Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
January 17, 2008
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* NEW VIDEO! To Protect the Wild Bison
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/documentaries.html
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Why are they killing the last wild buffalo?
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/issueinbrief.html
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AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2007-2008: 62
Total Since 2000: 2,080
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, state and treaty hunts
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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* BFC Needs Gear & Volunteers
* Send Your Valentine(s) Some BuffaLove!
* Proposed Bison Plan for Wyoming – A recipe for Mismanagement
* Photo of the Week
* Last Words
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* Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
This morning I woke with a memory and I lay in my bunk contemplating
the immense goals of a campaign fighting an uphill battle against the
livestock industry’s hell-bent crusade to keep any and all buffalo
inside Yellowstone Park. Really it’s just a symptom of a greater
disease: the will to control and destroy all that can’t be controlled.
But as I lay awake this morning, wrapped up in blankets and awaiting
the day, I remembered a road trip through Idaho several years ago,
returning from the BFC benefit concert put on by the musical group
Built to Spill. It was a beautiful early summer day; the grass was
still green, the sky blue, and my fellow volunteers were still
reeling from an amazing night spent dancing and laughing, celebrating
the buffalo. We drove over a pass and beheld a gigantic sloping
valley, almost devoid of human habitation. My friend Stephany and I
both immediately knew what was missing. We could almost see a
thousand buffalo (or more!) grazing on the succulent green grass,
each one individual, each with the individual thoughts and feelings
that we humans often deny them, each buffalo forming an ancient
relationship with the land and everything that depends on them.
And then I realized: this is the goal. So often the frontline BFC
volunteers here in West Yellowstone and Gardiner, Montana don’t allow
ourselves to think that far into the future of buffalo restoration.
Things are bad enough here, within a few miles of the National Park
we are blessed to live near. I have seen day-old buffalo calves
hazed 10 miles and I have watched helpless as twelve buffalo who were
hazed through ice tried desperately to climb out of a frozen Hebgen
Lake. It’s hard to envision real buffalo restoration when we see so
many awful things on a daily basis.
And these buffalo fight for every blade of grass; every day spent
grazing outside of the Park boundary is a hard won victory. Every
buffalo calf on Horse Butte is a miracle born of a mother’s love. -Dru
It was a gorgeous afternoon in mid-November, the perfect day to be on
patrol. We were searching for a bull that had been around the Duck
Creek area, when we noticed bison tracks in the mud heading toward
the Vista. We followed the tracks to the edge of the hill, a place
where patrols often watch bison interact with the land in Stubby’s
Meadow. The three of us stood for a silent minute, unable to see the
missing bull, taking in the sun. Suddenly, I saw something move out
of the corner of my right eye, and turning my head, there he was. We
watched him walk up the hill, no more than thirty feet away. He
looked at us for a while, and we looked at him; it was electrical,
overwhelming, mutual. But then he broke the exchange and continued
on his way, eventually disappearing from sight.
The Vista is arguably already one of the most picturesque spots in
the area, but as the buffalo walked away, an awareness of how
beautiful this scene we just experienced overtook me.
“It’s crazy,” I said, “just how perfect the buffalo look here. I
don’t know how to explain it, but you look out at the willows, the
mountains, the creek, you take in the color palate of the area, and,
well, yeah, you should see a bison walk across it.” It was
inarticulate, but my patrol partners understood what I meant. There
is just something-in the composition, in the colors, in the contrast
between the dark brown of their bodies and the fiery colors of the
land-something so fitting, as though they co-evolved to create art as
scenery.
Perhaps it was in this moment that I realized it was not just that we
wanted the buffalo to roam free in this area, but that they are
supposed to be here; that the earth needs them to eat its grass, to
walk across its plains, to complete itself. Without the buffalo, the
land still may resemble a landscape painting, but it seems a
subject-less one. The terrain in this area calls and yearns for the
bison, but the status quo policies and management plans inhibit their
response. -Miriam
The winter of ‘07-’08 brought the third season of buffalo hunting
here to Montana. Though it is heartbreaking to watch buffalo that we
strive to protect gunned down, it has been interesting and exciting
to watch the complex interactions of the different non-humans of this
special ecosystem. Ravens descend from the sky to devour gut piles
left by buffalo hunters. A buffalo’s stomach is, not surprisingly,
immense. It and other organs deemed inedible or unpalatable by
civilized humans provide a huge source of nutrients to scavengers
like ravens and coyotes, those remarkable animals so well adapted to
the destruction of our species. I can’t help but feel that the land
is remembering the buffalo, that ravens are rejoicing and the coyotes
singing.
