Join wild buffalo advocates at a benefit for Buffalo Field Campaign! Tatanka 2008 will take place in Victor, Idaho June 20-21. Events will be MC’d by BFC’s co-founder Mike Mease! Musical acts include B-Side Players, Army, MooGot2, Anthony Smith’s Trunk Fulla Funk, Chanman’s Roots Band, Teton Honkeytonk, All-Stars, Big Fatty, Ten Cent Lure, CB Radio, and DJ MAM! Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 the day of the show. Contact The Knotty Pine at 208-787-2866 or Big Hole Music at 208-354-3659 for ticket information. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information.

On Saturday, June 28, BFC will participate in Patagonia’s “Voice Your Choice” program.
Customers vote from June 10-July 19 on the enviro group that most deserves a $4,000 grant!
Learn more and stop by the Patagonia Outlet in Dillon and vote for BFC!

Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
June 12, 2008

KEEP BFC ON THE FRONTLINES WITH A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TODAY
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1807

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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* For the Buffalo! Bonnie Raitt Benefit Tickets Available!
* Buffalo in the News
* “Let Buffalo Roam” License Plates for Every State!
* Last Words
* Kill Tally

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* Update from the Field

Dear Buffalo Friends,

Big news has hit Montana: the state has lost its coveted brucellosis-free status.

Another Montana cattle herd was found to be infected with the livestock disease. That’s two cattle herds in less than two years, and so Montana’s status as being certified “brucellosis-free” is out the window.

The source of transmission is not yet known, but it is certain that it’s not wild buffalo. The owner of the infected herd, Arthur Burns of Emigrant, MT, had his cattle approximately 30 miles north of Yellowstone National Park.

The industry is already pointing fingers at elk, just as they did last spring. In May 2007, a cattle herd that had been pastured near Emigrant was found infected, but neither the Department of Livestock (DOL) nor the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) produced any evidence linking Yellowstone wildlife–or clearing domestic or imported cattle–as the source of last year’s infection.

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Join wild buffalo advocates at a benefit for Buffalo Field Campaign! Tatanka 2008 will take place in Victor, Idaho June 20-21. Events will be MC’d by BFC’s co-founder Mike Mease! Musical acts include B-Side Players, Army, MooGot2, Anthony Smith’s Trunk Fulla Funk, Chanman’s Roots Band, Teton Honkeytonk, All-Stars, Big Fatty, Ten Cent Lure, CB Radio, and DJ MAM! Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 the day of the show. Contact The Knotty Pine at 208-787-2866 or Big Hole Music at 208-354-3659 for ticket information. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information.

BISON ADVOCATES HOLD RALLY ON THE CAPITOL LAWN
Gathering in Helena to Hold Schweitzer Accountable for Largest Slaughter Since 1800s

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 13, 2008
Press Contacts: Mike Bowersox, BFC, (5/13) 406-646-0070 (5/14 rally site) 416-622-2461
Stephany Seay, BFC, 406-646-0070

(HELENA, MT) - Wild bison advocates will gather in Helena, Montana, Wednesday, May 14th, on the lawn of the State Capitol, 1301 East Sixth Avenue, to draw attention to Governor Brian Schweitzer’s role in the largest wild bison slaughter since the 1800s and to ask him to leave bison alone on the Horse Butte Peninsula, an area where cattle never graze. The gathering will take place from 12:00 noon until 2:00 p.m. There will be speakers, street theatre and food provided by Seeds of Peace. The rally is open to everyone.

More than 1,600 wild American bison (buffalo) have been killed under state and federal management decisions this winter, resulting in the elimination of more than two-thirds of the last wild bison population left in the United States. There are fewer than 2,100 wild bison remaining, and winterkill is still underway. Yellowstone National Park is holding over 330 bison at the Stephens Creek bison trap awaiting spring green up. Seventy-seven wild bison calves have been born in the trap. 112 buffalo calves have been separated from their mothers and family groups and sent to quarantine pens near Corwin Springs, Montana.

