FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 202-682-9400
March 18, 1999 Joan Moody (media x 220)
Caroline Kennedy (program x101)
 

STATE OF MONTANA ORDERS ARREST OF BISON ACTIVISTS; DEFENDERS DECRIES DECISION TO BUILD CAPTURE FACILITY-

Defenders of Wildlife representatives said today that the State of Montana's order to arrest activists protesting its bison-killing policy and its decision to move forward with construction of a controversial capture facility show "a stubborn refusal to consider any facts at all that will block the state's attack on Yellowstone National Park's bison."

"At this moment we have received word that the local sheriff's office is on the scene in the area of the planned new facility west of the park and has arrested one of the volunteers of the Buffalo Field Campaign [formerly Buffalo Nations], who have been trying to block the state from getting to the site," said Robert Ferris, Director of Defenders' species conservation division. "The governor, state veterinarian, and Department of Livestock are choosing to pick this fight, and we predict it will be one that they lose and lose badly."

The demonstrators had been blocking the road by sitting on top of tripods; the arrested demonstrator was lifted from atop her tripod by a crane and the other tripods were destroyed by bulldozing. "The state's actions are particularly appalling because the public has soundly rejected the state's bison policy, as demonstrated in the recent release of the summary of public comments on the bison draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), " Ferris noted. "More than 67,000 comments were received on the DEIS the second most ever on any wildlife issue including more than 47,000 favorable comments on the citizens' plan supported by our coalition of conservationists."

The state's actions are the latest in a years-long battle between the state and conservationists over whether bison leaving the park in winter pose a danger of transmitting brucellosis -- a deadly disease-- to cattle grazing on public lands. The state killed more than a thousand bison in the winter of 1996-1997, but fewer bison have been coming out of the park during the past two years because of less severe weather.

The state signed a permit today to build the capture facility on Forest Service land west of Yellowstone National Park despite the fact that circumstances have changed greatly since the site was first proposed several months ago.

Defenders said that a number of factors would dictate alternative action: 1) the fact that few bison are in the area and a good proportion of those are bulls, yearlings, calves and non-pregnant females -- groups at a low risk to carry or transmit brucellosis; 2) brucellosis is not documented to be transmissible from bison to cattle in the wild; 3) warmer temperatures will mean that the few bison in the area will soon return to the park; 4) under a recent agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and nearby ranchers, no cattle will be permitted in the area for at least 30 to 60 days after bison leave the area; and 5) the facility must be dismantled once bison leave the area, making this action an even greater waste of the taxpayers' money.

Conservation and Native American groups and all involved federal agencies -- the Department of Interior, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the U.S. Forest Service -- are now speaking in a unified voice. "We are sending a clear and strong message to which the Montana Department of Livestock refuses to listen.," says Caroline Kennedy, program associate at Defenders of Wildlife. "That message is that bison should be accommodated on public lands, low-risk animals should not be shot or captured, and there are flexible alternatives for separating bison and cattle.

"It comes down to the fact that Montana officials are demonstrating a stubborn refusal to consider anything at all that will block the state's attack on Yellowstone's bison," Kennedy concludes. "They seem to regard science, public opinion, and offers of alternatives as nothing more than obstacles in their path," Kennedy concludes.
 

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