---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 22:54:26 -0700 From: Buffalo Folks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Stop the Slaughter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: EMERGENCY ALERT: Horse Butte Buffalo Capture Facility Imminent <pregnant female buffalo doomed to be slaughtered> Greetings We only have 'til Wednesday The DOL is being very illegal about this whole affair they are trying to supercede any and all comments you might have made regarding this issue note: all pregnant females will be sent to slaughter please take a moment and read on.... The Montana Board of Livestock, currently undertaking a full fledged publicity campaign, has been promoting a plan to maintain strong authority over wild buffalo that enter Montana from Yellowstone. It is absurd for the control of wild buffalo to belong to one special interest group like the "non-elected" Montana Board of Livestock, which is funded by the livestock industry. Wildlife is owned by the public and should be managed according to the public's interest. To get even further control, this week, they are trying to place themselves above the law and supercede the public process. They are attempting to illegally gain a special permit to set up quarantine facility in traditional prime buffalo wintering/calving grounds on our public lands! This is ridiculous. Please read the following and take a moment to respond WE ONLY HAVE TIL WEDNESDAY... Help us get the word out...this is an all volunteer effort. Your voice and actions make the difference. Note: If this gets railroaded through, we will need even more warriors in the field immediately to protect the buffalo. Please help spread the word. Thank you for any and all efforts and for forwarding this to friends. Thank You. ****************************************** EMERGENCY ALERT Horse Butte Buffalo Capture Facility Rammed Through by U.S. Forest Service On November 8 1998, the Forest Service announced an Environmental Assessment on a proposed bison capture facility at Horse Butte, a critical wintering grounds for Yellowstone buffalo, and nesting site for bald eagles and sandhill cranes. The area also provides habitat for additional threatened and endangered species such as the grizzly bear and peregrine falcon. Horse Butte is on a peninsula on Hebgen Lake, NW of West Yellowstone, MT. The State of Montana Department of Livestock submitted a special use application to the Gallatin National Forest for the capture facility, including a request for operations in the short-term, until January 31, and for the long-term over the next 10 years. The chosen site violates Forest Service guidelines for protection of bald eagle nesting habitat. Under the long-term plan, the facility would operate during the courtship/nesting period, which conflicts with current Eagle Management Plans. The facility will capture and test buffalo who leave Yellowstone. All pregnant females, regardless of whether they test positive for brucellosis, will be shipped to slaughter. All other buffalo testing positive will be shipped to slaughter. The agencies claim that the operation of the capture facility will help with the "urgent need" to reduce bison mortality. However, in the winter of 1996-1997, the use of facilities like this one sent hundreds of buffalo to slaughter. Unfortunately, the only goal of this facility is to decide which buffalo to kill, and will not serve to reduce mortality. The project has been split into two parts. The first includes the short-term decision to build the facility, and is being pushed through with only a 12-day public comment period and will not be appealable under current laws. This part does not include an Environmental Assessment, and is an extension of the current Adjustment to the Interim Bison Management Plan. The goal of this part of the plan is to get the capture facility up and running, and authorize its use until January 31, 1999. The second phase of the plan is to authorize use of the facility after January 31. The reasoning behind the split approach, is that the facility will impact a bald eagle nesting area, and the area is closed to projects like the capture facility after February 1st to protect the site. The Gallatin NF will have to amend their Forest Plan to authorize the facility's use and exempt the Forest from meeting Bald Eagle management guidleines. Current guidelines do not allow permanent development within one-quarter mile of a nest site. The Forest Service claims that operation of the facility prior to February 1 is not expected to affect eagles or involve any extraordinary circumstances which may result in significant environmental effects, other than capture and "removal" of our last wild buffalo. This flies in the face of individuals who have reported sighting bald eagles in the area in the last week. In addition to this, last year the hazing operations used helicopters to move buffalo from the area, and the helicopters violated the closure by flying over the nesting site, and landing in the closed area. If the Forest Service tries to justify its ammendment to exempt the capture facility from the eagle closure by claiming that that there is no recent history of nesting in the area (which it appears to be doing), maybe they should look to the disturbances they have already allowed as reason for that absence of nesting! The Forest Service Regional Office in Missoula, MT released a statement on Friday the 13th explaining their actions: "Because the long-term decision requires urgent action to help reduce bison mortality, the Chief of the Forest Service [Mike Dombeck] is being asked to exempt the project from a stay of implementation during the appeal period." Basically, what this means is that they want to go ahead with the proposed facility irregardless of what the public thinks, or the legality of their actions. The "stay of implementation" that the Regional Office in Missoula is asking Dombeck to exempt is what lawyers ask for in court after an individual or organization appeals a decision, and movement on the project is imminent. The Forest Service is basically acknowledging that their project will meet with much resistance, and is preparing to proceed irreregardless of what the public thinks. Obviously, the timing on this proposal is such that they think they can ram it down our throats before we can mount an effective legal challenge. The decision to build the capture facility will commit "irretrievable resources" to a long term plan, at a time when management agencies are in the midst of assessing public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for long-term bison management. Building the Horse Butte facility has not yet been approved by EIS. Just because the State of Montana chose to not ask for a permit in a