~by Mike Mease, BFC Winter Ops, Gardiner, MT

At this moment over 530 of our last wild Buffalo have been captured and at least 250 have been shipped to slaughter.  Thirteen Buffalo have been harvested in Beattie Gulch by tribal members.  These first two hunts have been the talk of the media, activists, and locals. Watching Buffalo get shot is never a good thing to witness.  I have seen some of the most disturbing harvests ever and they will always hurt my heart. 

One thing that most people forget to talk about is what happens to the 530 Buffalo in the Stephen’s Creek trap.  March 4th was the day the capture started this year. In my over 30 years of witnessing, documenting, protesting, showing the world what is happening and fighting for change, I have seen everything.  I have been inside the trap and seen firsthand all the horrible abuses that occur.  

Back in 1997 while doing a media tour, standing on catwalks over the trap and as tears would not stop, I made a promise to the Buffalo; I was going to do my best and everything in my power to stop this and I have been on the frontlines of this issue ever since, to this day.

As it is hard for me to explain what continues to go on behind the fences and cages of the trap, I will let our footage show you the truth.  These videos are hard to watch but they show the truth.  They are many years old and yet they still show the truth.

Shame on Yellowstone
Warning: graphic content

The other day while here in Gardiner documenting the continued capture for slaughter by the Interagency Bison Management Plan (NPS, USFS, MT DOL, MT FWP, APHIS) I was interviewed by a journalist.  He asked me what if the Native Americans stopped participating in this plan?  I replied that another group would just come kill them as before.  He stated but then the Natives would no longer be blamed for the slaughter…they would not get the black eye.  And yet, the slaughter would continue and therein lies the rub. 

The Natives can’t be blamed as they are following the State of Montana’s tax payer funded zero tolerance plan to never allow wild Buffalo in the state. Tribes were first brought in to take the blood off of the IBMP’s hands with transport to slaughter.  Then quarantine.  Now, the harvest/hunt which is a treaty protected right and one the tribes enacted to gain some leverage in this disaster of a “management” plan.  And all anyone wants to talk about is the hunt…not the 530 wild Buffalo languishing RIGHT NOW in the cruel trap nor the over 250 sent to slaughter by THE PLAN. 

If we don’t shut down the plan, the killing will never stop.  It is funny to me that the tribes and tribal members are now being blamed for the slaughter by some locals, activists and media when this is all being dictated by the colonial ancestors of the first wave of slaughterers - when the conquerors of this continent killed what was estimated to be 30 to 60 million Buffalo down to 23 individual animals.  The same forces are now limiting our last-of-their-kind Buffalo to 3000 and restraining them to their bison reservation known as Yellowstone National Park.  Buffalo get killed for leaving the park.  Or Buffalo will be sent to quarantine (as per the IBMP) and eventual release on tribal lands.  And who can we thank for that one way out of Yellowstone alive?  Indigenous People. 

When folks want to blame the Native People, I think we need to understand their plight.  Too many reservations are similar to Developing Nations within the United States.  The Plains Tribes have a relationship with the Buffalo that is thousands of years old.  One that our culture cannot or will not try to understand.  The Buffalo are in native prayers and in their songs.  Their dances reflect Buffalo behavior. Parts of the Buffalo are in the regalia they wear for ceremonies and other sacred functions.  

The agreements with the Buffalo and the people are ancient and held in the high-test reverence with honor to the Buffalo.  Think of the most sacred items at the center of a Christian or Catholic altar, for many Indigenous Nations the Buffalo is at the center. The relationship between these Original People and the Buffalo is millennia old.  

What Buffalo Field Campaign has woven into our work, from our inception and to this day, is Tribal Co-Stewardship.  The tribes have no decision making power on the current plan and would never “manage” the Buffalo in this way if they did.  The sovereign-to-sovereign treaties between Tribal Nations and the federal government continue to go unrecognized and states have no say in these treaties.  

If we advocate for Native leaders to be the change, they will manage for abundance and for bringing wild Buffalo back to all of their native home.  Or we can let the current plan continue on as it has for the past 30 years and manage for the lowest number possible, only to cross our fingers and hope that extinction will not occur.  I hope history can help you all make the right choice.  It’s time for Indigenous Wisdom and Tribal Co-Stewardship.

For the Buffalo,

Mike

Welcome to Yellowstone National Park
Warning: graphic content

The American Buffalo (Bison bison) play a crucial role in shaping ecosystems. From the landscapes to biodiversity, their impact is larger than it may seem. Acting as a keystone species, bison contribute by creating habitats for various species, spreading plant seeds, and allowing other animals to thrive in challenging conditions.

As herd animals, Buffalo migrate in response to seasonal changes in food and weather. In doing so, their grazing and dung helps to disperse seeds and naturally fertilize soil, promoting new plant growth. Their movement also prevents overgrazing to allow grasslands regrowth and recovery time between feeding periods. By maintaining healthy vegetation, herbivores, pollinators, and predators are supported as they depend on these ecosystems. Migration paths, both physical and ecological, increase biodiversity. As new plants take root, they attract diverse insect and animal species, balancing the ecosystem sustainability and diversifying the landscape. Additionally, the trails left behind can increase biodiversity and the water quality of waterways, flatten uneven terrain for grasslands, and create new habitats for various species. For example, Buffalo wallowing behavior forms seasonal pools that benefit various species, leading to increasing ecosystem health.

However, human-made obstacles like fences and roads disrupt traditional migration routes. Crossing major roads presents challenges that can force Bison to change or even abandon migration patterns altogether. This can limit access to necessary resources and reduce genetic diversity. The implementation of wildlife crossings and adjusting speed limits can help mitigate these impacts.

Buffalo have played a significant role in shaping the environment for centuries. Protecting these sacred animals ensures the continuation of their vital role in maintaining healthy and thriving ecosystems for future generations. By recognizing how interconnected Buffalo and their habitats are, further steps can be taken to preserve not only a species, but an entire ecological balance; One that has sustained North America’s grasslands for ages.

Field Notes from West Yellowstone

During our daily field patrols we have been tracking family groups predominantly led by matriarchal female bison. Pregnant and showing, they bring their groups of yearlings and 2-3 year old young out of the frozen high country of Yellowstone’s west gate onto the Madison River corridor.  When the snow begins to pack under herd determination, it’s the seasoned lead Buffalo Matriarchs that know exactly how to minimize risk ahead as they are leading their families to starve and await the cold teeth of a predator or an annual, dangerous walk to the calving grounds, made dangerous through the Buffalo management plan where the only freedom is the hard won year-round habitat on the Horse Butte Peninsula, the only year-round habitat they enjoy in the State of Montana. It’s in these paths that we find the urban interface between humans; with USFS multi-use roads, highways with the giant semi-trucks that pass without care, and with the tribal members who come to harvest/hunt and who pray to receive them.

Conditions Continue to Deteriorate:

Beyond our field work we also keep an eagle's eye with our recognizance operations. As the last of winter fades, the temperatures are now changing from day to day. We have seen big swings that are affecting migration for wild bison allowing for further passage of feeding bison within the rivers corridors, where travel through large wind blown snow deposits remains an insurmountable challenge in this seasonally weakened state. These are the survivors of the winter and they have migrated out to meadows.

“As a naturalist, wilderness guide, a moral and ethical hunter, I see a vast discrepancy in the different Treaty Tribes' connection to the ecosystem, how they affect the herd, how they honor the harvested Buffalo in the Greater Yellowstone, and the way they exercise this rite." 

~Jules V., BFC Field Patrol Coordinator