Mourning the Loss of Our Friends

Ken Cole on Jun 18th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
June 18, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field - Four Bulls Killed by Agents
* Our Friend Frog: BFC Celebrates His Life, Mourns His Passing
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Filed in Brucellosis, Buffalo, Montana Department of Livestock, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet

Helicopters continue harassing all kinds of wildlife inside Yellowstone National Park

Ken Cole on May 30th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
May 28, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* Help BFC Help the Buffalo
* Ground the DOL’s Helicopter: Contact the FAA
* Traditional Prayer Ceremony on Horse Butte May 31
* Support the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act
* BFC Needs Summer Volunteers in Yellowstone
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

NOTE: This will be the last weekly Update from the Field of this season. Updates will come every other week or as often as necessary to convey urgent news. Thanks for being with us for the buffalo!
~ Buffalo Field Campaign

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* Update from the Field

These buffalo calves, hazed yesterday inside Yellowstone, are struggling to make it across the Madison Rivers strong spring currents.  Some barely made it.  Photo by BFC volunteer Lake.

These buffalo calves, hazed yesterday inside Yellowstone, are struggling to make it across the Madison River's strong spring currents. Some barely made it. Photo by BFC volunteer Lake.

Since our last update, agents have been harassing bison every day. As I write, bison are once again being chased off of cattle-free Horse Butte, forced off of private lands where they are welcome, and off of public lands habitat where there will never be any cattle. Today, DOL agents again violated the private property rights of the Galanis family, using their helicopter, flying extremely low, to haze bison off the 800-acre buffalo safe zone. Buffalo have even been repeatedly shoved off of grassy meadows within Yellowstone National Park, deeper into the park’s interior to “make room” for the bison being hazed off of surrounding Gallatin National Forest lands.

Using U.S. tax dollars, Montana livestock inspectors bask in their assumed taxpayer-funded power while all the involved agencies cooperate, betraying the public trust and the wildlife and wild lands in their care, as they terrorize this unique facet of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Neither buffalo-friendly private lands, Gallatin National Forest, nor Yellowstone National Park are safe places for buffalo - livestock interests, including Yellowstone National Park, are seeing to it that buffalo have no sanctuary.

BFC documents Yellowstone National Park rangers hazing wild bison within the park.  Photo by BFC volunteer Lake.

BFC documents Yellowstone National Park rangers hazing wild bison within the park. Photo by BFC volunteer Lake.

Yellowstone National Park willingly plays into the DOL’s hands, ignoring their mission “to protect park resources unimpaired,” and allowing these atrocities to occur within park boundaries. Yellowstone allows agents on horseback and the DOL’s helicopter to force wild bison off the ground they choose to be on, right in front of the eyes of park visitors. They create hours-long traffic jams, and when questioned by park visitors they misrepresent the issue and act as if they are doing the buffalo a favor, claiming that if hazing didn’t occur, the DOL would kill the buffalo. But Yellowstone participates in slaughter as well as hazing, and last year, of the 1,600 killed, they were responsible for the death of 1,400 wild bison. Hazing can also kill, and it certainly causes intense stress and injury to the buffalo. Injuries have been numerous, and the overall condition of the buffalo we have seen has been deteriorating since hazing activities began.

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Filed in Brucellosis, Buffalo, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Montana Department of Livestock, Montana Stockgrowers Association, National Park Service | No responses yet

Hazing Continues, More Calves Injured.

Ken Cole on May 26th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
May 21, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* Complain to FAA About the DOL’s Helicopter Use
* Traditional Prayer Ceremony on Horse Butte May 31
* Join BFC on the Front Lines
* Thank You! BFC’s Media Crew Receives Laptops
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Filed in Buffalo, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Department of Livestock, Montana Stockgrowers Association, Politicians, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet

5/14/09 Montana Department of Livestock chasing baby buffalo with broken leg.

Ken Cole on May 18th 2009

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Filed in Buffalo, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Department of Livestock, Montana Stockgrowers Association, National Park Service, Politicians, Politics, Private Property Rights, Yellowstone Buffalo | One response so far

Bison on Horse Butte Mercilessly Hazed out of Montana

Ken Cole on May 14th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
May 14, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* The Wild in Us
* Join the Front Lines
* BFC Media Crew Needs a Laptop
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Montana Department of Livestock Helicopter violating private property rights.  Photo by Lance Koudele

Montana Department of Livestock Helicopter violating private property rights. Photo by Lance Koudele

* Update from the Field

Though a day early, the dreaded time has come: All the buffalo have been cruelly forced off of Horse Butte.

All week patrols have been documenting the Montana Department of Livestock, Yellowstone National Park, Gallatin National Forest and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks agents carry out massive and relentless hazing operations, harassing and harming America’s last wild bison population.

Helicopter Hazing on Horse Butte.  Photo by Lance Koudele

Helicopter Hazing on Horse Butte. Photo by Lance Koudele

Photo by Lance Koudele

On Tuesday, agents were set to haze bison within Yellowstone National Park to “make room” for the bison that would be hazed off of Horse Butte. But Mother Nature had different plans: one group of bison the agents planned to target consisted of forty bulls who would follow none of the agents’ orders. An incredible hail storm assisted and the haze was called off for the day. But such luck was momentary.

Every day this week agents chased bison family groups, including newborn calves and pregnant mothers, off of the south side of the Madison River, and today they set their sights on cattle-free Horse Butte. In fact, all of the Gallatin National Forest lands where the buffalo roam are cattle free, yet livestock interests insist on assaulting them with mounted cowboys*, ATVs, local and federal law enforcement and the DOL’s helicopter.*

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Filed in Brucellosis, Buffalo, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Department of Livestock, Montana Stockgrowers Association, National Park Service, Politicians, Private Property Rights, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet

Brutal harassment of bison west of Yellowstone Park

Ken Cole on May 7th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
May 7, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field (New Video)
* BFC Needs You on the Front Lines!
* Freedom to Roam: Patagonia Features Wild Buffalo
* Apple Laptop Computer Needed for BFC’s Media Crew
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Filed in Buffalo, Montana Department of Livestock, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet

Hazing Begins: Helicopter Harasses Bison, Grizzlies

Ken Cole on Apr 30th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
April 30, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* BFC Needs You on the Front Lines!
* Calling All Horse People!
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Filed in Buffalo, Montana Department of Livestock, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet

Baby Buffalo, Grizzly Bears, & Mysterious Migration

Ken Cole on Apr 23rd 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
April 23, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* BFC Needs You on the Front Lines!
* Apple Laptop Computer Needed for BFC’s Media Crew
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Filed in Buffalo, Yellowstone Buffalo | One response so far

Bison Migration Disrupted by Highway Deaths

Ken Cole on Apr 16th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
April 16, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* Volunteers Needed Now & in the Summer!
* Food for Patrols: Donations Needed
* Celebrate Mothers: Human and Bison
* BFC Attends IBMP Meetings in Bozeman
* It Was a Blast! Bluegrass & Beyond BFC Benefit
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Filed in Buffalo, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet

Spring on the Yellowstone Boundary: Bison, Wolves, and Sandhill Cranes

Ken Cole on Apr 9th 2009

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
April 9, 2009

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field–MIxed Herds on the Move
* Mother’s Day Cards in Support of Buffalo Field Campaign
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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Filed in Brucellosis, Buffalo, Politicians, Yellowstone Buffalo | No responses yet