Awaiting the Next Generation of Buffalo

While BFC representatives attended the government’s review of their mis-management plan in Bozeman, Montana, our patrols remained vigilant in the field awaiting the green up of grasses that provide the nourishment for a healthy buffalo calving season.

After a long winter, expectant buffalo mothers are finding refuge on private lands. Thanks to an order issued years ago by then Governor Steve Bullock, Department of Livestock agents can no longer trespass on private lands to harass buffalo.  

Giving birth to the next generation of buffalo is a blessing but it is not without risk.

Buffalo must navigate the patchwork of human drawn property lines and boundary zones amidst the logging of their habitat and the passing of vehicles on highways cutting across their migratory path.

Neither the devastation of logging or pressures of human hunters or government agents or the presence of grizzly bears or wolves can stop the buffalo’s return to their calving grounds.

With our Road Sign program in full swing, BFC patrols continue to calm traffic and alert travelers to buffalo crossing highways in search of green grass on their calving grounds in Hebgen Basin.

With the cessation of Yellowstone National Park’s trapping of buffalo at Stephens Creek, two buffalo migrating onto adjacent National Forest habitat were taken by hunters this past week outside Gardiner, Montana. So far this season, the Park has captured forty-two buffalo, ten were quarantined, with the remainder sent to slaughter. Twelve buffalo were taken by hunters.

The plight of these beloved inhabitants and gentle giants of the Yellowstone ecosystem should concern the nation. As long as the State of Montana and Yellowstone National Park treats the buffalo as a threat to be removed, BFC will remain in the field, fighting in the policy and legal arenas, and broadcasting to the country your attention and help is needed. Together we must live up to the public trust owed for protecting and defending the last migratory wild buffalo in Yellowstone.