In fact, we are seeing glimpses of the relationship buffalo used to
have with the land, with its inhabitants, with homo sapiens. To the
indigenous people of this continent, the buffalo provided almost
everything they needed. Obviously, their muscles were food, but
nearly every other part of the buffalo was usable, too. Hides were
turned into clothes and lodge coverings, hooves made into glue, and
bones transformed into tools and weapons. The people who depended on
the buffalo honored them by making ornaments out of inedible parts of
the animal.
And I’ve been thinking a lot about our culture’s relationships with
the environment. It seems we don’t honor the earth so much as gloat
over its destruction. Giant “trophy” bull buffalo are sought,
seemingly only because a bigger head on a den wall is more
impressive. In our society bigger is better, and if the hunter killed
the biggest bull they could find, well that must reflect well on its
owner. Obviously, not all hunters have this mind set, hopefully not
most. But all things are related. The sort of thinking that deems
the biggest stuffed buffalo head as an accomplishment is the same
thinking that sees a buffalo hunt without habitat as a step forward.
Humans could once again respectfully play a role in the great cycle
of life. We once again could depend on the gifts that the buffalo
bring, as they give back to their surroundings, enriching the plains
where only their ghosts or livestock now range. But that cannot
happen until we allow them to migrate where they need and want to go.
For me, the issue isn’t so much about humans hunting buffalo as about
not allowing them any habitat to be their wild and free selves.
The hunt period is an interesting time for the campaign, as the
issues and situations that arise are no longer completely black and
white. Some volunteers and BFC-supporters are against hunting, but
for others, a diatribe against hunting buffalo might seem
hypocritical, as they hunt other animals (however, those animals have
year-round habitat and healthy populations). Yet, the key point that
unifies all of us during this time is our desire for buffalo habitat.
We all want a healthy population of buffalo to be permitted outside
of Yellowstone National Park. We want a restoration of the
reciprocal relationship between buffalo and this ecosystem. We all
have reverence for the incredulity of buffalo, and we each have so
much to learn from them.
And just as our feelings about hunting are not necessarily black and
white, so too are the labels “them” and “us” difficult to assign. In
this past week the relationship between hunters and the campaign grew
stronger. At first glance, it may seem a strange alliance, but
hunters are critical to the buffalo issue. Hunter lobbies are
powerful and integral in the protection of wildlife and the
preservation of wildlife habitat. BFC volunteers worked diligently
this past weekend to converse with hunters. We explained our cause
and our vision for bison, and in most cases, we were received
positively. Our discussions worked to break down barriers and dispel
our image as “enemy,” while also reminding many of us at the campaign
that buffalo hunters are people, not just folks with guns. Patrols
dispensed BFC newsletters and information, with promises from some
hunters to check out our website and press the appropriate people for
greater tolerance and habitat for the buffalo.
Though these buffalo are temporarily allowed outside of the Park,
once February 15 arrives and the hunting season ends, so too will
this tolerance for them. Hazing, capture and slaughter operations
will resume with promises of an egregious spring season. (We’d like
to take this opportunity to encourage hunters and conservationists to
push for expanded year-round habitat for buffalo.)
While we don’t want to overshadow these promising interactions, it
was a difficult week, as hunters killed eleven buffalo. All but one
were killed on Horse Butte, reminding those at campaign of the mixed
blessing a buffalo presence on Horse Butte brings this time of year.
Not all of Horse Butte peninsula is open to buffalo hunting,
something we are discovering many hunters have not been made aware
of. On Sunday, a series of hunting parties with mislabeled maps set
their sights on a group of buffalo, peacefully grazing in a 75 acre
Forest Service eagle closure on the peninsula. BFC patrols were
there, ready to inform the hunters of the closure. It was a reminder
of the important role our presence in the field can play during this
hunt period.
All in all, this was a difficult weekend-so many buffalo were killed
in such a condensed period of time. But we want to end this update
by noting that the death of a buffalo is not only a negative. With a
consecutive presence in the field, volunteers were able to witness
the cycle of life. It was an incredible lesson, arguably even a
gift, to watch a fresh gut pile feed hundreds of ravens. It was a
lesson in the complexities of nature and of bodies. We experienced
the puzzle-like structure of internal organs, able to then watch them
be disassembled and eventually disappear. We are not just out in the
field counting gut piles; we are also out in the field witnessing a
microcosm of life itself.
