And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 16:34:55 -0700 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Buffalo Folks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Buffalo Bill news Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *SALT LAKE TRIBUNE *DENVER *Other info * Is Bison Slaughter Senseless? BY BRENT ISRAELSEN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Most of the Yellowstone bison slaughtered this year by the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) have tested negative for brucellosis, the disease prompting the DOL's ongoing slaughter program. Results from a second set of testing by the U.S. Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) determined that only two of the first 15 bison slaughtered this year were afflicted with the disease. Environmental groups are touting the results as added evidence that the bison slaughter is senseless and unnecessary. But Montana livestock officials say the new testing is inconclusive and will do nothing to change the slaughter program. By late February, the DOL had slaughtered 17 buffalo that wandered outside the western boundary of Yellowstone National Park, according to Montana state veterinarian Arnold Gertonson. Each of the 17 bison tested positive in blood tests for Brucella abortus, the bacterium that causes brucellosis, which makes cows abort. An interim court-ordered bison management plan, in effect for three years, calls for DOL to slaughter any bison that tests positive in blood tests, Gertonson said. For the first time, APHIS, whose mission is to eradicate animal diseases, this year performed more advanced testing of the slaughtered bison to determine if they did, in fact, have brucellosis. The advanced method is called a "culture test" of tissue samples taken from various parts of the animal's body. Results on 13 of the 15 bison tested were negative. APHIS spokesman Patrick Collins said the tests should prompt DOL to give more consideration to non-lethal forms of bison management. Gertonson, however, said the negative culture tests do not prove the animal is not infected. "If you find the Brucella, it is there, but if you don't find it, it doesn't mean the animal isn't harboring the bacteria," Gertonson said. "So, though [the culture test] does not give false positives, it does give false negatives." But the Greater Yellowstone Coalition says the culture tests are more evidence that the slaughter of bison is not based on sound science and must end. The coalition is one of numerous environmental groups fighting to protect the Yellowstone bison, which are the remnants of giant herds that once roamed throughout the Great Plains of North America. "Montana continues to needlessly slaughter one of our great symbols of the West," said coalition director Mike Clark. "The state is killing off buffalo that are perfectly healthy. They posed no risk, yet now they are gone from [Yellowstone] forever." Gertonson said the risk is not zero and that the state will continue to slaughter bison that wander outside the park and test positive for Brucella in the blood tests. The measures are necessary to protect the state's livestock industry from brucellosis, according to the DOL. The state is considered brucellosis-free by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If that status were to change, the industry could be restricted in shipping its cattle out of state. That prohibition would drive up the cost of Montana beef, decreasing its competitiveness in the marketplace. Environmentalists counter that Montana's livestock have little or no risk of contracting brucellosis from bison: There have been no confirmed cases of bison-to-cattle infections, and there are no cattle outside the park until June, long after the bison have returned inside the park. * By Jim Hughes, Denver Post Staff Writer A federal agricultural disease-control official has suggested that Yellowstone National Park bison slaughtered by Montana livestock officials this winter could have been spared. Every winter Montana officials are forced to deal with Yellowstone bison that wander out of the park in search of food. They fear that the animals could infect domestic cattle herds with brucellosis, a disease that causes the cows to abort. But of the 17 bison slaughtered this winter by Montana livestock officials, 13 probably didn't carry the disease, according to tissue tests released last week by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Only 15 have been tested. Two others recently killed have not yet been tested. Environmentalists have interpreted the tests to mean the bison were 100 percent brucellosis-free, but the test is not 100 percent accurate, said Patrick Collins of the inspection service, the federal agency charged with stamping out diseases that threaten crops and livestock. But even if all the slaughtered animals had been infected, 15 of them were bulls and probably didn't have to be killed, Collins said. Bulls are generally thought to be incapable of transmitting the disease. The only way scientists now think cattle are likely to catch the disease, Collins said, is by eating the afterbirth of infected bison. On Monday, National Park Service officials reported they had received more than 67,000 letters from the public concerning its plans for the long-term management of Yellowstone's bison herd. Letters came from every state and 66 countries around the world. The comments are part of an ongoing environmental-impact statement on potential long-term bison-management plans. The study is a shared project between federal and local agencies. Since 1997, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service officials have been suggesting that the Montana Division of Livestock soften its stance on bison that stray north and west from Yellowstone National Park, Collins said. In certain areas close to the park, which are devoid of cattle in winter, even pregnant females pose little threat to Montana's cattle industry, as long as cattle are kept out of the area for 30 to 60 days after the bison have left, he said. The federal experts consider all bison low-risk as long as time and space in maintained between them and cattle. "What we're trying to do is continue to work with the state and everyone else to get away from the need to shoot, or at least minimize that," Collins said. Add to this the fact that ranchers recently agreed to keep their cows off nearby federal grazing allotments until after bison return to the park in the spring, and it would seem the political maelstrom swirling around the nation's last natural, free-ranging bison herd was subsiding. But Montana livestock officials