WEST YELLOWSTONE- Buffalo Nations (BN) announced today that they are opposed to any further harassment of wildlife by the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL).

"We simply are not going to stand by and watch as DOL agents haze these animals to death," said BN spokesperson Dan Brister. Though the DOL insists that they are protecting buffalo, nothing could be further from the truth.

By agitating the buffalo and forcing them to run many miles a day in this weather, hazing can cause death. At this time of year buffalo need to conserve energy as they migrate to traditional wintering grounds where they can access food needed to survive the harsh winter. These hazing operations are having negative impacts on the entire ecosystem.

On December 9, DOL agents on snowmobiles fired cracker-barrel gun rounds and chased approximately 50 buffalo and more than 100 elk from a field in the Duck Creek drainage back into Yellowstone Park. All the animals were forced to run through the snow and jump barbed wire fences. Buffalo Nations volunteers videotaped the incident and documented an elk snaring itself on a fence and landing on its head.

Montana state law prohibits harassment of game animals with motorized vehicles. This also should apply to the Department of Livestock! "To put wildlife in jeopardy is unnecessary at this time because no cattle are in the area," said Scott Frazier, of the BN Advisory Council. "When the Government tampers with ecosystems as well as religious ways of life, it is not in the best interests of the people of the United States."

There are no cows in the area until June 15. The DOL has chased buffalo back into the park at least ten times this season, yet each time the animals just turn around and walk right back to their native winter range. On November 20, DOL agents on snowmobiles chased a group of buffalo more than 8 miles back to the park, only to have them return the next day. Each hazing action futher depletes the buffalo's winter energy reserves.

With the DOL continuously pushing them back into the park, buffalo are forced to cross highways 191 and 287 multiple times. This puts public and buffalo safety at risk. Highway 191 is a major truck route and is busy with tourist and local trafic. Many local residents are complaining about the DOL chasing animals through their neighborhoods with no advance warning.

This jeapordizes public safety and folks are no longer safe in their own back yards. "In the last few days we received an additional two feet of snow, making it harder on the wildlife. Any continued hazing/harassing of these animals will cause high winter wildlife mortality," stated Mike Mease, Buffalo Nations field coordinator. "Theodore Roosevelt established National Forests outside the Park as wildlife buffer zones.

When will we heed the wisdom of our forefathers and treat the wildlife like wildlife, not cows?"

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