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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2003

CONTACTS:
Tony Jewett, National Parks Conservation Association (406) 495-1560
Charles Clusen, Natural Resources Defense Council (202) 289-2412
Bette Stallman, Humane Society of the United States (301) 258-3147
Fred DuBray, Intertribal Bison Cooperative (605) 394-9730
Jim Coefield, The Ecology Center (406) 728-5733
Hope Sieck, Greater Yellowstone Coalition (406) 586-1593
Caroline Kennedy, Defenders of Wildlife (202) 682-9400 ext. 107

CONSERVATION AND NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVES CALL ON SECRETARY OF INTERIOR GALE NORTON TO IMMEDIATELY                           
                         HALT KILLING OF YELLOWSTONE BUFFALO

                     Park Service Slaughtering Buffalo By Choice -- Not Mandate

WASHINGTON, DC -- Secretary of Interior Gale Norton received a letter
today on behalf of conservation organizations and Native American
tribes calling for an immediate halt on the killing of Yellowstone
Park buffalo by the National Park Service, a branch of the Interior
Department. The letter was copied to Yellowstone National Park
Superintendent Suzanne Lewis. Regional and national conservation
organizations signed to the letter represent over 8 million members,
and the Native American Intertribal Bison Cooperative speaks for
fifty-one tribes.

Yellowstone National Park is home to the only wild free roaming
buffalo herd in the United States. Genetically unique, these few
thousand animals are a living link to the millions of buffalo that
once thundered in great herds across our western plains.

Last week, 231 of these iconic buffalo were rounded up by Park
Service personnel, confined in a holding pen, and shipped to
slaughter. Most were within the boundary of Yellowstone National
Park when they were captured. The Park Service has stated publicly
that it's compelled to take this action as part of a management plan.

The March 11 letter asserts that the Park Service has greater
management discretion and authority relative to Yellowstone buffalo
than it's currently exercising. It notes that 13 million taxpayer
dollars have been spent toward securing range immediately outside the
Park for buffalo. The letter calls for the Park Service to utilize
its clear discretion to uphold the highest possible standards of
protection for Yellowstone Park buffalo.

"We've taken a close look at the management plan under which the Park
Service is operating in Yellowstone," Charles Clusen of the Natural
Resource Defense Council reported. "Public assertions that it has no
choice but to capture and kill buffalo just don't wash."

According to Tony Jewett of the National Parks Conservation
Association, "The Park Service is killing buffalo by choice and not
because it has to." He characterized this decision as "a stunning
departure for an agency the public counts on to protect America's
heritage, not eliminate it."

Bette Stallman of The Humane Society of the United States called upon
the Park Service "to demonstrate ethically, fiscally, and
environmentally responsible management consistent with its mission."
She added, "The Department of Interior's Park Service is striking out
on all three counts."

Fred DuBray, Executive Director of the Intertribal Bison Cooperative,
called the Park Service slaughter "a return to our worst memories of
the 19th century." The Cooperative is based in South Dakota and
represents 51 tribes. To many Native Americans, Yellowstone buffalo
are not only a national treasure but a potential breeding source for
future reservation herds as well. "Tribes would give anything for
the buffalo the Park Service is killing," DuBray lamented. By
current policy, Indians may receive heads and hides of slaughtered
buffalo, but not the honored living animal with which they hope to
repopulate their lands and revitalize traditional culture.

Quoting the Congressional act that established the Park Service, Jim
Coefield of the Montana-based Ecology Center noted the agency's
mission is "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic
objects and the wildlife within." "That's certainly not what's
happening in America's first national park," he observed. "Secretary
Norton and Superintendent Lewis have a lot of explaining to do."

Safeguarding Montana livestock from a bacterium called brucellosis is
the supposed rationale behind slaughtering Yellowstone buffalo.
Brucellosis, common in Yellowstone wildlife, has never been
transmitted in the wild from buffalo to cows. Nonetheless, for years
the Montana Department of Livestock has singled out Yellowstone
buffalo for hazing and killing when winter weather draws wildlife out
of the Park to lower elevation range nearby.

"Such draconian actions are completely unnecessary and have cost
taxpayers millions," said Hope Sieck of the Greater Yellowstone
Coalition. "The Park Service should pursue common-sense solutions
that protect Yellowstone's buffalo and the integrity of our first
national park."

Opponents to the slaughter point out that only a few hundred beef
cattle graze anywhere near Yellowstone, mainly in the summer when
buffalo have returned to the Park. All agree that simply moving
those cows to another location would solve any perceived problems and
save money all around.

"We are heartened to see that last week's slaughter by the Park has
caught the attention of Congress, specifically Representative Rahall,
ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Resources," said Defenders
of Wildlife's Caroline Kennedy. "We'll help him investigate the
Park's recent actions and how taxpayer dollars are being used to
slaughter Yellowstone's cherished buffalo herd."

The March 11 letter details management stipulations, and
discrepancies, relative to the recent Park Service actions. A copy
of the letter can be downloaded at
<http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/prairie/bison/norton.pdf>.

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