Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC)
News from the Field
February 10, 2005
NEW WEB SITE!
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
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In this Issue:
* Update from the Field
* Department of Livestock Approves Vaccination Plan
* Last Words
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* Update from the Field
It was a hard week for five of our buffalo friends. You'll recall
that two weeks ago, four massive bulls were unkindly forced back into
the Park. Tired and shaken, they took their time migrating back
to their chosen grazing location along the Madison River inside the
Gallatin National Forest. That is where they want to be,
need to be, and so is where they ended up again. Rightfully so; buffalo
migrate, and this is their land. In doing so, they are breaking
someone else's selfish "rules", yet boundary lines and interagency
management plans mean nothing to them. This weekend, the four
bulls were joined by another bull, and they all appeared content to be
where they were within each other's company, doing what buffalo
do. As it should be. Unless, of course, you're seeing
things through livestock-tainted glasses. Yesterday, the
five bulls - who pose zero threat to the cattle that aren't anywhere in
sight - were once again chased off their ancestral grounds and run
through snow and ice back into the confines of Yellowstone National
Park. But the agents didn't just haze the buffalo; a herd
of nearly 50 elk were caught up in the chaos, as well as a great blue
heron, not to mention the bald eagles, trumpeter swans, wolves, moose,
and numerous other wildlife species that all live in the area and are
negatively impacted by the DOL's insistence that wild buffalo not roam.
The buffalo will be back, and things may very likely be much worse for
them the next time. But we will be with them and all the world
will have a chance to know what Montana is doing to America's last wild
buffalo.
Yesterday while our five friends were being harassed, a crew from BFC
headed to Helena and attended the Montana State Senate Natural Resource
Committee's hearing on SB 353, a bill to allow for the neutering and
quarantine of wild buffalo, all in an effort to start herds on Tribal
lands. This outlandish bill adds insult to injury, and even its
author, Senator Pease, realized how ridiculous it sounded.
Nevertheless, it's up for the Committee to decide. No one at the
hearing, however, testified in favor of the bill. The Committee
heard some powerful testimony from a varied lot, and BFC was honored to
read a statement written by Marty Fire Rider and Joseph Red Bear of the
American Indian Movement. And we really have to thank
everyone who took action by contacting the Committee members - your
voice is being heard! We overhead several members say they had received
"a stack of emails from one side of the country to the next." NICE
WORK! Thank you for taking action for the buffalo! If you haven't
contacted them yet, it's not too late as they have yet to vote (see
Tuesday's special alert for contact info). They seem extremely
receptive to comments, and it sounds like a few are really doing their
homework. Let's keep the pressure on! Power to the
people for the buffalo!
In closing, I thought this was worth sharing: On the drive to
Helena, we headed along 287 through the Madison Valley. This
stretch of land is incredibly beautiful; after passing through a
relatively tight canyon, you come around and down the mountain and then
the land opens up like a great, vast sea of grass stretching for miles
and miles and miles. A true aspect of America's Serengeti.
It is prime buffalo habitat, yet it is utterly void of their
presence. We could imagine how it once was, and should be again -
herds of hundreds or thousands of buffalo, grazing alongside vast herds
of elk and pronghorn, dotted with stalking wolves and rambling grizzly
bears. But today it is empty of buffalo. The emptiness is
painful. And we couldn't help but notice the absence of cattle;
we travelled more than 40 miles before we ever saw one
heifer. So what, then, are the buffalo supposedly
threatening? The grass the cowboys think is there for fattening
their cattle? Hmmmm... there's some food for thought.
For the Buffalo,
~Stephany
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* DOL Approves Vaccination Plan
The Department of Livestock went ahead and ignored public opinion
(again) and approved their plan to vaccinate buffalo that are captured
on the western boundary of Yellowstone National Park.
Buffalo calves and yearlings - ages 4 to 24 months - will be subjected
to injections of RB51, a brucellosis vaccine that was designed for use
in livestock, and is not 100% effective on either cattle or wild
buffalo. So, after already being scared to death from being hazed
and captured, and separated from their mothers, they will be put
through even further duress. Welcome to the world.
The DOL claims that vaccinating wild buffalo (with an ineffective
vaccine, mind you) will help "reduce the prevalence of brucellosis
within the bison herd and to reduce the risk of transmission of
brucellosis from bison to cattle." To date there has never been a
documented case of a wild buffalo transmitting brucellosis to cattle.
The DOL's press release announcing that they had approved their
vaccination plan stated that they received only 66 individual comments,
and that only 10 comments were received on behalf of
organizations. This number has been seriously deflated because
when we ask you to comment on something, and you do, they lump all of
these together -likely thousands of comments - as one. This underscores
the need for us to speak from the heart, and personalize our thoughts,
whether writing to decision-makers or the media.
It's also important to note that the DOL claims to have hazed 1,500
buffalo back into the Park during the last two seasons, and they claim
to have hazed 132 buffalo this year. This is a lie. There have
not been that many buffalo coming out of the park, the DOL is simply
hazing the same buffalo over and over and over again. They are
relentless and they fabricate the truth to suit their own purposes.
Think about these calves and yearlings who will be separated from their
mothers, separated from the herd, all in the cattle industry's wicked
effort to hoard the grasses of our public lands for fattening their
cattle. After pondering this, and armed with everything you
know to be true, consider contacting the DOL and letting them know how
you feel. You can reach them at:
Montana Department of Livestock
Box 202201
Helena, MT 59620
Director Marc Bridges
Spokeswoman, Karen Cooper
1-406-444-7323
1-800-523-3162; ext. 3
Email:
livemail@state.mt.us
OR
kcooper@mt.gov
For information on why vaccinating wild buffalo is a bad idea, please
visit our web site
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/science/vaccprogram.html.
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* Last Words
STATEMENT, to be read by the Buffalo Field Campaign before the Montana
Legislature:
It is a sad day for all Americans when there are only 4000 of the
worlds pure genetic free roaming buffalo and they are treated as a
pariah that have to be removed or exterminated for the protection of
cattle that populate the entire planet. What will you tell your
children someday when they ask why buffalo are only in museums in the
extinct section?
Buffalo are a gift from the creator as are all living species. They are
the symbol of the freedom that is inherent in all that America
represents in the world. To destroy this last herd would not only bring
shame on the great state Montana, but also destroy a symbol of American
pride, freedom and tenacious strength.
The decisions that you make from this day forward affect not only
Montana, but your children and their children, including all America.
How do you want to be remembered in this life time as a person of
preserving our American heritage or contributing toward its
destruction.
The legislators attempts to roundup, slaughter, neuter, hunt buffalo,
especially the attempt to allow Indians to hunt only by traditional
methods was an affront to all Indians. Montana’s insensitivity and
methods toward the buffalo is reminiscent of the policy towards the
Indians. The attempts to find any excuse overt or covert, legal or
illegal to remove Indians for the express purpose of taking their land.
If that policy was enforced against another human race, well it does
not surprise me that a similar policy is in place against the buffalo.
For greed is the great motivator of self indulgence.
If you are Christian or a traditional spiritual Indian, our creators
are the same God. However, God never gave man the authority to destroy
the earth and all living things upon it. Remember these Indian words
always; “For what befalls mother earth, befalls the children of
humankind.’
Marty (Fire Rider) Hiles, co-host American Indian Movement Today Show
on World Talk Radio, Worlds largest American Indian Talk Radio show.
www.WorldTalkRadio.com
Joseph Red Bear, President, American Indian Movement San Diego
www.AimSanDiego.org
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