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Lawsuit Filed in Response to Yellowstone Wild Bison Capture
Yellowstone National Park started trapping wild buffalo for slaughter on Thursday. Buffalo Field Campaign and Friends of Animals Wildlife Law Program have filed a law suit in response.
BUFFALO FIELD CAMPAIGN, FRIENDS OF ANIMALS FILE LAWSUIT IN RESPONSE TO YELLOWSTONE BISON CAPTURE AND SLAUGHTER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 15, 2015
Contacts:
Stephany Seay, Media Coordinator, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0071
Mike Harris, Director, Wildlife Law Program, Friends of Animals; 720.949.7791
(GARDINER BASIN, MT) At least 145 of America's last wild, migratory bison have already been captured inside Yellowstone National Park's Stephens Creek bison trap this week as a result of the park and other entities working under the controversial Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP). They intend to kill upwards of 900 of the gentle giants under the guise of population control and "disease risk management," even though there has never been a documented case of a wild bison transmitting brucellosis-a bacterial disease that affects livestock and wildlife-to cattle.
In response, Friends of Animals (FoA) Wildlife Law Program and the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) filed a lawsuit Jan. 15 against the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for allowing the horrific roundup to proceed and failing to respond to an emergency rulemaking petition filed Sept. 15 by the two groups to protect the genetic diversity and viability of the bison of Yellowstone National Park.
FoA and BFC requested that the NPS and USFS undertake a population study and revise the IBMP to correct scientific deficiencies, make the plan consistent with the best available science and follow the legal mandates the U.S. Congress has set. Until then, the groups requested that the capture, removal or killing of bison at the Stephens Creek area of Yellowstone National Park and the Horse Butte area of the Gallatin National Forest be prohibited.
"This is a profoundly tragic event," said Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign spokeswoman. "These buffalo are a national treasure, a native keystone species beloved the world over, and are the most important bison population in the world. Yellowstone should be preventing harm to the buffalo, not bending over backwards for cattle interests by participating in their destruction."
"We want to make sure that each herd has a viable population number so that we are not starting to degrade the species," said Mike Harris, director of Friends of Animals' Wildlife Law Program. "Right now they are managing the numbers based largely upon misinformation regarding the genetic viability of the herds. They are using data that doesn't match up with what is the actual status of the herd populations in the park. The petition asked that the federal agencies responsible for protecting these animals make an effort to establish stronger scientific criteria to protect the viability of the remaining Yellowstone herds, and to stop slaughtering the last 4,000 genetically pure bison left in the United States."
The IBMP was designed to be an adaptive management plan allowing for greater tolerance for bison as new information becomes available and conditions on the ground change, but no such tolerance has been afforded to the bison.
Every winter and spring, snow and ice cover the bison's food and hunger pushes them to lower elevations across the park boundary in Montana. When they cross this arbitrary line, the buffalo enter a zone of violent conflict with ranchers. Last winter 653 bison were slaughtered, and back in the winter of 2007/2008, the largest scale wild buffalo slaughter, claimed the lives of 1,631 animals. At the turn of the 20th century, similar reckless behavior nearly drove bison to extinction.
"The IBMP currently is heavily weighted in favor of protecting the profits of the livestock industry at the expense and peril of our nation's only continuously wild bison population," Brister said. "Slaughtering wild bison is the livestock industry's way of eliminating competition and maintaining control of grazing lands surrounding Yellowstone National Park and across the west."
And the livestock industry wants to keep the public in the dark about it. Yellowstone, for the second year under Superintendent Dan Wenk's leadership, is shrouding its current bison capture operations in secrecy. During a recent phone call with the park's public information officer Al Nash, BFC was told that the number of bison captured would not be given, and that the park would send out reports every other week, rather than openly disclose their activities to the public and media on a daily basis as was the practice prior to Wenk holding his position.
"Obviously they don't want the public to see or know what they are doing," said Brister. "They know what they are doing is wrong and they know the public would rise up in outrage if they were able to see the horrors that happen to the buffalo inside the Stephens Creek trap."
###
West Yellowstone, Montana-based Buffalo Field Campaign is a non-profit public interest organization founded in 1997 to protect the natural habitat of wild migratory buffalo and native wildlife, stop the slaughter of America's last wild buffalo and advocate for their lasting protection, and work with people of all nations to honor the sacredness of wild bison. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
Darien, Conn.-based Friends of Animals, an international animal protection organization founded in 1957, advocates for the rights of animals, free-living and domestic around the world. http://www.friendsofanimals.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 15, 2015
Contacts:
Stephany Seay, Media Coordinator, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0071
Mike Harris, Director, Wildlife Law Program, Friends of Animals; 720.949.7791
(GARDINER BASIN, MT) At least 145 of America's last wild, migratory bison have already been captured inside Yellowstone National Park's Stephens Creek bison trap this week as a result of the park and other entities working under the controversial Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP). They intend to kill upwards of 900 of the gentle giants under the guise of population control and "disease risk management," even though there has never been a documented case of a wild bison transmitting brucellosis-a bacterial disease that affects livestock and wildlife-to cattle.