aren't interested in changing their bison policies, said state veterinarian Arnold Gertonson. The inconclusiveness of the tissue test and even the slim chance of bulls and nonpregnant bison cows spreading the disease provide reason enough to maintain the current program, he said. Since the tissue test takes too long for day-to-day management of the bison situation, the state will continue using a quicker test for brucellosis exposure to determine which animals will be slaughtered, he said. Animals exposed to brucellosis are not always infected. " We wish, too, that the bison did not have to be killed or removed," Gertonson said. "But the economic impact of the state of Montana losing its brucellosis-free status is too great for us to risk at this time. Let's put it this way: The risk of transmission is unknown at this time," he said. Plus, some cattle graze on private land near Yellowstone National Park as early as May, he said. Grazing on private land is not affected by the recent agreement to keep domestic cattle off area National Forest lands until summer. So the debate rages on. "We think (ranchers' agreement to keep cattle away from bison) is profound progress, but what makes it tragic is that the state on Montana is covering its ears, closing its eyes and refusing to take stock of these on-the-ground improvements," said Jon Catton of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. But Collins said he understands Montana livestock officials' reluctance to abandon the slaughter program for a gentler one. The national park is the last stronghold of brucellosis, and for years federal officials warned Montana ranchers that they could lose the ability to freely export beef if local herds were infected. But scientists now better understand the low risk of that happening, he said. It's not as easy for cattle to catch the disease after all. "It's our policy," Collins said of the low-risk plan. "We're comportable with it. We're encouraging Montana to adopt it. It protects the cattle from the threat of disease and it minimizes the need for lethal control (of bison). Producers all over the country have had faith in our science for years and years and years. Our scientists are now saying the low-risk policy makes sense. It's workable." Controversy over the slaughter of bison peaked after the winter of 1996-97, when state livestock officials killed nearly 1,100 bison that had wandered out of the national park and into national forests near the towns of Gardiner and West Yellowstone, Mont. Last year, 11 were killed. So far this winter, state livestock officials have put down 17. Most agree that those low numbers are largely attributable to mild weather, which has allowed more bison to stay in the park. But state officials could have killed more bison this winter and last winter if they wanted to, Collins said. The state's increasing reliance on hazing the animals back into the park is evidence that the state does care about the woolly-headed behemoths, he said. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Submitted by: Ben Sherman Buffalo Gap Land Rescue P.O. Box 788 Louisville, CO 80027 (303)661-9819 Phone (303)664-5139 Fax * Dear friends, We are circulating a petition to Montana's Legislators in support of Buffalo Bill, House Bill 643, sponsored by Rep. Gail Gutsche (D) Missoula. HB 643 is a common-sense and scientific based approach to ending the slaughter of wild buffalo as they migrate outside Yellowstone National Park onto public lands in Montana. A hearing for HB 643 is set for Thursday, March 18th, at 3pm, in the Supreme Court Chambers on the 3rd floor of the Capitol Building (Helena, Montana). A rally at 2pm with speakers and Native American drummers on the Capitol steps will precede the hearing. Folks in Missoula will be carpooling from the Ecology Center, 801 Sherwood, at 10:30 am, and the University Center (U of M) Market at 10:45 am. For additional carpool info call 406-327-1209. We are trying to collect as many signatures as possible for presentation at the Buffalo Bill hearing. If you would like to circulate a copy of the petition, please let us know ASAP. We can send you the petition as an attachment by email or by fax. The document is formatted on Microsoft Word 5.1and Corel Word Perfect. A background fact sheet is also available on HB 643. Signed petitions need to be returned to our office by Wednesday, March 17! The House Ag Committee will make an executive decision on HB 643 after the hearing, so please get your letters, phone calls, faxes, emails, petitions in prior to the hearing. You can view House Bill 643 at: http://161.7.127.14/bills/billhtml/HB0643.htm Please contact the members of the House Agriculture Committee to urge their support of HB 643 and establish sound buffalo management guidelines. Every fax, letter, call or email can help make a difference! Members of the House Ag Committee: Joe Barnett; Chair; Belgrade, (R) John L Holden; Vice Chair; Valier; (R) Paul Clark; Member; Trout Creek; (D) Rick Dale; Member; WhiteHall; (R) Bill Eggers; Member; Crow Agency; (D) Kathleen Galvin-Halcro; Member; Great Falls (D) Mary Anne Guggenheim; Member; Helena; (D) Donald L Hedges; Member; Antelope; (R) Verdell Jackson; Member; Kalispell; (R) Rick Jore; Member; Ronan; (R) Monica Lindeen; Member; Huntley; (D) Gay Ann Masolo; Member; Townsend; (R) Sam Rose; Member; Choteau; (R) Brennan Ryan; Member; Stockett; (D) Frank Smith; Member; Poplar; (D) Bob Story; Member; Park City; (R) Bill Thomas; Member; Hobson; (R) Ralph Lenhart; Vice Chair; Glendive; (D) Cliff Trexler; Member; Hamilton; (R) Darrel Adams; Member; Columbia Falls; (R) Joyce Bankhead; Secretary Todd Everts; Legislative Branch Staffer TO CONTACT REPRESENTATIVES: By phone: Call 406-444-4800 and you can leave a message for up to two Representatives. Be sure to identify which Representative(s) the message is intended for. Keep your message concise and refer specifically to HB 643. By fax: 1-900-225-1600; Addressed to a specific Representative. By e-mail: E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Be sure to put the Representative's name in the subject line. You must individually send emails to an identified Representative, or your message may not be forwarded. By mail: Send letters of support to Representative ________, Capitol Station, Helena, MT 59620. Thanks for any help you can provide. for the wild buffalo, Darrell Geist, President Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers PO Box 7941 Missoula, Montana USA 59807 406-728-0867 phone 406-327-1209 fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wildrockies.org/cmcr &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
