| Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
|
| Weekly
Update from the Field July 2, 2009 |
 |
| |
|
| Subscribe
to our email list and receive our weekly Update from
the Field |
|
|
| *
Update from the Field
* Continuing to Honor and Remember our Friend Frog
* BFC Volunteer Cabin Needs 2 On-Demand Hot Water Heaters
* Mark Your Calendars: Wood Cut Week, Sept. 14-20
* Last Words
* Kill Tally
|
*
Update from the Field
Baby buffalo stretches after a nap. BFC file photo.
In spite of the dangerously low population count of America's
last wild bison population, and the fact that wild bison
have no year-round habitat in Montana, the state is once
again going ahead with another
canned hunt. Yellowstone National Park estimates the
population at approximately 3,000 individuals, however
BFC believes that this figure is inflated. In either case,
this low population number is alarming because prior to
European encroachment, the American buffalo represented
the largest concentration of land mammal on the North
American continent, existing in the tens of millions.
Now a little green dot on the map is all they have left,
and even here they aren't safe from harm. But, the "hunt"
will proceed because apparently Montana feels the only
good bison is a dead bison. Montana Fish, Wildlife &
Parks will allow 144 bison to be killed by hunters at
Yellowstone's border. At least twice as many bison may
be taken, totaling possibly more than 288, if Native American
tribes, hunting under treaty right, decide to conduct
their own hunts.
BFC protests Montana's bison hunt. BFC file photo.
Unless hunters awaken to the unfairness of this hunt and
refuse to participate while simultaneously advocating
for year-round bison habitat, the hunt, scheduled to last
from November 15, 2009 to February 15, 2010, could wipe
out a significant portion of the already low population.
State
and federal agencies are again looking for a home for
44 of the buffalo that have been subjected to the
Quarantine Feasibility Study. Since some of these buffalo
were pregnant, the numbers are likely a little bit higher
now. The Northern Arapaho were planning to bring the bison
to the Wind River Reservation, but at the last minute
the tribe surprisingly rejected their arrival due to unwarranted
fears of brucellosis transmission. We can only suspect
that livestock interests pressured the tribe into rejecting
these bison. The buffalo are still in the quarantine facility
and if there is no interest shown by a qualified group
or interested tribe, rather than finally being released
from their prison, they will be sent to slaughter.
As you gather with friends and family this holiday weekend
to celebrate Independence Day, please remember the buffalo
and their continued struggle for independence. The day
when buffalo again roam free will be a day worthy of celebration!
~Buffalo Field Campaign
------------------------------
* Continuing to Honor and Remember our Friend
Frog
Nearly 100 friends and family from across the country
gathered in Montana to honor and remember Brian "Frog"
Gharst. The gatherings were powerful testimonies to the
way Frog touched many lives, supported his friends and
community, and deeply loved his family. His mom and his
sister Michelle joined his friends in Missoula, along
with his brother-in-law and young niece. It was a mix
of intense sorrow for the loss, and gratitude at being
with so many other beloved friends, many of them also
past BFC volunteers and wild buffalo advocates.
During a dinner and a memorial ceremony the following
day, people shared all kinds of stories about Frog's life.
We remembered all the wonderful things he created (rickshaws,
bicycle trailers, painting easels, custom bike racks,
a cargo tricycle), we remembered the way he inspired community
through graceful acceptance and by cooking up huge feasts
to share, and we remembered the actions he took to protect
others and the planet (defending an unknown child from
an abusive parent, putting himself in the way of the DOL
access route to the Horse Butte capture facility, helping
convert the Seeds of Peace bus to run on used vegetable
oil). Each person then took some ashes to spread by Rattlesnake
creek, where Brian loved to swim.
A smaller group of friends, along with Frog's mom, traveled
to Horse Butte to further honor Brian. Each carried some
of his ashes, and spread them there where the buffalo
long to roam free.
We all continue to grieve, and to find ways to live our
own lives to carry on the intense dedication and love
Frog offered the world. You can read more about Frog's
life and activism in a collective piece in a forthcoming
EarthFirst! journal.
------------------------------
* BFC Volunteer Cabin Needs 2 On-Demand Hot Water
Heaters
The BFC main cabin, which houses our volunteers, could
use two on- demand hot water heaters in order to save
energy and space. These energy efficient water heaters
could shave 25% off our gas bill each month. Also they
will allow us room to make another bathroom, so our volunteers
don't have to form a waiting line to use our current one
bathroom.
If you can help, please make a secure
online donation and specify that it is for the water
heaters, or send a check or money order (no cash please)
to BFC-Maintenance, P.O. Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT
59758.
If you have questions or would like more detail, please
contact BFC Maintenance Coordinator Chip by phone at 406-646-0070
or by email.
Thank you!!
------------------------------
* Mark Your Calendars: Wood Cut Week, Sept. 14-20
Join Buffalo Field Campaign in beautiful West Yellowstone
the week of September 14-20, and help gather, stack and
cut the wood that will keep volunteers warm and alive
this coming field season. Room and board will be provided.
Please contact Mike at mease@wildrockies.org
or 406-646-0070 if you are interested. Please let your
friends know - the more the merrier! Chain saws are welcome!
------------------------------
* Last Words
"Cattle passed the brucella virus to wild bison
more than a century ago. While these same bison mix freely
with cattle in Wyoming without consequence, Montana refuses
even to accord bison the status of "wildlife"
unless it is for the purpose of allowing them to be shot
at close range by hunters. Now that brucellosis is endemic
to Montana's wildlife, what is the point of preventing
bison from roaming freely with elk in our wildlife refuges
and on our public wildlands? ...Here's a simple win-win
solution that reflects real Montana values: Make livestock
owners responsible for livestock disease control, and
manage public wildlands for native wildlife.... "
Excerpt from a strong Op-Ed by BFC Board member and Montana
director of Western Watersheds Project Tom Woodbury. The
Op-Ed was published in the Missoulian newspaper this week.
Read
the full piece.
------------------------------
* Kill Tally
AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED
from the last wild population in the U.S.
2008-2009 Total: 22
2008-2009 Slaughter: 3
2008-2009 Hunt: 1
2008-2009 Quarantine: 0
2008-2009 Shot by Agents: 2
2008-2009 Highway Mortality: 16
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
Total Since 2000: 3,702*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts,
highway mortalities |
Top
of Page
Subscribe
yourself or your friends to BFC's weekly Email Updates
from the Field
Unsubscribe
from this list and stop receiving these updates
|
|
|
Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the
U.S.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
