Buffalo field campaign update - 12/12/03

News from the Field
Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC)
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo

December 12, 2003

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In This Issue:

* Take Action--
Agencies Plan Intrusive Vaccination Program for Yellowstone's Wild
Buffalo. Public Comments Due January 5

* Update From the Field

* BFC Hosts Denver School Group

* DOL and Local Law Enforcement Criminalize Good Citizenship of the West.

* Last Words

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* Public Comments Needed to Stop Intrusive Vaccination Plans.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has recently
released an Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding its intrusive and
unnecessary plans to vaccinate members of the Yellowstone herd with
RB51, a livestock vaccine that has been demonstrated to be
ineffective in buffalo. Under the proposed plan, yearlings and
calves who leave the park will be vaccinated.

The USDA has already determined that no significant impacts will
result from this intrusive government action, but you still have time
to comment. A copy of the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)
and EA can be found on the Internet at:

<http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/vsdocs.html>http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/es/vsdocs.html

or you can contact the USDA and ask to be on the mailing list for
"Docket no. 03-112-1". You can request copies of the EA and FONSI by
email at: regulations [at] aphis.usda.gov

Because the public comment period is so short (comments must be
submitted by January 5, 2004) it is imperative that buffalo
supporters from around the world rally today and write letters.

Write to APHIS and ask them to choose the no action alternative.

To assist you in preparing comments we have compiled the following
list of talking points:

Talking Points:

1. The Yellowstone herd is a cultural and biological treasure, being
the only herd to continuously occupy its native range in the wild.
Vaccines, including RB51, are a tool designed for use in livestock,
not wildlife. Rather than focusing on Yellowstone's wild bison,
efforts should be directed at cattle herds. The process of
subcutaneously injecting yearlings and new-born calves with the RB51
strain of brucellosis--and the attendant stress such procedures will
have on the animals--will further erode the wildness of the
Yellowstone herd at a tremendous cost.

2. The EA ignores the latest science to hide the fact that the RB51
vaccine is not effective in bison. According to a recent
peer-reviewed study*, "It was determined that RB51 did not confer
significant protection in the vaccinated animals. In terms of
abortions and infections, the RB51 bison vaccinated with three
injections did not differ significantly from the non-vaccinated
bison..."

The authors of the EA admit as much on page 9 when they write,
"efficacy [of RB51] in bison has not been definitively determined."

*Davis, D.S. and Elzer, P.H., 2002, Brucella Vaccines in Wildlife,
Veterinary Microbiology (90):533-544.

3. The vaccination of buffalo outside the park with an ineffective
vaccine will not eliminate brucellosis from the herd. Because the
disease has little effect on buffalo and because wild buffalo have
never transmitted brucellosis to livestock, efforts should be focused
on cattle.

4. Bison yearlings and calves are generally only present outside the
western boundary of Yellowstone in the spring during calving season.
The EA does not discuss the efficacy or impacts of vaccinating newly
born bison within hours, days or weeks of birth. Neither does the EA
address the impact of capturing newborn calves, vaccinating them, and
releasing them without their mothers.

5. The EA fails to adequately address the proposal's impact on Native
Americans, who have an age-old and complex relationship with buffalo.
Many Native American individuals and organizations consider the
buffalo as kin, and find the repeated capturing, testing,
vaccinating, and tagging of bison unacceptable. Such intrusive
measures affect the sacredness of buffalo by treating them as
livestock.

6. Yellowstone buffalo are not domestic animals. Because neither
APHIS nor Montana Department of Livestock personnel are trained in
wildlife management, they have no place meddling with the fate of the
Yellowstone herd and eroding their wildness through vaccination.

Comments may be sent through the postal service or email. If you
submit them through the mail, please send four copies (an original
and three copies) to:
Docket No. 03-112-1
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD
APHIS, Station 3C71
4700 River Road, Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238.

Please state in the body of your comments that they refer to Docket
No. 03-112-1.

If you email your comments, send them to
<regulations [at] aphis.usda.gov>. Comments must be contained in the body
of your message; do not send attached files. Include your name and
address in your message and "Docket No. 03-112-1" in the subject line.

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* Update From the Field

Since the killing of the bull buffalo by DOL agent Shane Grube on
November 24, most of our buffalo friends have been staying within the
boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. BFC patrols on Fir Ridge
have counted as many as 32 buffalo in the meadows adjacent to the
Park boundary and the Duck Creek capture facility. We have also
continued to see and hear evidence of wolves in the area. Several
mornings ago, our Fir Ridge patrol noticed several sets of buffalo
tracks leading into Dale Koelzer's property where the trap sits. The
tracks entered through the gate and went about ten feet down the
fence line to where the buffalo had been shot only two weeks ago.
Blood still stains the snow on the spot where he fell. The buffalo,
seemed to pay homage to their fallen brother, then turned around and
went back into the Park.

