The latest Yellowstone Bison Population Management Activities report is out. There are reports that a population estimate was to be done but there is very little with regard to how many bison are left after the massive slaughter and winter kill of this past season.

Could the Park Service have killed far more than they had planned by not taking winter kill into account? Might there be fewer than the 2100 threshold in the IBMP?

PARKWIDE DISTRIBUTION:
*The information in the following paragraph is not intended as a population estimate. This information provides an approximate number of bison in certain geographic areas that have been surveyed in the past month. In no way is this information complete and accurate enough for a population estimate.

Approximately 200 bison are still utilizing the Blacktail Deer Plateau area. Nearly all of the other bison on the northern range are east of Tower Junction. In the central portion of the park, there are a few dozen bison in Pelican Valley (primarily adult males) and about 150 bison in Hayden Valley. The bulk of the central breeding group is still located in the Firehole Geyser basin and the Madison River Valley (approximately 200 west of Madison Junction).

Download the report here: YNP report_6_15_08.doc

Six groups have collaborated to publish a new Buffalo Newsletter. The newsletter will be distributed to Park visitors by Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers this summer and at events and fundraisers.

The newsletter is a joint project of the Buffalo Field Campaign, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Horse Butte Neighbors of Buffalo, Natural Resources Defense Council, InterTribal Bison Cooperative and Tatanka Oyate of the Seventh Generation Fund.

You can download it here: Buffalo News

NOTE: Because of the size of this newsletter it is more for informational purposes rather than for printing and distributing yourself.

Dear Buffalo Friends,

Nine bull bison are currently in the Duck Creek bison trap, located just outside of Yellowstone’s western boundary. The Department of Livestock says they intend to send these bulls to slaughter.

According to an email received from Yellowstone National Park today, “The park’s current best estimate for the bison population remains between 2300 and 2100, with the lower end of that estimate probably being the most realistic.”

This drastic blow to the bison is a result of a combination of intense slaughter, hunting, quarantine, winter kill and highway mortalities, and the population cannot sustain any more slaughter.

URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED if we are to save the lives of these bulls. Please contact the following Montana decision-makers and urge them to let the bulls go!

* Marty Zaluski, Montana State Vet #406-444-0782
* Hal Harper, Governor Schweitzer’s Chief Policy Advisor #406-444-5546
* Mike Volesky, Governor Schweitzer’s Policy Advisor for Natural Resources #406-444-7857

In mid-April, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer announced in a press conference that NO MORE buffalo would be sent to slaughter this season. A few days later, the DOL sent three bull bison to their deaths. Due to the winter’s severe slaughter and the uncertainty of winter kill bison, the population may well be below 2,100. Under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, the agencies are supposed to use non-lethal methods when the population is at or below 2,100 animals.

We must INSIST THAT THEY DO NOT SLAUGHTER THESE BULLS!

Please spread the word to save the herds! Contact the decision-makers above, and please send this email to all your friends, family, colleagues and co-workers. We stopped the slaughter of 300 bison last year, and we can save the lives of these nine bulls if we keep the pressure on.

Roam Free!
Buffalo Field Campaign

IBMP YELLOWSTONE BISON POPULATION MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
Report Available here:

5_15_08.doc

figure-1-western-mgmt-distribution

figure-2-northern-mgmt-distribution

The Park Service just released this press release indicating that the buffalo on Horse Butte will be hazed during the peak of calving season even though there are NO cattle on Horse Butte and there NEVER will be. The first cattle to arrive generally don’t arrive until mid-June but with the extended winter it is unlikely that cattle will arrive to the area until after all of the buffalo have given birth and are no longer able to transmit brucellosis.

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See Press Release Below

Continue Reading »

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.

Continue Reading »

CNN broadcast this segment last night on Anderson Cooper’s program.

Where the buffalo roam — and die

KXMC is reporting that 15,000 pounds of Yellowstone bison meat was SOLD to the Montana Food Bank Network for 42¢ per pound. I have been personally told many times by Yellowstone officials and read in numerous press releases by MDoL that the meat is DONATED to food banks and tribal groups. There is a big difference between donating the meat and selling the meat.

Read it here:
Montana Food Bank network buys bison meat

Update: Another story is out:

Billings Food Bank buys 3,200 pounds of meat at 55 cents per pound

This photo was taken on Friday afternoon near West Yellowstone along the road to 7-Mile Bridge.

According to a local paper, this calf was “euthanized” by the Park Service. So much for natural regulation.

People claimed to have seen the calf nursing but the Park Service killed the calf presumably because the two were on the road and hadn’t gone to where there was grass which is in short supply this time of year.

Dear Friend of the Buffalo,

A diverse coalition of tribal, conservation, hunting, animal welfare and wildlife groups, an outfitting business, and concerned citizens have filed an emergency rule making petition with the U.S. Department of the Interior seeking to stop the National Park Service from slaughtering wild bison inhabiting Yellowstone National Park and adjoining lands on the Gallatin National Forest in Montana.

This winter, Yellowstone National Park and the State of Montana have engaged in an unprecedented slaughter or removal of more than 1,700 bison that have migrated to their winter range near and beyond park borders.

Continue Reading »