In response, Friends of Animals (FoA) Wildlife Law Program and the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) filed a lawsuit Jan. 15 against the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for allowing the horrific roundup to proceed and failing to respond to an emergency rulemaking petition filed Sept. 15 by the two groups to protect the genetic diversity and viability of the bison of Yellowstone National Park.
FoA and BFC requested that the NPS and USFS undertake a population study and revise the IBMP to correct scientific deficiencies, make the plan consistent with the best available science and follow the legal mandates the U.S. Congress has set. Until then, the groups requested that the capture, removal or killing of bison at the Stephens Creek area of Yellowstone National Park and the Horse Butte area of the Gallatin National Forest be prohibited.
"This is a profoundly tragic event," said Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign spokeswoman. "These buffalo are a national treasure, a native keystone species beloved the world over, and are the most important bison population in the world. Yellowstone should be preventing harm to the buffalo, not bending over backwards for cattle interests by participating in their destruction."
"We want to make sure that each herd has a viable population number so that we are not starting to degrade the species," said Mike Harris, director of Friends of Animals' Wildlife Law Program. "Right now they are managing the numbers based largely upon misinformation regarding the genetic viability of the herds. They are using data that doesn't match up with what is the actual status of the herd populations in the park. The petition asked that the federal agencies responsible for protecting these animals make an effort to establish stronger scientific criteria to protect the viability of the remaining Yellowstone herds, and to stop slaughtering the last 4,000 genetically pure bison left in the United States."
The IBMP was designed to be an adaptive management plan allowing for greater tolerance for bison as new information becomes available and conditions on the ground change, but no such tolerance has been afforded to the bison.
Every winter and spring, snow and ice cover the bison's food and hunger pushes them to lower elevations across the park boundary in Montana. When they cross this arbitrary line, the buffalo enter a zone of violent conflict with ranchers. Last winter 653 bison were slaughtered, and back in the winter of 2007/2008, the largest scale wild buffalo slaughter, claimed the lives of 1,631 animals. At the turn of the 20th century, similar reckless behavior nearly drove bison to extinction.
"The IBMP currently is heavily weighted in favor of protecting the profits of the livestock industry at the expense and peril of our nation's only continuously wild bison population," Brister said. "Slaughtering wild bison is the livestock industry's way of eliminating competition and maintaining control of grazing lands surrounding Yellowstone National Park and across the west."
And the livestock industry wants to keep the public in the dark about it. Yellowstone, for the second year under Superintendent Dan Wenk's leadership, is shrouding its current bison capture operations in secrecy. During a recent phone call with the park's public information officer Al Nash, BFC was told that the number of bison captured would not be given, and that the park would send out reports every other week, rather than openly disclose their activities to the public and media on a daily basis as was the practice prior to Wenk holding his position.
"Obviously they don't want the public to see or know what they are doing," said Brister. "They know what they are doing is wrong and they know the public would rise up in outrage if they were able to see the horrors that happen to the buffalo inside the Stephens Creek trap."
###
West Yellowstone, Montana-based Buffalo Field Campaign is a non-profit public interest organization founded in 1997 to protect the natural habitat of wild migratory buffalo and native wildlife, stop the slaughter of America's last wild buffalo and advocate for their lasting protection, and work with people of all nations to honor the sacredness of wild bison. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
Darien, Conn.-based Friends of Animals, an international animal protection organization founded in 1957, advocates for the rights of animals, free-living and domestic around the world. http://www.friendsofanimals.org
For more information:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
Add Your Comments
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For the record, the following was posted on January 15 to Yellowstone National Park's Facebook page:
Yellowstone National Park has begun bison capture operations at its Stephens Creek facility near the park’s North entrance.
Members of the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) agreed to an operating plan that targets the removal of 800 to 900 bison that migrate out of the park’s northern boundary this winter to reduce population growth and to reduce the potential for a mass migration of bison into Montana.
Federal, state, and tribal members of the IBMP have agreed to use hunting as the primary method for removing bison from the population. This winter, hunting in Montana is expected to remove up to 350 bison from the population, while an additional 500 to 600 animals that leave the park boundary may be captured and transferred to tribal groups for processing and distribution of meat and other parts to their members for nutrition and cultural practices.
