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.

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Media stories in the last couple of days.
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2,400 Yellowstone bison dead Jackson Hole News and Guide.

According to the article 1,700 Yellowstone buffalo have been killed in the greatest slaughter since the 19th Century but the winter kill has taken many more and there is a while until green up starts in the Park. The number 2,300 is significant in the Interagency Bison Management Plan because it is a threshold below which management activities have to change to non-lethal management. Unfortunately non-lethal management still includes hazing which can still kill buffalo in their weakened state.

“There’s still a lot of snow. We are days away [from when plants will emerge] at this point. It’s not imminent, but it’s coming soon” according to Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash.

The Park estimates that there are only 2,300 buffalo left alive but many of them are still struggling and may yet die. This is a dangerously low population for a species to be in and there is much conversation recently of the Endangered Species Act.

These bulls were seen in the Upper Lamar Valley sleeping on the road on April 11, 2008.

* NEWS RELEASE *

“HISTORIC” DEAL WITH CHURCH BAD FOR WILD BISON
Millions Spent But Slaughter Will Continue

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 17, 2008
Press Contacts:
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-531-9284, mease@wildrockies.org
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070, bfc-media@wildrockies.org

(GARDINER, MT) - Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis are expected to make an “historic announcement” today regarding the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which this year alone has been responsible for the deaths of over 1,600 wild American bison, the last continuously wild population in the United States.

“The only historic announcement that Schweitzer and Lewis could possibly make is that they’ve killed more wild American buffalo than anyone since the 1800s,” said Buffalo Field Campaign co-founder Mike Mease.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 17, 2008

CONTACTS: Sarah Elliott 406-444-9725

Governor, Park Superintendent, Church President Announce RTR Agreement

(HELENA) - Governor Brian Schweitzer, Church Universal and Triumphant and Royal Teton Ranch (RTR) President Kate Gordon, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis, and several non-government groups today announced completion of a long awaited agreement that moves the Yellowstone-area Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) through a critical step for protection of both Montana’s cattle industry and the Park bison herd.

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Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
April 17, 2008
——————————
View BFC Video Footage:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

* NEW VIDEO! To Protect the Wild Bison
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/documentaries.html
——————————
Make a Secure Online Donation to BFC:
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1807
——————————
Why are they killing the last wild buffalo?
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/issueinbrief.html
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* NEW! Buffalo Field Campaign Blog
http://blog.buffalofieldcampaign.org
——————————
Receive BFC’s updates or press releases.
Send your email address to bfc-media@wildrockies.org with “sub updates” or “sub press release” in the subject line.
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AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2007-2008 Total: 1,601
2007-2008 Slaughter: 1,435
2007-2008 Hunt: 166
2007-2008 Quarantine: 112

Total Since 2000: 3,666*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts
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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* Buffalo Spirits Released ~ A Sacred Gathering
* CUT Deal Goes Down; Bad Deal for Wild Bison
* Sign on to Emergency Rule Making Petition to Stop the Slaughter Now!
* Mother’s Day Hand Crafted Cards for the Buffalo’s Cause ~ Deadline April 25
* Lesson’s Learned from Wild Bison: Missoula, MT, Saturday, May 3, 2008
* Photo of the Week
* Last Words

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National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

Yellowstone National Park
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

EMBARGOED UNTIL 1:30 PM MDT
April 17, 2008 08-024

Al Nash or Stacy Vallie (307) 344-2015

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE
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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HELPS FUND GRAZING RESTRICTION AND BISON ACCESS
AGREEMENT
Deal increases tolerance for bison north of park by removing cattle for 30
years

(Bozeman, MT) - The National Park Service has agreed to provide federal
funds in support of a grazing rights and bison access agreement which will
allow the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) to move forward. The
deal was announced in Bozeman this afternoon by Yellowstone National Park
Superintendent Suzanne Lewis, Church Universal and Triumphant, Inc.,
President Kate Gordon, and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer.

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