Buffalo Nations update Nov. 30, 1998

Greetings! Thanks for all your letters and calls about the capture facility! Even though we were only given a minimal (some say... illegally so) comment period, they have already received 500 letters from concerned folks. Not to be discouraging...but they didn't listen. They are going to go ahead with the facility and start slaughtering buffalo. Please see the update from the field from Buffalo Nations below

What can we do?

* Take your winter vacation and protect the buffalo! Call 406.646.0070 for more details.

* Write a letter to the editor of your local paper (see sample letter below) The electronic Activist has Contacts for newspapers and media around the country: http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/index.html

* Know a lawyer who would like to do some pro bono work? Pass this on... we need an emergency restraining order ASAP!

* Got any Hi band vhf hand held radios that need a home? They make great stocking stuffers for buffalo activists in the field, i hear! :-)

Thank you!

Final reminder:Long term comments are due in by December 1st; there is sample letters and info at http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo ___________________________________________________

UPDATE from the field Horse Butte Capture Facility nears final approval- construction is imminent!

November 30, 1998- West Yellowstone

As of this afternoon, the Forest Service has neared completion of the permitting process for the construction of a new buffalo capture facility on Horse Butte. This facility will operate from now until Jan. 31 as part of the Department of Livestock's "short term" plan for trapping bison who migrate out of Yellowstone.

The facility will trap all bison who migrate out onto the Horse Butte area, a favorite traditional wintering spot. Buffalo are commonly seen in the winter on this gently sloping, grassy and warm south-facing hillside. Horse Butte was an amazing sight last spring, when 300 buffalo were walking all around there! After the buffalo are trapped, all buffalo who test positive for brucellosis will be shipped to slaughter. The worst part is, all the pregnant females will be killed regardless of whether they test positive or negative. Over 50% of all trapped bison will test positive and be sent to slaughter, even thought only infected pregnant females theoretically can transmit the disease.

Both the Forest Service and the DOL claim that they will actually save the lives of more buffalo by operating the facility! This twist of dis-logic is one that only buffalo management agencies could ever dream up. The only way they can save the lives of more buffalo is to stop killing buffalo over the brucellosis myth, and let the buffalo roam freely.

Thank you for your comments on the short-term plan- the Forest Service reported that they received hundreds of comments! Let's keep them busy reading letters instead of killing buffalo!

Here's where you come in... We need volunteers, pronto! If you are excited by the idea of watching buffalo, dogging the Forest Service and DOL, working around our cabin, or otherwise helping to protect these beautiful buffalo, we need you now! Please tell your friends and family who might want to help out also.

Montana has requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pay up to $500,000 dollars per year for the operation of the bison trap. Do you want a half million of your tax dollars used every year to provide Montana the ability to capture our bison on our land? Call or fax the following USDA officials and tell them not to kill bison with your tax dollars. USDA Secretary Daniel Glickman (Telephone: 202-720-3631; Fax: 202-720-2166) USDA, APHIS Administrator Dr. Craig Reed (Telephone: 202-720-3668; Fax: 202-720-3054) USDA, APHIS, VS Dpty. Admin. Dr. Tom Walton (Telephone 202-720-5193; Fax: 202-690-4171)

Remind them that:

* The USDA does not have legal authority over free-ranging wildlife and cannot revoke Montana's brucellosis-free status simply because bison have emigrated from the Park making it unnecessary to capture bison on public lands;

* There are no cattle on the Gallatin National Forest near West Yellowstone in the winter so the capture, testing, and slaughter of Yellowstone bison is unnecessary; * The USDA should not provide federal funding for a proposal which is blatantly illegal;

* Under no circumstances should your tax dollars be used to pay for the capture of Yellowstone bison on federal land.

Tomorrow, December 1, is the deadline for commenting on the long-term plan, which will allow for operation of the facility from February 1 through the spring. Demand a full Environmental Assessment for the operation of the facility!

Buffalo Nations
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 5
9758
406-646-0070 phone
406-646-0071 fax
buffalo@wildrockies.org

_____________________________________________________________

Sample letter to your local paper and why not send one to a national one also?
Write one from your heart...it always sounds better.

FROM:

DATE: RE: Letter to the Editor

Dear Mr./ Ms. _____________,

Yellowstone's approach to managing the nation's largest free ranging bison herd will have not only worldwide implications but large impacts on the taxpayers of this nation. Our government has decided that these wild creatures fates should be decided by ranchers not scientists.

A recent $50 million federal plan to manage the longest free-roaming herd of Amercan Buffalo was bad news for the icon of the West. It involves capturing, confining, killing, quarantining, and trucking to slaughterhouses some of the last wild buffalo. To let them roam free on public lands would not only save the buffalo but save the taxpayers money.

To make it worse, the U.S. Forest Service has now decided to give the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) special considerations and allow them to construct an eyesore of a bison capture facility, slaughter them (including all pregnant females), and force taxpayers to pay for this. All for the interests of a few corporate ranchers who want to continue grazing cattle with hefty subsidies on pubic lands. The facility will be right next to federally protected bald eagle nesting grounds.

Helicopters buzzing over bald eagle nests, bullets whizzing past snowmobilers, buffalo bellowing while being loaded onto trucks to be taken to slaughter. I'm sure it will be great for local residents who live nearby and, of course, for all the tourists who come to Montana, not for peace and quiet and nature, but to watch wildlife being slaughtered. When do you think Montana will figure it out?

If you think this is to crazy to be true, just check it out with the head of the Forest Service, Mike Dombeck. You might mention to him that maybe he could save money by cutting all technical posts in the Forest Service since according to them, they aren't doing their own science, but depending on the pseudo science of the Montana DOL.

This time they have gone too far. Apparently it wasn't enough to senselessly kill one third of our nation's last wild buffalo and let the Montana DOL keep all proceeds from the carcasses. This time they want a Federal Agency to throw the National Environmental Protection Act out along with the well being of another national symbol, the bald eagle. Montana also has requested that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pay up to $500,000 dollars per year for the operation of the bison trap. I for one do not want a half million of my tax dollars used every year to provide Montana the ability to capture our bison on our land! How about you?

________________________________________________________

Remember: The people making these decisions have names and bosses...you, for one.

Write Mike Dombeck, Chief, Forest Service, Auditor's Bldg 201 14th Street, S.W. at Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20024 202-205-1661. mailto:Mike.Dombeck/wo@fs.fed.us

& Why not let his bosses know we will not take this illegal violation of NEPA and that wild buffalo are important to us Pres. Bill Clinton; president@whitehouse.gov Vice Pres. Gore; vice.president@whitehouse.gov The White House mailing address is: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500 Phone: (202) 456-1414 Fax: (202) 456-2461 ______________________________________________________ for the buffalo! Our web pages are being updated ... http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo

It is time to rally Buffalo allies before the killing begins again! Please pass this update on to 7 friends. If you receive this, please subscribe to stay updated (2-3 updates per month)