For safety reasons, the area around the Stephens Creek facility is closed to the public until further notice. A map and information on the closure is available for public review during normal business hours at the Superintendent’s Office, the Chief Ranger’s Office, and the temporary Visitor Center in Mammoth Hot Springs.
In 2000, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior and the Governor of Montana signed a court-mediated agreement that included guidelines to limit the bison population in Yellowstone to around 3,000 animals. The removal of bison from the northern breeding herd during each of the next several winters will progress towards that guideline.
The cooperating agencies operating under the IBMP are the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Montana Department of Livestock, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the InterTribal Buffalo Council, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the Nez Perce Tribe.
The IBMP has been successful at conserving a wild, wide-ranging population of bison, with no detected transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle. Its partners will continue to work together to ensure the effective management of Yellowstone bison.
Information on the IBMP is available online at http://www.ibmp.info. Additional information about Yellowstone bison and their management can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bison.htm.
----------------
These are just a few of the most 'liked' comments in response:
"BOOOOOO!!!!! And the problem with letting the bison roam wherever they will is what? Why do we continue to be so arrogant and feel that we must interfere with nature at any level? Just let them roam!!!!! No more hunting!!!! It is absolutely incredulous to me that we've gone to great lengths to restore their numbers only now to turn around and hunt them. Are you freaking kidding me, disgusting!"
"Its pretty embarrassing when a few wealthy cattleman can dictate to the park service to kill off a national treasure."
"There is no justifiable reason not to let the bison roam from the park. Go to Buffalo Field Campaign & look up Brucellosis in Wild Bison Fact Sheet. It's total BS to claim the bison present a threat to cattle. The elk present much more of a hazard with this disease. We don't kill them when they roam out of Yellowstone. Shame on Yellowstone Park management for caving in to ranching interests. You are supposed to be there for promotion of wildlife & environment in Yellowstone not to help the ranchers expand their herds. Stop the slaughter!!"
"From millions to this. Pretty sad state of affairs"
Yellowstone National Park has begun bison capture operations at its Stephens Creek facility near the park’s North entrance.
Members of the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) agreed to an operating plan that targets the removal of 800 to 900 bison that migrate out of the park’s northern boundary this winter to reduce population growth and to reduce the potential for a mass migration of bison into Montana.
Federal, state, and tribal members of the IBMP have agreed to use hunting as the primary method for removing bison from the population. This winter, hunting in Montana is expected to remove up to 350 bison from the population, while an additional 500 to 600 animals that leave the park boundary may be captured and transferred to tribal groups for processing and distribution of meat and other parts to their members for nutrition and cultural practices.
For safety reasons, the area around the Stephens Creek facility is closed to the public until further notice. A map and information on the closure is available for public review during normal business hours at the Superintendent’s Office, the Chief Ranger’s Office, and the temporary Visitor Center in Mammoth Hot Springs.
In 2000, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior and the Governor of Montana signed a court-mediated agreement that included guidelines to limit the bison population in Yellowstone to around 3,000 animals. The removal of bison from the northern breeding herd during each of the next several winters will progress towards that guideline.
The cooperating agencies operating under the IBMP are the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Montana Department of Livestock, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the InterTribal Buffalo Council, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the Nez Perce Tribe.
The IBMP has been successful at conserving a wild, wide-ranging population of bison, with no detected transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle. Its partners will continue to work together to ensure the effective management of Yellowstone bison.
Information on the IBMP is available online at http://www.ibmp.info. Additional information about Yellowstone bison and their management can be found at http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/bison.htm.
----------------
These are just a few of the most 'liked' comments in response:
"BOOOOOO!!!!! And the problem with letting the bison roam wherever they will is what? Why do we continue to be so arrogant and feel that we must interfere with nature at any level? Just let them roam!!!!! No more hunting!!!! It is absolutely incredulous to me that we've gone to great lengths to restore their numbers only now to turn around and hunt them. Are you freaking kidding me, disgusting!"
"Its pretty embarrassing when a few wealthy cattleman can dictate to the park service to kill off a national treasure."
"There is no justifiable reason not to let the bison roam from the park. Go to Buffalo Field Campaign & look up Brucellosis in Wild Bison Fact Sheet. It's total BS to claim the bison present a threat to cattle. The elk present much more of a hazard with this disease. We don't kill them when they roam out of Yellowstone. Shame on Yellowstone Park management for caving in to ranching interests. You are supposed to be there for promotion of wildlife & environment in Yellowstone not to help the ranchers expand their herds. Stop the slaughter!!"
