*
Update from the Field
* Help the Buffalo Meet Amy Goodman in NYC this
Fall!
* Summer Tabling Opportunities with BFC in Yellowstone!
* Mother's Day is Fast Approaching - Order Buffalo
Cards Now!
* Is Brucellosis Such a Threat? Get the Facts
* Photo of the Week
* Last Words |
*
Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
The Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) has been
hazing Yellowstone buffalo every day this week using
horses, all-terrain vehicles, high-powered explosives
fired from shotguns, and truly obnoxious cowboy yelling.
As I write, another haze is about to begin.
Hazing wild buffalo - chasing them off of their chosen
ground, which is otherwise known as harassment and
is considered an illegal activity when done to other
wild creatures - causes tremendous stress and anxiety
to the buffalo. It is also a futile act of arrogance
comparable to attempting to stem the ocean tides,
walling off the wind, or herding clouds out of the
sky. Many of the buffalo being hazed are pregnant,
while some have just recently given birth and have
small, delicate buffalo babies by their side. Shameful
that a wild baby's first steps should be taken fleeing
brutal government agents. Certainly these livestock
inspectors would never treat their cattle or horses
in such a manner.
Most of the week the hazing operations have been conducted
by two DOL agents - Cody Peters and Tyler Bond - who
have been busy chasing buffalo mainly off of privately-claimed
land such as Koelzer's, Stinnet's field and the Munns'
Ranch - land immediately adjacent to public land,
in the heart of buffalo migration routes and calving
grounds. The two DOL agents have had a hard time trying
to control the movements of our wild brethren, and
if it wasn't so tragic, this week's events might seem
comical. But, there is nothing funny about it. Day
after day the agents hound the buffalo, and day after
day the buffalo return. When it is time for them to
go elsewhere, the buffalo will do so on their own
without the "help" of impatient cowboys.
BFC and you, the buffalo's faithful friends, have
been putting strong pressure on the agencies to adhere
to the recent Agreement they all signed, which calls
for allowing wild buffalo to be on public land through
May 15. Respecting this agreement is the very least
the agencies can do. It seems that some of our pressure
paid off a bit, since, until today, no other agencies
besides the DOL were involved in hazing operations
since last Wednesday and, for the most part, buffalo
on public lands have been left in peace. Yet this
morning, our field patrols reported that National
Park Service wranglers helped the DOL livestock inspectors
haze buffalo off private land onto public lands, and
hazed some buffalo on public land further onto public
lands. Sound like a circus? It is. At least Montana
Fish, Wildlife & Parks hasn't participated in
this week's operations.
Read the agreement here: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/legal/adaptivemanagement.html
The reduction in hazing buffalo off of public lands
back into Yellowstone has alleviated the pressures
of the massive creatures having to cross the highway
numerous times. The roads have not been empty of buffalo,
but they have quieted down a lot. It makes us wonder
how many buffalo lives could have been saved if the
agents would have listened to our common-sense warnings
over the past ten years. Over the weekend BFC patrols
were helping some large groups of buffalo cross the
road, and wouldn't you know it, Hal Harper, Montana
Governor Brian Schweitzer's chief policy advisor,
arrived on the scene. He stopped by to talk with Mike
while he witnessed first hand the adverse impacts
DOL hazing operations cause along the roadside. He
was thankful for our presence, and we can only guess
that he recognizes the dangers DOL hazing operations
cause to both bison and motorists, as well as the
wonders that buffalo migration invoke in visitors
and residents of West Yellowstone. Perhaps the state
will begin to take some responsibility for the DOL's
actions, and also start the process to creating safe
passage highway projects.
To a wild buffalo, the earth has no borders. Land
ownership is meaningless. Public land or private land
makes no difference. Wild buffalo - and all species
outside of humans - make no distinctions between the
boundaries man has created, "nor do the wind,
or the sun, or the rain." These are the lands
the buffalo have walked for a thousand centuries;
the buffalo are as much a part of the land as the
grass and the air. It is the human who must learn
to accept that the lines in the sand are arbitrary
creations (destructions?); meaningless to these ancient
beings. If we choose to inhabit the spaces where wild
creatures roam, we must accept that we are sharing
their home and learn to live in peace with them. Coexistence
is the key.
Roam Free,
~Stephany
------------------------------
* Help the Buffalo meet Amy Goodman in NYC
this Fall!
Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) board members, Justine
and Román along with their son Japhy Sanchez
have the unique opportunity to have dinner with Amy
Goodman of Democracy Now! Airing on Pacifica Network
radio stations as well as dish satellite TV stations
around the globe, Amy Goodman's news hour is THE source
for true information and honest reporting. The Sanchez
clan will travel to New York City in September and
meet with Amy for dinner and then attend a recording
of the show at the Fire House Studio downtown. The
purpose of their time with Amy is to specifically
talk about the buffalo and put the last wild bison
on her radar. The cost of this opportunity is $1000,
all of which Amy has donated to Boulder, Colorado's
independent radio station, KGNU. KGNU has long been
a strong supporter of the BFC, hosting many interviews
with the Sanchez' to bring the buffalo's story to
Boulder, Denver, Ft. Collins and beyond. So far, we
have raised $700…yet we still need your help!
All donations are tax deductible, made to BFC and
will be used for all aspects of this rare media opportunity.
Please make a donation today and specify that your
offering is made towards taking the buffalo to NYC
and Democracy Now! Send your donations to BFC, P.O.
Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT 59758, or make a secure
online donation https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1807.
Learn more about Democracy Now at http://democracynow.org.
------------------------------
* Summer Tabling Opportunities with BFC in
Yellowstone!
Buffalo Field Campaign has volunteer positions open
for summer tablers in Yellowstone National Park from
June 1 - September 5, 2007. We are looking for 3-4
dedicated people who are well-versed on the buffalo
issue and enjoy talking to others about these beautiful,
magnificent creatures. You can help tell the buffalo's
story and inspire action from the millions who visit
Yellowstone.
If you have been wanting to experience the beauty
of the Yellowstone ecosystem and speak out for the
last wild buffalo, we want to hear from you! Applicants
should be hardworking, knowledgeable, outgoing, friendly
folks who are comfortable camping for up to five days
at a time (in the park - what a dream!) A minimum
commitment of one month is required.
Interested? Contact Stephanie Munce at buffalo@wildrockies.org
or call 406-646-0070.
------------------------------
* Mother's Day is Fast Approaching - Order
Buffalo Cards Now!
Beautiful hand-crafted Mother's Day cards, which honor
mothers both human and wild, are available through
Friday, May 4th. Please honor your mother with a gift
dedicated to wild buffalo!
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/momcelebration2007.html
------------------------------
* Is Brucellosis Such a Threat? Get the Facts
As many of you know, the purported reason the government
and livestock interests claim for harassing, killing
and quarantining wild Yellowstone buffalo that enter
Montana is brucellosis. Brucellosis is a disease introduced
to North American wildlife by European cattle. There
has never been a documented case of wild bison transmitting
brucellosis back to cattle. Cattle have also infected
elk and other wildlife species with brucellosis, yet
they are free to roam as wildlife should be. Why,
then, are buffalo singled out? The reason is centuries
old. BFC maintains that the war against wild bison
is the same as it ever was: in part, the cattle industry
wants to control the land; this is about the grass
and who gets to eat it.
Please read BFC's fact sheet about brucellosis. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/factsheets/brucellosisfacts.html.
Something to think about: there are public herds of
bison in the U.S. that are free of brucellosis, yet
even these bison are confined and prevented from playing
their ecological role. They are fenced in and heavily
managed. Since they are brucellosis-free, why don't
the fences come down? The more one learns, the more
it is quite clear that brucellosis is being politically
manipulated and used as a scare tactic to help the
livestock industry maintain a stronghold on our public
lands.
------------------------------
* Photo of the Week
"The Way it Should be" by Monica RavenHeart
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/photooftheweek.html
A bull buffalo grazes near the top of Horse Butte,
the buffalo's chosen calving grounds. The placid waters
below the bull is the Madison River, flowing west
into Hebgen Lake. Down below the bull, along the bluffs
near the beach, you can see a group of buffalo enjoying
their day. Indeed, this IS the way it should be.
------------------------------
* Last Words
"I forced a smile, remembering Smith's contention
that cows struck him as a poor substitute for buffalo.
That was after my father told us the story of being
treed by a herd of buffalo so vast he at first thought
it the shadow of a storm in which the thunder was
emerging from the earth."
~ Jim Harrison, "The Road Home"
------------------------------
