MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF LIVESTOCK CONTINUES ITS INDISCRIMINATE SLAUGHTER. SIX BISON KILLED: TWO WEARING RADIO COLLARS.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 29, 1998

Media Contact: Sue Nackoney , (406) 646-0070

Thursday, January 29, the Department of Livestock continued its violent
slaughter of the West Yellowstone Bison. At dawn, the DOL shot a group of
six bison on Horse Butte; three calves and their mothers. Two of the
females were radio-collared by Yellowstone wildlife biologists for
migration pattern research. These buffalo had roamed Horse Butte for the
last two months.

Although Buffalo Nations volunteers patrolled before daylight on
snowmobiles and skis,  the Montana Department of Livestock drove in on
snowmobiles and killed in the fog at daybreak.  During the shooting, Corey
Mascio, a 17 year old volunteer from New Hampshire, was arrested and
charged with obstruction when he tried to protect the female bison and
their calves by placing himself between them and the Department of
Livestock's guns. Buffalo Nations co-founder Mike Mease was physically
detained when he attempted to video-tape the slaughter and later was
arrested for trying to document the disposal of the carcasses at the dump.
Both were transported to Bozeman.

Rosalie Little Thunder, Lakota activist and co-founder of Buffalo Nations,
and other members of the buffalo protection team were on the scene.  Little
Thunder said, "It is just as shocking as last year." She said the dead
bison were "innocent victims of pathological politics".

The DOL claimed they were turning the carcasses over to Native Americans,
but there were none present when the carcasses were taken to the city dump.

This kill took place just a week after the DOL baited nine bison with hay
and trapped them in the capture facility. All nine were bulls. Five of the
bulls were sent to slaughter.

The DOL is continuing to use the brucellosis issue to justify their
killing, although there has never been a documented case of these bison
transmitting the disease to cattle in the wild. In a recent meeting in West
Yellowstone, Yellowstone Park Wildlife Biologist John Mac stated that under
the current Interim Bison Plan, the DOL has inappropriate opportunities to
kill bison. "There has never been a documented case of a bull bison
transmitting brucellosis," he said. "And there's certainly no need to be
killing calves and yearlings when it's impossible for them to transmit the
virus."

Recently, APHIS stated that they will not revoke Montana's brucellosis-free
status if Montana tolerates the presence of bull bison in the state up to
60 days prior to the return of cattle. This supports the statements of
Virginia Ravndal, a wildlife biologist contracted by NPS for study on the
cultural/social impact of the bison management plan,  in a recent article
that "The killing of Yellowstone bison by the Montana DOL is, in large
part, a form of retaliation and a manifestation of hostility by the Western
livestock industry towards the federal government and the environmental
movement. The livestock industry is engaged in the 'War of the West,' and
this is the 'Battle of Brucellosis.' It's not about the disease, it's about
bison, and about grass, and about feeling threatened. The disease is merely
a convenient excuse to kill bison."

Timothy Kills In Water, Little Thunder's grandson, watched the early
morning scene through streaming tears. His only comment was "They're just
dragging them around with snowmobiles."

Voice your outrage to the Montana DOL's very own Director, Larry Petersen
at 406- 444- 2023. We forced them to shut down their phone lines today,
let's do it everyday!

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

Note: I post Buffalo Nations' Reports as a service, and because of the high interest in the bison controversy.   Posting these reports is not an endorsement. . . . Ralph Maughan.