“At the rally Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis will be presented with the Buffalo Bill Award for killing the most wild bison since the late 19th century,” said BFC spokeswoman Stephany Seay. “They will be remembered for this shameful act that has devastated our national heritage, the American bison.”

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In this issue:
* Buffalo Kill Tally
* Update from the Field
* Buffalo Field Campaign Needs Summer Volunteers
* Upcoming Events for the Buffalo
* Montana Food Bank Speaks to Bison Meat Acquisition
* Documentary: The Bison Haze: A Yellowstone Controversy
* Special Thank You TO JANE GOODALL AND JACKSON BROWNE
* Last Words
* BFC Contact Info & Important Links
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AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2007-2008 Total: 1,604
2007-2008 Slaughter: 1,438
2007-2008 Hunt: 166
2007-2008 Quarantine: 112

Total Since 2000: 3,669*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts
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* Update from the Field

Dear Buffalo Friends,
The road through Yellowstone is now open to cars. In years past, during this season, on a drive through the park you would be hard pressed not to see several hundred buffalo and many newborn calves. This season, people who have taken this drive have felt as if they were in a ghost town. As barb, BFC’s office coordinator, reports: “Darrell and i spent many hours [last Friday] in Yellowstone driving from the west gate to Old Faithful, counting buffalo. The news is not good. In that 30 mile stretch we saw fewer than 200 buffalo total! In 14 years of living in Montana and spending lots of time at this time of the year in the park, I’ve never seen less than several hundred buffs in the meadows at Mary Mountain trail head; [Friday] we counted 41 with only 4 calves … and that was the largest herd we saw all day.”

On April 11, the Park Service estimated that there were fewer than 2,145 bison left. This figure does not account for winterkill, which is ongoing and will continue through most of May. Just yesterday we learned that Yellowstone captured once again. Another seventeen bull buffalo are in the Stephens Creek trap. Under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, when the bison population reaches 2,300 animals, they “may” slaughter, but when it reaches 2,100 animals they “shall” cease to slaughter. Given the April estimate and winterkill underway, it is critical to ask the Park what population threshold they are operating under. We can save the lives of these bulls. Please call the Park and ask them to do so: 307-344-2013.

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Releasing of the Buffalo Spirits Ceremony

You can help by downloading a flier and posting it in your community.

Dear Friends of the Buffalo,

Buffalo Field Campaign is honored to share this organizer’s announcement with you of a Releasing of the Buffalo Spirits Ceremony to be held in Gardiner, Montana on Tuesday, April 15, beginning at 12:00 noon (MST). The ceremony will be led by Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe. Buffalo Field Campaign would like to thank Rosalie Little Thunder for making a request for Arvol’s presence, and we extend our gratitude to Arvol and his family for making arrangements to travel to Yellowstone on such short notice. We are honored by your presence and help. After the ceremony, a community meal will be served at the Gardiner Community Center on 206 Main Street.

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BUFFALO FIELD CAMPAIGN (BFC)
P.O. BOX 957
WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

* PRESS ADVISORY *

RELEASING OF THE BUFFALO SPIRITS CEREMONY
Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe calls for prayer ceremony in Yellowstone National Park April 15, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 4, 2008
Press Contacts:
Rosalie Little Thunder, Seventh Generation Fund’s Tatanka Oyate Project, 605-719-3012 (work), wakinyela@yahoo.com
Darrell Geist, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-531-9284, z@wildrockies.org
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070, bfc-media@wildrockies.org
(RAPID CITY, SD & WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT) - Seventh Generation Fund’s Tatanka Oyate Project and Buffalo Field Campaign are honored to share this announcement of a Releasing of the Buffalo Spirits Ceremony to be held in Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, April 15, beginning at 12:00 noon (MST). The ceremony is open to all, and all are welcome. Following the ceremony, a community meal will be served at the Gardiner Community Center on 206 Main Street. A flyer for distribution and posting is available at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/buffalospiritceremony.html.

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