Buffalo Field Campaign

Update from the Field

June 2, 2005

** This is the season's last weekly email Update from the Field.  They will begin coming out twice a month starting June 16th.

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View BFC's Recent Footage from the Field:

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

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Make a Secure Online Donation to BFC:

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/pcshop2/bazaar.html

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* Three Things You Can Do Today to Protect the Buffalo

* The Buffalo Family

* Last Words

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* Update from the Field

Migrations are underway.  Nearly all of the buffalo that haven't been needlessly forced to do so, have, of their own accord, returned to the high country of Yellowstone National Park. 

As usual, the Montana Department of Livestock's (DOL) pushing, shoving, harassing and slaughtering for the past nine months was utterly rude, excessive, and entirely unnecessary.  But, hey, they got to feel self-important while they spent your tax dollars harassing, slaughtering and domesticating the country's last wild buffalo.  They got to terrorize human and animal neighborhoods to the point of driving many inhabitants away.  They got to break rules the rest of us must follow, entering into areas that are closed to humans to protect the wild.  They got to ride around on (and trash) expensive, rented motorized toys, exhaust their horses, fly their choppers, and enjoy meals all on U.S..  They got to hang out in one of the most beautiful places in the world, only to wreak havoc, disrupt the stillness, shred the landscape, make a lot of noise, and shove wild buffalo around.  Why must these wasteful, harmful actions continue every year?  They don't have to.  True, it's all written in "the Plan" and people say, "well, that's the way it is."  We must refuse that way of thinking.  Like the wild buffalo refuse to be told where they can be, we must refuse acceptance of "the Plan."  This year alone agencies cited the Interagency Bison Management Plan as a reason to kill 98 of our last wild buffalo.  The same agencies are holding 17 yearlings prisoner, to be raised in domestication.  The government officials calling the shots are not allowing themselves to think outside the very tight box they've constructed for themselves.  A box that kills, manages, collars, tags and drives wildness away.  This horrible plan is a government plan, and the government is still of the people and for the people, so if we don't like it, we must change it.  It's not only our right, it's our duty.  We can change the status quo - rust the livestock industry's iron fist - and reclaim the land for the last wild buffalo!

Human migrations are also underway.  Like the buffalo, BFC volunteers are on the move.  Selfless souls, brave in their hearts, strong in their minds, heavily touched by the mighty buffalo.  After an intense field season these eco-warriors are now on their way to their "other lives".  We give thanks for these incredible people we were so blessed with this year.  There is not a one who did not give everything of him/herself.  Each person's dedication to the buffalo, and to the campaign, is what makes it work. We were brought together by the buffalo, and the buffalo bind us forever now.  Parting is hard.  To name you all, to thank each of you, would not be possible.  But you know who you are...Thank you! Here's to the great friends we have made, and to meeting again in the snowy fields of West Yellowstone and standing in defense of the last wild buffalo for as long as it takes.

We now enter the season of telling.  This is the time BFC volunteers go from the fields, back to the cities and neighborhoods, and tell the buffalo's story.  This is the time for sharing with others what we have experienced, what the buffalo endure.  This is the time to increase the herd, gather to our cause of wild free buffalo the voices that will speak up, the hands that will lift camera or pen, the minds that will open.

Some of us will spend our summers tabling in the park, sharing information on the buffalo with thousands of people who visit the park.  Already we have met tourists asking why so many of the Yellowstone buffalo are wearing big and ugly collars, ear tags, and stripes down their backs.  People are shocked, and rightly so, to learn that some of the wild Yellowstone buffalo are treated more like cattle than America's wildest buffalo.

Later in the summer and in the fall we will engage upon our West and East Coast Road Shows.  If you live near one of the coasts, and would like more information on arranging a BFC presentation in your community, please get in touch.  Send an email to: bfc-media@wildrockies.org and bring the buffalo's message to your neighborhood.

Save the Herd, Spread the Word!

Stephany & Dan

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*  Three Things You Can Do Today to Protect the Buffalo

1. Support the Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act, call your Congress-person today!

Thanks to the leadership of U.S. Representatives Maurice Hinchey and Charles Bass, HR 2428, the Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act, is currently gaining support in the US House of Representatives.  This legislation will ensure greater protection for buffalo entering Montana from Yellowstone and will mandate the dismantling of the Stephen's Creek trap inside Yellowstone.

To learn more about HR 2428, check our web site:

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/legislative/buffalopreservation.html

To find the name of your Representative and to contact him/her, click here:

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html

2.  Contact Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer

Montana's governor has the potential to be a great friend of the buffalo.  Call Governor Schweitzer at (406) 444-3111 and urge him to protect America's last wild herd of buffalo.  Remind him that the majesty of Montana is in its vast wildness, and that wildness is complete and whole with free-roaming buffalo.   No matter if you live in Montana, or anywhere in the country, the Yellowstone buffalo herd is our country's wild heritage.  They are the last living link to the tens of millions that once roamed the entire country.  Urge Montana's governor to be proud of this, and honor and respect the last wild buffalo, giving them room to roam freely in Montana.   Make his phone ring off the hook!  Call Governor Brian Schweitzer at (406) 444-3111.  Thank you!

3.  Contribute to the BFC.  The Buffalo Field Campaign is a true grassroots organization applying all its resources to Buffalo protection.  We work everyday, all year, to document what happens to the buffalo and share their story with the world.  We envision a day when wild buffalo will be honored and respected in Montana.  Help us realize this vision.  You can send a tax-deductible contribution to the address listed below or make a quick and secure donation by clicking the "Donate Now" button on our web site https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1807.  Thank you for your support!

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* The Buffalo Family

The buffalo circle is strong and unbroken.  Buffalo are steadfast in their ties to one another.  So much so that they willingly risk their freedom for the right to stand where they chose to.  So much so that they would give everything of themselves for family.   Even those loners, the great old bulls, they too will come to each other's rescue or defense when the situation calls for it.

Over the weekend, from every direction, past volunteers came pouring into the West Yellowstone area to celebrate the wedding of two very special people.  We stood together on the banks of the Madison River, at the heart of the buffalo's habitat, and formed a circle.  Returning volunteers who we haven't seen in years stood beside volunteers who showed up for the first time this winter and whose dedication wouldn't let them leave until the buffalo are safe.

The theme of commitment kept reasserting itself.  Yarrow and Yote exchanged beautiful vows, as much to the land and the buffalo as to one another.  Justine and Roman, presiding over an inspired ceremony drawn from their own experience of marriage, paid tribute to the ecosystem and reminded us how the buffalo are represented in each of the four directions.  We gave tours of the area to Yote and Yarrow's friends and families, and even had a BFC table set up at their wedding reception.  We danced and celebrated and we also remembered suffering, and in that we reinforced our commitments to the buffalo and to each other.  A special thanks to everyone who shared in such a special time, and to the families of Yarrow and Yote who hosted the events and made the celebration possible.

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* Last Words

"The buffalo represent everything that is GOOD."

~Hunter, BFC Volunteer

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Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT  59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day
to defend the last wild herd of buffalo in America.

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