"From millions to this. Pretty sad state of affairs"
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/YellowstoneNPS/po...
Please contact Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk and tell him to release the buffalo and to cease further capture operations.
dan_wenk [at] nps.gov
yell_superintendent [at] nps.gov
307-344-2002
America's last wild buffalo are right now being trapped for slaughter along Yellowstone's northern boundary. These capture for slaughter operations are happening even as state and treaty hunters are shooting buffalo that migrate into Montana. Such management actions are driven by Montana's bison-intolerant livestock industry, intolerance that is codified in the statute: MCA 81-2-120, a law crafted by the livestock industry that needs to be repealed.
This is what takes place in Yellowstone's Stephens Creek bison trap, where members of America's last wild buffalo population are being held:
[ See photos at: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/actionalert011515.html ]
[ Fear and torture in the squeeze chute of the trap. Injuries are caused, families torn apart, as buffalo are run through the gauntlet then shipped to slaughter simply because cattle interests refuse to share the land. National Park Service photos. ]
Yellowstone is again being very secretive and refuse to disclose how many buffalo have so far been captured. Buffalo Field Campaign patrols in Gardiner were able to get a count of approximately 145 buffalo in an outer holding pen.
Yellowstone's press release states that they aim to remove "800 to 900 bison that migrate out of the park's northern boundary this winter to reduce population growth and to reduce the potential for a mass migration of bison into Montana."
With all of the holes in their brucellosis argument, they are now killing ecologically extinct wild buffalo in the name of population control.
The Yellowstone buffalo are America's last wild, migratory herds and the most important bison population that exists. They are the last to identify as a wildlife species and are ecologically extinct throughout their native range. They've been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List for being "threatened with near extinction," and even Montana designates the species "in greatest conservation need" with conditions "making [bison] vulnerable to global extinction."
Buffalo Field Campaign and Friends of Animals Wildlife Law Program filed an emergency rule-making petition with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service to stop Yellowstone's planned slaughter before it had a chance to begin. This petition was filed in September, and, to date, has been completely ignored by the government.
TAKE ACTION TODAY and please urge your friends, family and colleagues to do so as well. Thank you! Below are more images of what wild buffalo suffer in Yellowstone's Stephens Creek bison trap:
[ See photos at: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/actionalert011515.html ]
Wild is the Way ~ Roam Free!
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media [at] wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
dan_wenk [at] nps.gov
yell_superintendent [at] nps.gov
307-344-2002
America's last wild buffalo are right now being trapped for slaughter along Yellowstone's northern boundary. These capture for slaughter operations are happening even as state and treaty hunters are shooting buffalo that migrate into Montana. Such management actions are driven by Montana's bison-intolerant livestock industry, intolerance that is codified in the statute: MCA 81-2-120, a law crafted by the livestock industry that needs to be repealed.
This is what takes place in Yellowstone's Stephens Creek bison trap, where members of America's last wild buffalo population are being held:
[ See photos at: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/actionalert011515.html ]
[ Fear and torture in the squeeze chute of the trap. Injuries are caused, families torn apart, as buffalo are run through the gauntlet then shipped to slaughter simply because cattle interests refuse to share the land. National Park Service photos. ]
Yellowstone is again being very secretive and refuse to disclose how many buffalo have so far been captured. Buffalo Field Campaign patrols in Gardiner were able to get a count of approximately 145 buffalo in an outer holding pen.
Yellowstone's press release states that they aim to remove "800 to 900 bison that migrate out of the park's northern boundary this winter to reduce population growth and to reduce the potential for a mass migration of bison into Montana."
With all of the holes in their brucellosis argument, they are now killing ecologically extinct wild buffalo in the name of population control.
The Yellowstone buffalo are America's last wild, migratory herds and the most important bison population that exists. They are the last to identify as a wildlife species and are ecologically extinct throughout their native range. They've been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List for being "threatened with near extinction," and even Montana designates the species "in greatest conservation need" with conditions "making [bison] vulnerable to global extinction."
Buffalo Field Campaign and Friends of Animals Wildlife Law Program filed an emergency rule-making petition with the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service to stop Yellowstone's planned slaughter before it had a chance to begin. This petition was filed in September, and, to date, has been completely ignored by the government.
TAKE ACTION TODAY and please urge your friends, family and colleagues to do so as well. Thank you! Below are more images of what wild buffalo suffer in Yellowstone's Stephens Creek bison trap:
[ See photos at: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/actionalert011515.html ]
Wild is the Way ~ Roam Free!
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media [at] wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
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