Take Action to Protect Yellowstone's Wild Buffalo,
Thr
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MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF LIVESTOCK ILLEGALLY
JEOPARDIZES THREATENED BALD EAGLES
US FOREST SERVICE FAILS TO PROTECT PUBLIC
LANDS ON THE GALLATIN FOREST
PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY TO PROTECT
YELLOWSTONE'S WILD BUFFALO HERD!
On April 20, 2000 the Montana Department of
Livestock illegally used a
helicopter to haze Yellowstone buffalo,
including pregnant cows, near Horse
Butte on the Gallatin National
Forest. This action blatantly violated the
terms and conditions of their Special Use
Permit intended to protect
nesting bald eagles in the Horse Butte area
and the Gallatin Forest's
general closure order of Horse Butte to
"all activities".
This is the third incident in successive
years where the Montana Department
of Livestock has violated the terms and
conditions of their Special Use
Permit authorizing buffalo capture and
hazing activities on the Gallatin
National Forest.
On April 28, 1998 a Montana Department of
Livestock helicopter used to
haze buffalo violated the bald eagle
closure on Horse Butte on two
occasions. A year later, on March 31, 1999,
the Montana Department of
Livestock illegally hazed buffalo
using snowmobiles within 1/4 mile of the
Madison Arm of Hebgen Lake.
Horse Butte is prime calving habitat for
the Yellowstone buffalo, as the
peninsula has south facing slopes that
green up early in the spring. An
incredible diversity of plant and wildlife
species, and habitat types, is
nourished on the peninsula. Hebgen Lake and
riparian wetlands along the
Madison River provide habitat for trumpeter
swans, sandhill cranes, bald
eagles, peregrine falcons and moose.
Sagebrush, native grasses, and
wildflowers dot the meadows. The
butte is speckled with old-growth trees.
East of the butte lies burnt and downed
lodgepole for pine marten and
woodpeckers.
The Environmental Assessment prepared by
the U.S. Forest Service in 1998 to
authorize the construction and operation of
the Horse Butte capture
facility and related buffalo management
activities did not consider the
environmental impacts of the use of
helicopters on Horse Butte. In fact,
the Special Use Permit prohibits
helicopters from Horse Butte to protect
three bald eagle nests.
Because the U.S. Forest Service has failed
to enforce the Special Use
Permit terms and conditions for buffalo
hazing requirements, including
compliance checks, and taking appropriate
actions for violations as
required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's Biological Opinion, they
are in violation of the Endangered Species
Act.
Please take action today and request that
Dave Garber, Forest Supervisor
for the Gallatin National
Forest:
1. Prohibit the Montana Department of
Livestock from taking any action,
including hazing or shooting, against any
buffalo on the Gallatin National
Forest until June 1, 2000. This should
provide sufficient time for the
buffalo, and their new calves, to move back
into Yellowstone Park on their
own.
If the Montana Department of Livestock
intends to haze buffalo back into
Yellowstone National Park on or after June
1, 2000, the U.S. Forest Service
and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must
make personnel available to observe
the operation to ensure that the Montana
Department of Livestock is
complying with all terms and conditions of
the Special Use Permit and the
biological opinion.
2. Revoke the authorization for the
construction and operation of the
buffalo capture facility and other buffalo
management activities, including
hazing, on the Gallatin National
Forest.
The U.S. Forest Service has the authority
under Section V, B to suspend or
revoke the Montana Department of
Livestock's Special Use Permit if: (1)
there is non-compliance with federal,
state, or local laws and regulations;
(2) there is non-compliance with the terms
and conditions of the permit;
(3) for reasons in the public interest.
Additionally, Section VII, E gives
the U.S. Forest Service authority to
suspend the Special Use Permit "in
whole or in part for breach of any
stipulation ..."
3. Prepare a legally sufficient
Environmental Impact Statement, prohibit
the shooting, capture, or hazing of buffalo
within the Gallatin National
Forest from November 1 through June
1.
Please copy (cc) your letter, fax or email
to Dale Bosworth, Region 1 Forester and Mike Dombeck, Chief; Forest
Service:
Please note that letters and calls are
better than emails but any well thought comments will help the
buffalo!
Dave Garber, Forest Supervisor, Gallatin
National Forest
10 E. Babcock Avenue
P.O Box 130 Bozeman, MT 59771
phone: (406) 587-6702
fax: (406) 587-6758
Dale Bosworth, Regional Forester, Region
1
Federal Building
P.O. Box 7669 Missoula, MT
59807
phone: (406) 329-3316
fax: (406) 329-3347
Mike Dombeck, Chief, U.S. Forest
Service
Auditor's Bldg
201 14th Street S.W.
at Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20024
phone: (202) 205-1661
fax: (202) 205-1765
Thank you!
Darrell Geist
Executive Director
Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers
PO Box 7941; Missoula, Montana USA
59807
406-728-0867 phone; 406-327-1209
fax
PS. Please contact us if you would like
some background information on the incredible waste of taxpayers
dollars in regards to this issue. mailto:[log in to unmask]
or mailto:[log in to unmask]g
Schedule a showing of the Buffalo
Compilation Video in your community. for more info:
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Thanks!
___________________________________________________________
New info on the plight of the last wild
buffalo: http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
BFC is the only group working 365 days a
year in Yellowstone with the buffalo.
Which T-shirt do you like the best?
-
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/teez.html
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University of Iowa
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