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Dear Buffalo Friends,

Buffalo blood continues to spill along the west and north boundaries
of Yellowstone National Park. As of this writing, 102 of America's
last wild bison have been killed in the so-called hunt. While the
Nez Perce began their hunt a little over a week ago, all the kills
this week have been by state hunters, with two killed in Gardiner and
the rest here in West Yellowstone. It has been hard on volunteers,
spending sacred time with these gentle creatures and being awestruck
by their majesty and presence on the landscape, only to watch them
fall to the bullet one after another. We can only hope that the
hunters we have spoken with will realize the obligation they have to
the future of wild buffalo and that they will become strong advocates
for year-round buffalo habitat in Montana. It is hard to imagine
that we've already lost 102 American bison to the hunt, and the
hazing/capture/slaughter season is just around the corner. All of
this buffalo death is explicitly to benefit the economic interests of
Montana's livestock industry.

Gardiner patrols based along Yellowstone's northern boundary have
seen a lot of buffalo mismanagement activity this week. On Monday,
36 wild buffalo were hazed by Montana Department of Livestock and
Yellowstone park rangers off of Church Universal & Triumphant (CUT)
land, back to the Arch in Yellowstone National Park. On Wednesday 49
buffalo were hazed by the same agents from the Stephens Creek bison
trap area - inside Yellowstone National Park - and back to the same
location. But today was the kicker in Gardiner. This morning a
group of 10 buffalo were hazed by the same cowboys off of CUT land to
a place in the park called Powerline Flats, and these buffalo are
currently being hazed deeper into the Park as I write. Then, again
this morning, BFC patrols monitored a haze that really underscores
the absurdity of calling Montana's buffalo hunt "fair chase." There
was a group of 12 buffalo that had crossed east, over the Yellowstone
River, and were found grazing within a cattle pasture owned by a
local outfitter who has a mere 25-head of cows on his land. The DOL
sounded dramatic when they told us that "the only thing standing
between the buffalo and these cows were the agents on the ground."

Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) and Yellowstone National Park
rangers claim they attempted to haze this group of buffalo back
across the river, but the buffalo didn't want to go that way. The
agents decided to push them instead to Highway 89 which runs
north/south through the town of Gardiner and into Yellowstone
National Park. The ridiculous thing was, the agents didn't try to
move the buffalo along the highway and back into the Park, which
would have been the easier and safer route for the buffalo. Instead,
they pushed them east and right up towards the hunt zone.
Incredible! The Department of Livestock claims that the buffalo
moved in that direction "of their own accord" yet since when do these
bison harassers ever let the buffalo chose their own direction? So,
the agents - DOL and National Park Service - moved the buffalo up
into the Travertine area of Gallatin National Forest, where the hunt
is currently taking place. And they want to call it a 'fair chase'
hunt.

After Gardiner patrols called to tell us this news, Arlo and I were
on the phones quickly, calling various agencies and trying to find
out what was going on. Why were the Park Service and Department of
Livestock hazing buffalo into the hunt zone, and why wasn't the hunt
being shut down during this operation? Why didn't the agents make an
effort to move them along the highway and back into the Park instead?
Why was the NPS even involved in pushing wild bison off of private
land into a hunt zone? The agencies had excuse after excuse and no
good explanation.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at first confirmed that, yes, the
agents were going to push buffalo into the hunt zone. When we asked
if this was legal, they said "it's not illegal." Not illegal for
livestock agents and Yellowstone Park employees to push members of
America's last wild bison population into the hunt zone where they
can be shot? How in the world can they call this hunt "fair chase"
when the DOL and NPS are both interrupting and enabling it by forcing
buffalo into an area to be killed? There's nothing fair about the
way wild buffalo are treated in Montana. When we asked why they
didn't shut the hunt down for this hazing operation, they said that
they didn't because they don't have a game warden on the ground and
therefore didn't know if there were any hunters in the area. Glad to
know our wildlife is being protected! We told them there were,
indeed, hunters around, that we had seen them the day before.
Ironically, Gardiner has had less of a "successful" bison harvest
than they usually do because, until today, no thanks to the DOL and
NPS, there just hadn't been many buffalo moving into that area.
Amazing, to have an ongoing hunt and no wildlife agency out to
monitor the situation. Anything can happen. It seems BFC is doing
aspects of their job for them, as we are out there every day
monitoring the buffalo and the situations they face. NOTE: Just
before this Update was complete, we got a call from FWP saying that
they had met and agreed that this haze was not in the spirit of the
hunt, and they have subsequently placed an emergency closure in a
portion of this hunt zone. Though these buffalo, if they remain in
the hunt zone, are still in danger due to the DOL's actions, this
closure was the right move for FWP to make. No state hunters may
kill bison west of Eagle Creek until Saturday morning and first
shooting light. The closure does not apply to the Nez Perce, who are
hunting under treaty right. You can read FWP's press release about
the emergency closure here: http://fwp.mt.gov/news/article_6469.aspx

When we spoke with Yellowstone National Park officials and asked them
what was going on, they basically told us "we're just out supporting
this operation." How shameful for our National Park Service
employees to assist Montana livestock agents in harassing wild bison
by pushing them into a hunt zone. Then again, the Park Service
doesn't blink an eye at capturing, killing and quarantining the last
wild herd in the U.S. As Suzanne Lewis put it to us last year, her
biggest nightmare is a brucellosis transmission from wild bison to
cattle. The death of these sacred buffalo under her watch should be
the nightmare, and the fact that it isn't let's us all know that
something is very, very wrong.

Both FWP and the NPS said they had no decision-making in this hazing
operation, yet the DOL claims that it was an "Interagency decision."
Who's telling the truth? It's time to give these agencies a call
and let them know you are not falling for these cattle
industry-induced, taxpayer-funded government shenanigans
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html.

Then there were the conversations with the Department of Livestock.
Arlo and I spoke with both the Montana State Vet Marty Zalusky and
the new Public Information Officer Steve Merritt, neither of whom
knew any details as to what their agents were conducting on the
ground. Later, after the hazing operation ended, they called Arlo
and ran through the list of excuses that make them get away scott
free every single time: They said the haze stopped 300 yards away
from the hunt zone, so that's why there was no need to call off the
hunt. But the buffalo kept walking towards the hunt zone, so in
effect, yes, they did haze them into it. And that's when they gave
us the line about the buffalo deciding to move to the hunt zone on
their own, and that's why they didn't try to push them back towards
the Park. The DOL also tried to use a little scare tactic with us,
telling us that one of the options they considered today was
capturing the buffalo instead. Are we supposed to be thankful, then,
that they hazed them into the hunt zone instead?

All in all it was an afternoon of frustrated government
mismanagement. If it weren't so tragic and real it could almost be
funny. This operation has unnecessarily placed a family group of
wild bison in danger, all for the sake of a handful of invasive
cattle and the thoughtless actions of livestock agents. How in the
world can any of these agencies hope to save face for the actions
they take against wild bison. Their actions will go down in history;
we are making sure of that. They hunt them, they haze them, they
capture, test, slaughter, quarantine, vaccinate.... we must put an
end to these negative actions; we must realize our positive vision of
wild buffalo on the landscape and help them reclaim their North
American home.

The Montana bison hunt ends a week from tomorrow, on February 15, and
on the 16th the Department of Livestock and cooperating agencies will
begin to be out in force to chase what wild buffalo remain in Montana
back into Yellowstone's harsh winter country. Next week, with your
help, we will put the pressure on. See below for details.

Thank you for being with us in solidarity for the wild buffalo.

Roam Free!
~Stephany