timely fashion is no reason to declare an emergency and illegaly ram this project through without adequate public participation. This project is "piece-mealing" at its worst, as it attempts to implement a project (without proper analysis) that has been proposed in the current Bison Management Plan EIS. This is known as "pre-decisional action" and is illegal under NEPA guidelines. ********************************************************** WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please help keep the symbol of our nation wild and free. The comments on the short-term project are needed by November 18, 1998 and on the longterm environmental assessment by December 1, 1998. We need you to write your comments on the government's plan NOW! Here's what you can do: * Mail your comments to Diana Enright, Region One Forest Service, email a copy, also * Email or Mail a copy of your comments to Mike Dombeck, Chief of the Forest Service * Send a copy your comments to the Gallatin National Forest, your Congressional Representatives, and the Montana DOL Send your official comments to: USDA Forest Service Headquarters attn: Diana Enright P.O. Box 7669 200 East Broadway Missoula, MT 59807 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Make sure to put "Capture Facility Comments: for Diana Enright" in the subject line. Mike Dombeck, Chief, Forest Service, Auditor's Bldg 201 14th Street, S.W. at Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20024 202-205-1661. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************** ****************************************** Other Contact info... Let's get the issue heard about! Senators that have email access: http://www.senate.gov/senator/membmail.html US Federal Governtmental Agenecies: http://www.senate.gov/senator/membmail.html The electronic Activist: Contacts for newspapers and media around the country: http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/index.html Another great media list: http://www.cs.unb.ca/~alopez-o/newssources/mag.html Important Telephone Numbers & Addresses: FREE CALLS! Montana's Department of Livestock 800-523-3162 P.O. Box 202001 Helena, MT 59620 Be prepared to deal with slick PR media flacks! National Forest System Regional NEPA Contact: Kris Lee Northern Region (R1) Federal Building P.O. Box 7669 Missoula, MT 59807-7669 (406) 329-3511 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] National Forest Service Public Affairs Office: 202-205-1760 For more info on the buffalo issue in Yellowstone, please see our pages at: http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo **************************************************** Here is a sample letter for ideas : Ms. Diana Enright Forest Service Headquarters P.O. Box 7669 200 East Broadway Missoula, MT 59807 To Ms. Enright: Please consider the following comments on the two permits you are currently considering granting the Montana Department of Livestock to construct and operate a bison capture and holding facility on Forest Service lands close to West Yellowstone. SHORT-TERM PERMIT: Construction of the proposed capture facility would require exempting the Gallatin Forest from meeting guidelines established for bald eagle management in the Horse Butte area. Such an exemption should NOT be granted. The well-being of bald eagles on our public lands should be given much higher priority than the well-being of cattle. The proposed project goes against both the Montana Bald Eagle Management Plan and the Greater Yellowstone Bald Eagle Management Plan which stipulate that no permanent development should occur within 1/4 mile of a nest site. The proposed project therefore requires either formal modification of both plans, or compliance with them. You are proposing neither. A review of the impact of the proposed capture facility on bald eagles is necessary in order to evaluate the proposal. If the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not conducted such a review, it should before any further steps are taken. If such a review has been conducted, it must be made available to the public for consideration before any decision is made. Bald eagles use the proposed capture facility site not only during nesting, but also during other times of the year. I saw a bald eagle in the immediate area of the proposed facility just a few days ago, i.e., November 11, 1998. The U.S. Forest Service should not ignore guidelines to protect a federally important wildlife species simply so that the "DOL can meet its objectives for capturing and testing bison on National Forest lands." Instead, the DOL should revise its objectives. There is absolutely no need to capture and test Yellowstone bison for brucellosis in order to maintain Montana's brucellosis-free status. Much more cost-effective approaches are available, and should be pursued. To begin with, all cattle grazing allotments on Forest Service lands close to the West boundary of Yellowstone National Park, including the one on Horse Butte, should be canceled. If disease management is the real objective, Horse Butte, being a peninsula, and therefore surrounded on three sides by water, is the ideal destination for bison leaving Yellowstone on the West side. Instead of harassing buffalo on this land, they should be welcomed there. LONG-TERM PERMIT: Issuing a permit to operate a capture and holding facility for 10 years would pre-judge the outcome of the ongoing NEPA process related to Yellowstone bison, and would constitute a pre- decisional action. Should the Forest Service choose to pursue this permit at this time, it can expect litigation. The Gallatin Forest management seems particularly prone to take actions which are obviously illegal and which compel environmental and other organizations to take costly and time consuming actions to prevent these from being implemented. This is not acceptable and will be brought to the attention of already interested members of Congress. Finally, the Gallatin Forest management has given the public less than two weeks to comment on this significant proposed action. This is clearly inadequate time to expect the public to respond, and does little to improve your already poor public image. Sincerely, Mr. Dave Garber, Gallatin Forest Supervisor, Bozeman, Montana Our web pages are being updated ... http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo It is time to rally Buffalo allies before the killing begins again! Please pass this update on to 7 friends and if you receive this, please subscribe to stay updated (2-3 updates per month) List-Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] List-Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] News Submissions or Problems: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************************************************
