News from Buffalo Nations...the only group working 365 days a year IN the Park for the buffalo!

We have been a small group this past summer but have been working hard to prepare for the winter which is almost upon us.  The firewood has been collected; thanks to some dedicated students who travelled from Missoula to make sure we stayed on schedule.   Thank you to all of them.

Apart from the wood we have been working to make the house ready for the new season and to make sure we have a smooth running operation.  There are
many projects going at once and campaign still has many needs.  If you would like to help please let us know.

The buffalo still need people to speak out for them.  The changes are slow and we will be here until they come.

Mike Mease has been busy creating a new documentary, Buffalo Bull, which has had many showings here in Montana and in other states.  It will be available for distribution in the coming weeks.

Job opening: Buffalo Nations is looking for a Jack or Jane of all trades, ie. mechanic, plumber, carpenter. In other words a maintenance person. This job is from November through to April and may involve a small stipend. Please direct inquiries to Mike Mease or Sarah Chalmers at (406)646-0070 and leave a message.

We are prepared to protect the buffalo again this winter, but have alot of work to do and could really use some help (all donations are tax deductible)

Buffalo Nations Wish List:

AND OF COURSE...volunteers to come and work!! (room and meals provided)

Buffalo Nations
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070 phone
406-646-0071 fax
buffalo@wildrockies.org

Montana "Representatives" Burns & Hill fail to support $$$ to aquire CUT
lands adjacent to Yellowstone!

YELLOWSTONE WINTER RANGE AT RISK!  Please Make 2 Calls Today!

(Buffalo supporters- Please call or write 2 of your representatives or senators and ask them to check into the Land and Water Conservation Act  funds and act on this issue. Montana's reps are not acting in behalf of the buffalo, perhaps your rep can help)

        A large parcel of private land along Yellowstone National Park's northern border is up for sale.  Money for its purchase has been allocated from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.  However, conservative congressmen bent on budget-cutting and opposed to federal land aquisition are trying to hold up this important purchase, and it could fall into the hands of unscrupulous developers.

        The land is owned by the Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT).  In the early '80s, the Reagan administration killed public aquisition of the former [Malcomb] Forbes Ranch, including this land near Yellowstone, and CUT bought it.  Now Oregon land broker wheeler-dealer Tim Blixeth (pronounced
Blix-death) is looking to make big bucks by buying this property and developing it.  Blixseth made millions buying, logging and selling off Plum Creek's former inholdings in the Gallatin National Forest.  Now he is developing an exclusive, rich-people-only ski resort on formerly wild Pioneer Mountain, near Big Sky, Montana.

        The land for sale is very important to a broad array of wildlife, from bison to grizzlies, as it is immediately adjacent to Yellowstone's northern border.  The land contains a lot of key winter range for elk, antelope and other critters as well as some of the finest habitat along the Yellowstone  River.  Hundreds of migrating bison have been shot there over the last ten years due to CUT's intolerance for wildlife.

        This land should be aquired via Land and Water Conservation Funds.  Unfortunately, federal purchase of this land is taking a back seat to competion with the Gallatin Land Exchange and purchase of land near Lindberg Lake in the Swan Valley.

Calls are needed to Sen. Conrad Burns and Rep Rick Hill (*or your state reps) to let them know that the members of the public want the CUT lands purchased and set aside as federally protected wildlife habitat.

Burns' office - 202-224-2644
Hill's office - 202-225-3211

For Wild Yellowstone,

Phil

Phil Knight
Native Forest Network
Yellowstone Branch
PO Box 6151
Bozeman, MT 59771-6151
(406) 586-3885
mailto:pknight@wildrockies.org

*****************************************
The following is an example of media advertisement by the State of
Montana...an effort to make the unacceptable - acceptable.


Please send your comments concerning this misleading propaganda to:
max@baucus.senate.gov
mgmt@travel.mt.gov
momholt-mason@mt.gov
msimonich@mt.gov
csiegner@mt.gov

Thanks,
Ish

>>> I have been " a little" involved with the Montana Dept. of
>>> Livestock over a few issues; one being the Brucellosis
>>> Scare. I have called, written faxed them and generally tried
>>> to make myself into a pain in the butt to them.
>>>
>>>Well, I goes out to my mail box just now and I got an
>>>envelope from them.  I open it, (hoping that it is a response to at
>>>least one of my inquiries) and I find a beautiful color brochure enclosed.
>>>the title states:
>>>
>>>"Oh, give me a home, where the disease-free buffalo roam..."
>>>
>>>Its background graphic is a photo of a little blonde haired
>>>boy learning the  lasso with the assistance of his father
>>>while the Montana country side spands behind them. Both
>>>father and son are dressed in cowboy regalia.
>>>
>>>When you open the leaflet, you are faced with a beautiful
>>>picture of cattle grazing in a field with a cowboy on
>>>horseback over looking his herds.
>>>
>>>The caption at the top of the page reads:
>>>
>>>"Brucellosis..." (bold red letters mind you)
>>>It's an incurable disease that in humans is called
>>>'undulant fever'."
>>>
>>>It does a few pargraphs about the horrors of the disease and
>>>continues to use scare tactics like "...fever still
>>>represent one of the leading threats to public health in
>>>other countries........." But that thanks to the slaughter
>>>of buffalo here, it has been virtually eradicated.
>>>
>>>Then it goes on to use the scare tactics targeted for
>>>ranchers, it states that: "Cows, cowboys and ranching lifestyle have been
>>> central to Montana history." and further down it states how cattle
>>>raising, in fact the entire way of montana life is at risk
>>>from those pesky damned buffalos.
>>>
>>>They use a quote from Bruce
>>>Babbitt. . . . Talk about insult to injury.
>>>
>>>Then they have the sheer audacity to state:
>>>
>>>"The bison that roam in the Yellowstone National Park and at
>>>the National Bison Range on the Flathead Indian Reservation
>>>occupy a special place in every Montanan's heart. However,
>>>many Yellowston Bison carry brucellosis, a disese that
>>>threatens the states public health, livestock, industry and
>>>economy...."

>>>
>>>If you are interested in this mung and would like a copy for
>>>yourself, please contact:
>>>
>>>Montana Department of Livestock
>>>Box 202201
>>>Helena, MT 59620
>>>
>>>BTW: they printed 10,000 of these to send out. Nice to see
>>>tax dollars at work huh?
>>
          &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
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