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Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
Well, as they say, "no news is good news."
We are happy to report that this week has been a quiet
one. The handful of bull buffalo who are roaming
their native land outside Yellowstone's boundary have
continued to avoid the DOL like the plague, and, consequently,
are living in relative peace. More importantly,
when they are not harassed by livestock inspectors and
government agents, the buffalo are able to access lower-elevation
food sources and maintain the critical energy reserves
that enable them to survive this extremely harsh winter
climate.
The BFC headquarters is coming alive with activity!
Wood gathering has neared completion, kitchen stores
are filling up, tipis are being erected, and our living
room is beginning to teem with volunteer life!
Old and new buffalo defenders are arriving in preparation
for a very intense field season. Patrols are busy
monitoring the buffalo's migration, orienting new volunteers,
keeping our headquarters in order and preparing for
the coming months. Both the wild buffalo and BFC
volunteers have another tough road ahead; in less than
two weeks - November 15 - Montana's canned bison hunt
will begin. But, thanks to our volunteers and
each and every one of you who lends your generous support,
we are able to be here, bearing witness for the buffalo,
telling their story and advocating for their lasting
protection.
Please continue to voice your opposition to the maltreatment
of the Yellowstone herd and your support for the wild
buffalo's right to enter Montana and live here unmolested.
Keep the pressure on Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
and Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne
Lewis (contact info below). As co-author of the
Endangered Species Act, Brock Evans, says, it's going
to take "endless pressure, endlessly applied."
With the Buffalo,
~BFC
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
State Capitol, Helena, MT 59620-0801
Phone: 1-406-444-3111 / Fax: 1-406-444 5529 / Email:
BrianSchweitzer@mt.gov
Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis
PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
Phone: (307) 344-2002 / Email: yell_superintendent@nps.gov
OR suzanne_lewis@nps.gov
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* A Report from "The Ecological Recovery
of the North American Bison" Conference
Buffalo Field Campaign board member Justine Sanchez
attended the recent conference in Denver and wrote the
following account of her experience:
I stood outside my home in the high Rocky Mountains
in the crisp, cool morning air. It was 5:30 am,
dark, with stars sparkling in the sky. I lit some
fragrant sage...a gift given to me and my family from
Lakota Elders who visited the buffalo camp last spring.
Held in a large abalone shell the sage smoke lifted
my heavy heart and thoughts into the cold morning air.
I was on my way to Denver for a conference on the Ecological
Recovery of the North American Bison, hosted by the
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). As
the sage continued to burn, so did many of my still
unanswered questions regarding, in particular, the Yellowstone
bison. I asked for nothing in my offering of sage...I
just prayed...for the buffalo...
Click Here To Read Justine's Full Story
or paste this URL into your browser:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/artthoughts/justine_sanchez.html
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* Last Words
"Like Thoreau...I sometimes feel regret and wonder
at what is missing from my seasonal observations.
The grasses and forbs I watch year by year seem oddly
purposeless. Life does not exist for itself alone.
For 10,000 years and longer these have flowered and
set seed and competed with one another for light and
space to provide for the greatest biomass of a single
mammal species in North American history. Now
the grasses on my little piece of the plains grow rank
and heavy, annually preparing themselves for an event
that no longer takes place."
Dan Flores, 1990
From "Caprock Canyonlands: Journeys into the Heart
of the Southern Plains"
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