Roam Free!
Miriam and Dru
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* BFC Needs Gear & Volunteers
Hey Buffalo Supporters! So here we are again in the middle of a
beautiful Montana winter. The winter brings extreme cold and snow.
Volunteers here at the Campaign are blessed to be able to spend our
days in the field with the Bison. But not all that time is so
joyful. The winter also brings the hunt and the hunt is in full
swing. It seems as if Bison are being shot everyday. We are out
here though, to monitor, document and educate to the best of our
ability. This can lead to very long and cold days for volunteers.
While volunteers are in short supply, like right now, people often
need to stay out all day to fill patrols. We are lucky enough to be
fairly well stocked with cold weather gear but over the years some of
these supplies have worn out or just plain fallen apart.
Some of the less abundant items we all share on a daily basis. We
have less than ten pairs of skis for our current seventeen
volunteers. We have only one pair of ski boots for volunteers with
size twelve feet. So those people (myself included) share those
boots and they are worn constantly. Buffalo Field Campaign is in
serious need of: compatible cross-country ski and boot sets (boot
sizes 11- 13 needed), ski poles (various sizes), heavy-weight wool
pants (sizes 38-42 need), extreme cold weather mittens and mitten
shells. If you have any of these things and are not using them, or
if you have connections to companies or stores that make or sell
these products, anything you can do will help us to further maintain
our presence in the field. These things make an average winter day in
Montana so much easier for a volunteer.
Another thing we are in desperate need of at camp is PEOPLE!! If you
have the time and desire get a hold of our volunteer coordinator at
volunteer@buffalofieldcampaign.org. Talk to her about coming out, then get yourself to Bozeman and come
down to help us defend our nation’s last population of wild bison.
As always, thank you so much for your continuing support and concern
for the Buffalo. Inquiries about gear can be sent to gear@buffalofieldcampaign.org
and any donations of gear can be mailed to:
BFC-Gear,
P.O. Box 957,
West Yellowstone, MT 5975.
Hope to hear from and see you all soon.
Lots of Buffa-luv!!!
Arlo
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* Send Your Valentine(s) Some BuffaLove
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, BFC is once again offering you
the opportunity to send an original, hand-crafted card to the special
people in your life. Our card is appropriate for all relationships,
it lets the recipient(s) know that you are a person of compassion and
good heart, and most importantly, it raises critical funds for
Buffalo Field Campaign, allowing us to continue the important work of
defending America’s last free-roaming, wild bison.
For a minimum donation of $15.00 we will send a special 4-1/4″ x
5-1/2″ Valentine featuring a photo to your special someone. The cards
contain brief information on BFC and our work and a special
love-inspired inscription.
Card orders must be received by Monday, February 4; please order
early. We’ll time the mailing to arrive by Valentine’s Day. To order,
just click on this link:
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1807,
donate a minimum of $15, scroll down to “Valentine Card,” then move
below to the “Valentine Info Box” and write the recipient’s name and
address as well as how you would like the card signed. To complete,
scroll down and fill in general and credit card info into the secure
server.
If you’d rather pay through the mail, send a check along with the
name and address of your Valentine and how you’d like the card signed
to: BFC, PO Box 957, West Yellowstone, MT 59758.
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* Proposed Bison Plan for Wyoming – A recipe for Mismanagement
In mid-December, after 222 bison had been killed by hunters, the
first and most deadly bison hunt in nearly twenty years came to a
close on the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The hunt
was initiated based on a long-term elk and bison management plan
developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park
Service. The plan calls for the reduction in the Jackson Hole bison
population from nearly 1,200 to 500 through hunting to reduce bison
population densities, decrease the potential for disease
transmission, and to ostensibly improve habitat conditions – benefits
that will not be realized under the current federal plan.
Though the federal agencies are quick to publicly blame bison for
causing impacts to native vegetation, their plan fails to provide
evidence to match their rhetoric. Despite this and a woeful analysis
of the impacts of their management plan on bison and other wildlife,
the federal agencies have made bison the scapegoat for decades of
mismanagement whereby the bison and elk were supplementally fed on
the refuge allowing the herds to grow.
Instead of phasing out feeding – as most scientists, conservation
organizations, and even the U.S. Department of Agriculture
recommended – to reduce the threat of disease transmission and to
subject the populations to more natural conditions, the federal
agencies selected an alternative that may allow feeding to continue
indefinitely. This decision was entirely politically motivated for
the purpose of placating the State of Wyoming which has steadfastly
objected to any phase out of supplemental feeding (on the refuge or
on its state elk feedgrounds) despite the significant wildlife
disease threats posed by Wyoming’s feeding operations.
