
Incidental Take -- Service anticipates that the incidental
take of bald eagles will be limited to the Horse Butte
bald eagle nest. The Service allows the Montana Dept.
of Livestock to annually take one clutch, one brood, or
two adult eagles from the Horse Butte bald eagle nest.
Horse Butte area -- contains approximately 15 square
miles (9,600 acres) of private and public lands (Gallatin
National Forest). Horse Butte lies north of the Madison
Arm of Hebgen Lake and the Madison River, east of Hebgen
Lake, south of the Grayling Arm of Hebgen Lake and Cougar
Creek, and west of Yellowstone National Park. Status
of Horse Butte Bald Eagle Nests
Compiled from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service records
1998 - Horse Butte failed to produce young.
Ridge fledged one chick.
Narrows failed to produce young.
1999 - Horse Butte (hatched two) fledged one chick.
Ridge failed to produce young.
Narrows fledged two chicks.
2000 - Horse Butte failed to produce young.
Ridge failed to produce young.
Narrows fledged two chicks.
2001
- Horse Butte failed to produce young.
Ridge fledged one chick.
Narrows fledged two chicks.
2002 - Horse Butte nest undetermined.
Ridge fledged one chick.
Narrows fledged two chicks.Yellowstone
Bison
Kills
(2,264 shot in the field or shipped to slaughter)
1993-1994 5
1994-1995 427
1995-1996 433
1996-1997 1,084
1997-1998 11
1998-1999 92
1999-2000 0
2000-2001 6
2001-2002 202
2002-2003 4
Montana
Dept. of Livestock 'Bison Management Budgets'
(Fiscal Year)
1996 $123,338
1997 $245,810
1998 $173,032
1999 $329,952
2000 $558,574
2001 $681,856
2002 $1,368,025
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