============================================================ Win a FREE Family Vacation! To your favorite drive-to vacation spot from Bid4Vacations Condos 7 days for $299, Cruises - bids start at $1 http://click.topica.com/caaaeE5b1ddNBb2HgmNa/Bid4Vacations ============================================================
To: "Recipient List Suppressed" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: No Home for Buffalo on Montana Firing Range > Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 10:55:46 -0800 > > > No home for wild buffalo on Montana firing range > > BY JOHN POTTER in the Billings Gazette > > You know, I am really getting old. > > I can tell that I'm really getting old because of several fairly > reliable > indicators. > > For one thing, people keep reminding me that I'm getting old - which > is good, > because, for another thing, I can't remember very much these days. I > can't even > recall why I came to this planet in the first place. And then I > suddenly > remember: I came here because there are no Cocoa Puffs on my planet. > This is > due to my planet's curiously insane policy of zero tolerance for > Cocoa Puffs. > > Another reliable sign that I'm rapidly fossilizing is my "PGF," that > is, my > "Personal Grumpiness Factor." Lately, my PGF is going off the charts, > and I'll > tell you why. > > The buffalo of Yellowstone Park, the only genetic descendants of the > last, > wild, free-ranging herds of the American West, are being murdered by > the state > of Montana and the Department of Livestock and Curiously Insane > Activities. > > Just because SOME of the buffalo that cross the park's boundary into > Montana in > search of food at this time of year are infected with a disease > called > brucellosis, they are being murdered by the government. > > I know I've harped on this before, but, darn it, this is the most > idiotic, > outrageously stupid policy that this planet has in place, and it > seriously > pushes my PGF into "rage" mode. > > Fear of brucellosis > > The DOL and Montana's cattle industry are afraid of brucellosis > because the > disease causes beef cows to abort their calves. Understood. They also > don't > want Montana to lose its "brucellosis-free" status. I understand that > as well. > I also understand that, historically, whatever the government either > fears or > misunderstands, its policy is then to either remove it or just plain > kill it. > > The government practiced that policy with Indians. Now they're doing > it with > the buffalo. > > Here's what else I understand: > > 1. There has never been a documented case of brucellosis being > transmitted from > a buffalo to a beef cow, not in Montana or on any other planet. There > are, > however, many cases of brucellosis seriously infecting the reasoning > and > intelligence capacities of some people who are politically motivated > by or > otherwise associated with Montana's cattle industry. > > 2. Because of the nature of the bacterium, a beef cow would have to > somehow > ingest the afterbirth or the birth fluids from an infected cow > buffalo, or > ingest grass infected by these materials. This tells us two things: > One, that a > beef cow would have to be really desperate for some variety in her > diet, or, > that she would have to be grazing in Yellowstone Park, where the > buffalo drop > their calves. God help us ALL if that ever happens. Secondly, it > tells us that > bull buffalo and calf buffalo cannot transmit the disease at all - > yet they are > targeted by the DOL as well. > > Every passing day I am not only getting older, and grumpier, but I'm > also > becoming more and more grateful for the efforts of the stalwart young > men and > women of the Buffalo Field Campaign. These hardy young people, from > all walks > of life and from all over the country, represent the only grass-roots > group out > in the field every day of the year to protect the buffalo and > document the > activities of the DOL. > > These kids daily face the harsh cold of West Yellowstone, while > enduring the > bitter political winds of the state's zero tolerance for reason and > understanding. If not for the constant presence and vigilance of the > BFC, who > knows what kind of wholesale slaughter we might be seeing. > > And where are the Indians in all of this? Come on, people. This is > our most > sacred animal we're talkin' about here - let's get involved. And I > don't mean > taking home buffalo that have been killed by the feds. > > Crippling the gene pool > > You know, everybody wigs out when a white buffalo is born on some > farm in the > U.S. Well, that's all very nice, but I'll get excited when a white > female calf > is born to the Yellowstone buffalo herd (remember - these are the > direct, > genetic descendants from the originals!) And every time one of these > buffalo is > killed, we drastically reduce the possibility of that blessed event > happening. > > We're crippling the gene pool of these powerful, magical creatures - > destroying > the genetic viability and variability of a rare and beautiful race - > all for > the sake of a few "sacred" cows. > > The current "management policy" for the buffalo makes about as much > sense as > zero tolerance for Cocoa Puffs. > > Surely, as citizens of a nation that represents the height of > civilization, we > can come up with something better than bullets and "zero tolerance > for buffalo" > to solve this situation. > > And I'm not leaving this planet until we do. > > http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?section=opinion&display=content/opinio > n/pottercolumn.inc > > > ============================================================ Introducing Adobe DesignTeam, the Web-based collaboration service from Adobe Studio(r).Try it free for a month and see why it's the easiest way to manage your design projects. Get your free 30 day trial now http://click.topica.com/caaaeFLb1ddNBb2HgmNf/AdobeDesignTeam ============================================================ Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition. http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddNB.b2HgmN Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
