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Received January 18, 2001 from Buffalo Field Campaign

Wyoming Star-Tribune
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - Outgoing Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said Saturday the American public won't stand for ranchers forcing wolves and bison from public lands where they graze their cattle. And if the beef industry forces a confrontation, it will lose, Babbitt said during his final trip here as part of the Clinton administration.

"Livestock will not have priority," Babbitt told a crowd of about 75 people at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. "The grazing of livestock will and must be subordinated to the natural values, including the bison and the predators, who will and must have first place in the ecosystem."


January 9, 2001         

Bison and Eagles:
ESA Violations Bring Lawsuit Against Agencies

For Immediate Release  1-09-2001

Contacts:
Jim Coefield 406-728-5733
Darrell Geist 406-728-0867

Groups File Notice of Intent to Sue Montana State and Federal   
     Government Over Endangered Species Act Violations

On Monday, three Montana groups, Buffalo Field Campaign, Cold
Mountain, Cold Rivers, and The Ecology Center, Inc. filed a 60-day
Notice of Intent (NOI) to sue the State of Montana and the federal
government in Federal District Court. The NOI documents violations of
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the Montana Department of
Livestock, the United States Forest Service, and the US Fish And
Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The MT Department of Livestock (DOL) plowed a road onto Horse Butte  last week, and currently is constructing the Horse Butte Capture
Facility. The facility will be used to capture, test, and ship bison to slaughter. The DOL operates the trap according to an Incidental
Take Permit (for eagles) issued by the USFWS and a Special Use Permit
authorized by the Gallatin National Forest.

The NOI focuses on the capture facility's close proximity to bald eagle nesting, perching, and feeding sites. While preparing the Environmental Assessment (EA) to allow construction and use of the Horse Butte facility, the Gallatin NF entered into formal consultation with the USFWS because of the impacts the facility would have on the eagles. Also, the current annual Operating Plan that the State is using and the Gallatin NF authorized is not in compliance with the ESA.

"The law clearly allows Interior Sec. Babbitt and Forest Service Chief Dombeck to revoke the Department of Livestock's permits to take bald eagles and capture Yellowstone bison on public lands for violation of any term, condition or law by the state of Montana," stated Darrell Geist, Executive Director of Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers. "By not conducting pre-monitoring for wintering bald eagles, the Montana Department of Livestock has once again flagrantly violated the terms and conditions of their permits."

The EA and supporting documents also contain other "trigger points"
mandating that the USFWS revoke the Special Use Permit, and re-enter
into formal consultation with the USFS over the capture facility. One
of these triggers was the failure of a previously productive bald
eagle nest to fledge the last two years.

Jim Coefield of The Ecology Center noted that "the Horse Butte
Capture Facility's construction at this time is just another breach
in the trust the people have placed in their elected and appointed
officials. Last year it was illegal helicopter hazing... who knows
what next year will bring. This madness by the DOL must stop.
Unfortunately, Montana's new governor, Judy Martz, has elected to
replace reason with fear, and work towards decimating Montana's last
wild bison herd."

While the groups must wait for 60 days to pass before they can file a
Complaint in Federal Court asking for relief, the State and federal
government continues to violate the Endangered Species Act at Horse
Butte by proceeding with plans to haze, capture, test and ship bison
to slaughter.

The Buffalo Field Campaign remains vigilant on the site, monitoring
the DOL, and working to protect buffalo that may wander towards the
capture facility and get baited into its death-trap.

"When the federal and state governments violate their own laws, there
are no laws and the doors to chaos are opened. The two symbols of
America--the eagle and buffalo--are being abused by our government,
and we the people will not silently stand by and watch" stated
Michael Mease, Field Coordinator for the Buffalo Field Campaign.

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