Though the National Elk Refuge bison hunt ended over a month ago, the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department (Department) is now proposing to
decide in February its management objective for the size of the
Jackson bison herd. This determination should have been made before
the bison hunt began. In its haste to initiate a hunt, however, the
Department, which cooperated in the development of the federal plan,
elected to delay such a decision until now. To justify its decision,
the Department published a Draft Brucellosis Management Action Plan
for the Jackson Bison Herd in December 2007. Its plan describes what
actions will be taken to address the risk of brucellosis transmission
from Jackson bison to cattle including setting the bison herd
objective at 500 animals, maintaining separation between bison and
cattle, initiating a trial bison vaccination program, and
implementing habitat enhancement projects.
Wyoming’s plan is tiered to the same failures in the federal plan.
Not surprisingly, just as the federal plan is deficient in its
analysis, Wyoming’s plan suffers similar inadequacies. For example,
the federal plan recommended that the Jackson bison herd objective
should be 500 animals without engaging in any substantive analysis of
bison herd genetics and despite the agencies conceding that a
separate evaluation of the genetic diversity of the Jackson herd
suggested an objective of 1,000 bison. In fact, according to Gross
and Wang “a moderate bison population size – about 1000 animals – is
necessary to meet a long-term goal of achieving a 90% probability of
retaining 90% of allelic diversity for 200 years.”
Wyoming’s plan simply accepts the 500 target without engaging in an
independent analysis as to whether the available habitat can sustain
more bison or of the genetic consequences of such a small herd.
Wyoming’s plan also advocates the trial vaccination of bison with
RB51, a brucellosis vaccine, claiming that the vaccine is both safe
and effective in bison while, in a complete contradiction, conceding
that there is no scientific consensus on whether the vaccine is
effective. In fact, many scientists have likened the effectiveness
of RB51 in bison to that of vaccinating the bison with soda; that is
no measurable benefit. Until and unless the science demonstrates a
vaccine is effective, it should not be used on refuge bison.
Finally, though the Department has rarely subjected one of its elk or
bison brucellosis plans to public comment, it was required to do as
reflected in the federal plan. However, this public comment
opportunity appears to be a makework exercise as Wyoming’s plan
suggests that its decision has already been made. For example, the
plan indicates that the Department “will propose a bison population
objective of 500 in February 2008″ to its wildlife commission,
suggesting that any evidence presented questioning the 500 target is
useless and won’t change Wyoming’s decision. This is blatantly
inconsistent with the federal plan which intended for Wyoming to
engage in a meaningful public process to ensure that a genetically
viable bison herd is conserved in the Jackson Hole and Grand Teton
region.
Buffalo Field Campaign and the Animal Welfare Institute urge you to
take a few minutes to support Yellowstone’s cousins in the Jackson
bison herd. Your personal letters to the Wyoming Game and Fish
Department are urgently needed to demand that, at a minimum, the
Department set the Jackson bison herd objective at a minimum of 1,000
wild bison, that it terminate its bison hunt on the National Elk
Refuge, that it drop any plans to vaccinate bison, and that it allow
the Jackson bison herd to occupy and use all public lands in
northwestern Wyoming. Send your comments to:
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
ATTN: John Henningsen
P.O. Box 67, Jackson, WY 83001
Telefax: (307) 733-2276; E-mail:
john.henningsen@wgf.state.wy.us
The deadline for public comments is Friday, January 18, 2008 so
please act today to help protect the Jackson bison herd. For more
information contact D.J. at
DJ@awionline.org. Thanks for helping the
buffalo!
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* Photo of the Week
http://gallery.buffalofieldcampaign.org/v/photo_of_the_week/2008-01-17.html
Wild buffalo on Horse Butte. Photo by Jesse Crocker, the Merlyn of BFC.
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* Last Words
“In this place that i call home
My brain’s the cliff, and my heart’s the bitter buffalo
My heart’s the bitter buffalo…”
~ Isaac Brock, Modest Mouse
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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
in defense of the last wild buffalo in the U.S.
Stay informed! Get our weekly email Updates from the Field:
Send your email address to
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BOYCOTT BEEF! It’s what’s killing wild buffalo
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Speak Out! Contact politicians and involved agencies today:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html
Write a Letter to the Editor of key newspapers:
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It’s free and easy.
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/support/recycleprint.html.
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