--- begin forwarded text Buffalo Field Campaign P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, Mt. 59758 Phone (406)646-0070 Fax (406)646-0071 mailto:[log in to unmask] http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo Bull Buffalo Injured During Hazing Operation FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 26, 2000 Contact: Dan Brister, Mike Mease (406) 646-0070 West Yellowstone, MT: A bull buffalo sustained injuries when it was hazed through a barbed wire fence during a Department of Livestock (DOL) operation this morning. DOL agents on horseback, accompanied by a Ranger from Yellowstone National Park and the local Fish, Wildlife & Parks warden, carried out several hazing operations, chasing approximately 70 animals back into the park. Today's hazing took place in Gallatin National Forest, on land originally designated as a buffer zone for park wildlife. Two major hazing operations in the past week have targeted bison grazing on Horse Butte, within the National Forest. Horse Butte is the buffalo's traditional calving ground, as well as protected habitat for the threatened bald eagle. Last Thursday, DOL agents flew a helicopter over Zone One of the Eagle Closure on Horse Butte, within a quarter mile of one of three active bald eagle nests in the immediate area. Two bald eagles circled above Horse Butte as DOL agents and Park Rangers on ATVs (all terrain vehicles) and horses frightened between 55 and 60 pregnant cows and yearlings from the Butte. The Special Use Permit which allows the DOL to operate on the Butte specifically states that "helicopter activities will NOT be permitted in the Horse Butte area." "The abuse that the entire ecosystem suffers during these extensive hazing operations is hardly worth it. All ungulates are in the final stages of their gestation periods, birds are nesting and the risk is not worth taking", stated Michael Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign. The three grazing allotments on Horse Butte bring in $750.60 to the US Forest Service a year (from 1997 Forest Service records). Last winter the DOL spent $225,854 on bison management in this contested area. This amounts to a cost of $1,536 to "protect" each of the 147 cow-calf pairs that summer on the Butte grazing allotments from the supposed threat of brucellosis. The Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers defend buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Our daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on, and document every action taken against them. Video footage, including shots of the bull being hazed through the fence, is available upon request. --30-- ************************************************************************ List-Subscribe: mailto:[log in to unmask] List-Unsubscribe: mailto:[log in to unmask] News Submissions or Problems: mailto:[log in to unmask] --- end forwarded text -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Rex L. Bavousett Photographer University of Iowa Our old name: University Relations - Publications Our new name: University Communications & Outreach - Publications 100 OPL, Iowa City, IA 52242 http://www.uiowa.edu/~urpubs/ mailto:[log in to unmask] voice: 319 384-0053 fax: 319 384-0055 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]