For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2013

Contacts:
Dan Brister, Executive Director, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-726-5555: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Summer Nelson, Montana Director, Western Watersheds Project, 406-830-3099; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Petitioner Intervenors Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project Press Statement on Judge E. Wayne Phillips ruling Park County Stockgrowers Association v. Montana

"Buffalo Field Campaign is heartened that migratory bison will have some room to roam their winter range in Gardiner Basin," says Daniel Brister, Buffalo Field Campaign's executive director. "This case underscores how important local support is for migrating bison. Judge Phillips relied on that local support for bison in his ruling today - an important victory for bison wintering in Gardiner Basin."

"In this case, the plaintiffs represented a very vocal minority of livestock interests who tried to force the court to adopt their extreme position and prevent bison from occupying their native habitat in Montana," says Summer Nelson, Montana Director for Western Watersheds Project and one of the attorneys representing Western Watersheds Project and Buffalo Field Campaign who intervened in the Stockgrowers Association lawsuit. "The court saw through their arguments and wild bison finally prevailed over that narrow interest. This is an important ruling in favor of the majority of Montanans, who value native, wild bison."

Download Judge E. Wayne Phillips ruling (PDF, 3MB)