While the smell and awareness of the fate of this buffalo bull may
keep the others at bay for a while, it will only be a matter of time
before many of them will wander west in search of easier forage.
Just today, the DOL has began plowing Forest Service Road 610 that
leads to where the Horse Butte capture facility will soon be erected.
Both the DOL and the Park Service are gearing up for a big year of
killing buffalo as the animals search for food outside of the Park's
borders.

As of today, we are running a bare-bones operation here at camp.
Twelve or so volunteers have been tirelessly going out to defend the
buffalo every day while also keeping up with all of the other tasks
we need to do to sustain ourselves from day to day. If you have been
thinking of coming to join us, now is a great time to do it. For
more information on volunteering with BFC, please call or e-mail Amy.

For the buffalo,

Josh Osher

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BFC Hosts Denver School Group

The BFC recently had the privilege to introduce twelve students and
five teachers from Denver's PSI school to the Yellowstone buffalo.
The students, ranging in ages from eleven to eighteen, came to
Montana for an educational field trip. For all of these kids, coming
to the wilderness of Montana was a first that they will remember for
years to come. Their teacher had heard about the buffalo issue and
decided it would be a great learning experience for the kids and
adults. In August, the BFC road show visited PS1 in Denver where we
gave them an introduction to the buffalo issue and were their guests
on a field trip through downtown Denver.

The students arrived Monday evening. They checked out the Montana
stars and tried to prepare themselves for their three days at the
Buffalo Field Campaign. The kids woke up early Tuesday morning and
got ready for patrol. BFC volunteers accompanied PS1 on Fir Ridge
patrol. We hiked along the park boundary looking for buffalo and
viewed the Duck Creek capture facility. Upon returning to camp they
watched some video footage of hazing operations and bison in the
capture facility. The morning patrol and the video filled them all
with questions and concerns.

The PS1 crew and BFC volunteers traveled to Gardiner, MT on Wednesday
morning. There we met with our friends, Dave and George. On our
drive into the Park, two wolves crossed the road in front of us.
Bighorn sheep were rutting high up on the ridge and herds of buffalo
and elk were plentiful on our drive out to the Lamar Valley. We
ended our amazing day in the Park with a soak in the Boiling River.

Thursday was the students' last day in Montana. They had prepared
questions for Park and Forest Service officials after going on patrol
and viewing the video footage. They met with officials from both
agencies and experienced some of the frustration that we all feel
when asking, "Why is this happening?" The kids had some great
questions and more than once the left the rangers speechless. That
evening we all gathered around a campfire to share stories and eat
s'mores.

PS1's visit was a positive experience for everyone involved. It was
wonderful to empower these kids to do something about the things they
feel are unjust. They left with a new understanding of how their
actions, even in far away Denver, can have a positive impact. PS1's
visit marks the second year in a row that BFC has hosted public
school kids at camp. Last February, the Sojourner school from
Boulder, Colorado, arrived just in time to witness the capture of 10
bull buffalo by the DOL and a school from Seattle, Washington, were
witness to DOL hazing operations on Horse Butte last April. We hope
to have many more students visit the BFC both for their benefit and
for the future of the buffalo. For more information or to set up a
trip for your school, please contact Amy here at camp by phone (406)
646-0070 or e-mail <buffalo [at] wildrockies.org>.

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DOL and Local Law Enforcement Criminalize Good Citizenship of the West.

On Thursday, December 4, 2003, a BFC volunteer and a woman on a
research study mission from Austria were arrested and charged with
criminal trespass. The two are accused of closing a cattle gate that
borders National Forest lands adjacent to Yellowstone National Park.
The gate belongs to Dale Koelzer, who leases land to the DOL for
operation of the Duck Creek Capture Facility.

Upon arriving to the area, DOL officer Shane Grube noticed that the
gate had been closed. He called in the cavalry to investigate this
"crime," bringing in law enforcement agents from Gallatin County, the
National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. The agents
allegedly matched footprints found near the fence with the Austrian
woman and the BFC volunteer. Both were subsequently arrested by
Gallatin County Sheriff, Rob Burns, and taken to the West Yellowstone
police station. In a statement made to the police, the Austrian
woman said that she did in fact close the gate, but that the BFC
volunteer was not there at the time and was unaware of her action.
She told Burns that it is customary and expected of people in Austria
to close open livestock gates. There were horses in the adjacent
pasture at the time. Burns still insisted that both still be charged
with criminal trespass. A preliminary hearing has been set in the
Gallatin County Justice Court for Friday, December 12. We will keep
you updated as to how these "criminals" fare in the Montana "justice"
system.

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* Last Words

"Yellowstone is not a ranch. It was never intended by Congress to be a ranch."

--Mike Finley, former Superintendent, Yellowstone National Park


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Buffalo Field Campaign
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
(406) 646-0070
buffalo [at] wildrockies.org