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Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758
Phone (406) 646-0070 Fax (406) 646-0071
E-mail buffalo@wildrockies.org.   http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo

February 5, 2003
Department of Livestock Captures Bull Buffalo
West Yellowstone, MT--Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) agents captured one bull bison this morning. Bull bison are considered to pose a "low risk" of brucellosis transmission by the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). A ranger from Yellowstone National Park and game wardens with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks assisted the DOL agents. The DOL did not return
calls inquiring whether the buffalo would be sent to slaughter.

At least seven DOL agents on snowmobiles and horseback spent about an hour looking for the lone bull bison outside Yellowstone National Park. A moose was disturbed during the haze. Last week the DOL spent several hours hazing one bull bison, running it through a barbed wire fence at least four times, before it escaped capture.

"We have observed hay in and around their trap for the past few weeks. The hay lures the buffalo out of Yellowstone and across a hundred yards of private land to the trap," said Mike Mease, a Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) coordinator. There are no cattle
present during the winter when the DOL continue to haze, capture, and kill wild buffalo. The Yellowstone bison traditionally use the area for winter forage.

"The DOL continues to waste tax dollars with their weekly hazing, capture, and killing operations at a time when Montana is experiencing a budget deficit. Couldn't this money be better spent on education or social programs instead of funding a weekly buffalo haze?" asked Ted Fellman, a BFC coordinator.

The Department of Livestock has spent nearly $3.5 million since 1996 on bison management operations that have killed 1,827 wild bison. The Yellowstone herd is the only continuously wild herd in the United States. It is descended from just 23 wild bison that survived the mass eradication of the 19th century and is the largest single
population of genetically pure bison remaining.

The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo.  Volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on and document every move made
against them.       (Video footage is available upon request.)

January 30, 2003
Buffalo Field Campaign: Update from the Field
Late Wednesday afternoon two bull buffalo were captured at the Duck Creek Trap. It's been difficult for our Fir Ridge patrols, which have been in the field 24 hours a day, trying to keep the buffalo from wandering onto private property and into the trap. The buffalo, however, have been persistent and ultimately roam where they want to roam. Of course, the fact that the Department of Livestock (DOL) is
baiting the trap with hay is certainly another draw to the buffalo. And so it is that many times buffalo wander over to the trap, eat some hay, bed down for the evening, and then run off in the morning when DOL agents arrive. It has been a difficult and tense cycle. Perhaps the buffalo are demonstrating their bravery, much like Native American warriors who would get close enough to their enemy to touch them with a
"coup stick". Last week, this was the situation when three bull buffalo were captured and one escaped from near the Duck Creek Trap.

This Wednesday was similar. As more DOL agents arrived in town, two bull buffalo lingered near the trap. In a rather brief operation, agents on snowmobiles forced the buffalo into the trap. They remained there for two nights, ramming against the walls of the trap, trying to escape. However, there would be no escape for these bulls. This
morning they were shipped off to slaughter. A spokesperson for the DOL said that they both tested positive for brucellosis. However, as many of you know, the test does not determine whether the bison actually have the disease, just whether they have been exposed to it. Montana has killed another two bull buffalo, considered "low risk" for brucellosis transmission, in the middle of winter when no cattle are present.

Yesterday was a day of more hope. Last Sunday the Yellowstone bison made the front page of the Sunday New York Times. BFC got a few paragraphs of ink, which generated more media attention. Yesterday morning Jonas and I took a crew from NBC nightly news into the field with us. And what an exciting day it was. The buildup of government agencies included the usual suspects--DOL, FWP (MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks), NPS (National Park Service) and Gallatin County Sheriffs--with
snowmobiles, trucks and horses. Snowmobiles raced down the residential roads in search of buffalo. For a while it was a frenzy of noise and activity as suddenly and without warning the Lower Bear Trap housing development was turned into the site of a government operation.

Eventually, the government agents found a lone bull buffalo, after spooking a herd of about a dozen elk from a riparian area along Duck Creek. The bull was then hazed through a barbed wire fence at least four times as snowmobiles circled it in a sloppy effort to push the buffalo towards the Duck Creek Trap. The bull was hazed across the highway into the woods near the Yellowstone Park boundary where the chase continued on terrain more favorable to the persistent bull. After more confusion and waiting, agents closed Duck Creek Road in preparation for the final push to the trap. However when the bull was hazed onto the driveway, he turned and jumped a fence and disappeared back into the woods. The agents tried again, but eventually gave up, claiming that they had "successfully hazed the buffalo back into the Park." What
really happened is that after running a bull buffalo for nearly three hours, the government agents were outwitted by a wise old warrior that fought to remain free.

The chaos of the day was captured by the NBC camera crew, and will hopefully be aired soon. We'll keep you updated about the time and date. For now, say your prayers for the two buffalo on their way to slaughter, and thanks to the one bull buffalo that escaped. May their spirits roam free, and the example of the one who outran the government agents spread to other buffalo this winter.
For the buffalo, Ted & Jonas

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* Make your conservation dollars double!
      Our allies at Earth Friends have offered an impressive $1750 matching grant for   
      the important work that we do.

Yellowstone's buffalo are the only wild, free roaming buffalo left. If they are not protected, that wildness will be lost. Buffalo in this ecosystem are the last remnant of the more than 60 million buffalo that once roamed North America. They are the most distinct and unique herd of buffalo on the planet and a critical reservoir of genetic diversity.  As a keystone species, essential to the maintenance of native biodiversity within the Yellowstone ecosystem, they have immense ecological and evolutionary importance. By protecting this habitat, all the species that live here will benefit.

Over 1500 volunteers have walked through our doors. We have trained, outfitted, fed and housed them all. Each goes forth to other endeavors (many to other nonprofits) with great skills and integrity. We frugally stretch each donation--last year we fed the 350 volunteers that joined us healthy food for about 36 cents a meal! We have also been very successful in informing the public about the issue, and more importantly, what they can do to help affect lasting change. We follow up on our daily monitoring with successful "big picture" strategies such as litigation that holds public agencies accountable for their actions and scientific research to help secure a future for these majestic creatures and the ecosystem that they live in. We couldn't do it without support from concerned folks all over the country!

So if you can help out, your donation will be leveraged and doubled.
Please consider making a donation! You can donate online at our
website: http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo

or send your donation to: BFC, PO Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT 59758
**** Please note: write "MATCH" in the memo

All donations are tax-deductible and we thank you for your support! We couldn't be here without you! Grassroots activism really does work--no fancy offices or high paid staff--just passionate individuals joining together!

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