And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 11:51:47 -0700 >To: "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Wild Rockies InfoNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Comments on Buffalo Capture-for-Slaughter Facility Due on Jan. 13 >Sender: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Action Alert: Comments on Horse Butte Buffalo Trap Due on January 13, 1999 > >Howdy folks, > >Please take some time to read and respond to the request for comments on >the Horse Butte Buffalo Trap Environmental Assessment and support >Alternative 3: the No Action (No Capture Facility) Alternative. The EA is >online, see the address at the bottom of this alert. And thanks to all of >you who responded to our request for comments on the first phase of this >misguided project. Though the Forest Service only sent out scoping notices >to about 13 organizations, they received 502 comments, with over 300 of >them coming via email!! Keep up the good work! > >As of December 30th, the Montana DOL has yet to begin construction of the >facility, though they have put up a gate and plowed roads to the proposed >location, and have relocated snowmobile routes. They also have asked the >USDA for the funds to construct and operate the facility, though APHIS has >only committed itself to providing half of the construction cost ($50,000), >and hasn't decided on the operating expenses (appx. $500,000). > >This is our last opportunity to object before they start capturing and >hauling buffalo to the slaughter house. > >Jim Coefield >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >____________________________________________ > >On December 14, 1998, the Gallatin National Forest released the >Environmental Assessment (EA) on the Horse Butte Buffalo Capture Facility. >Comments on the EA are due by January 13, 1998. > >This is the second phase of the trap permitting process. The first phase >was when the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) requested a Special Use >Permit and that the Forest Service grant a Categorical Exclusion (CE) to >expedite the process. CE's cannot be appealed, and are either granted in >emergencies, or when the proposal doesn't rise to a certain level of >significance. Obviously, issuing an EA for this proposal underscores its >significance, and the inability of the CE to stand on its own. > >In an odd, and most likely illegal planning maneuver, the Gallatin NF split >the project into these two phases. The first phase authorized construction >of the trap at the main Horse Butte site (Alternative 1 at Site 2A) and >granted authority to operate it until January 31, 1999. The second phase, >which this EA would authorize, also analyzes an alternative site >(Alternative 1, Site X) to the one authorized in the CE, and looks at >operating the facility for the next 10 years. > >The Chief of the Forest Service also granted an exemption from the >automatic stay provisions of the appeal regulations. This means that even >though parties may appeal the EA decision, the Chief will allow the project >to proceed during the appeal process. This leaves us with a lawsuit as our >only remedy. What does this all mean? It's a done deal! The heck with >public process and opinion. The DOL wants the authority to construct and >operate this facility at all costs, even illegal ones. > >The no action alternative (Alternative 3) is the only logical solution. >Unfortunately, the no action alternative already has been rendered invalid >by the CE's allowing the Forest Service to issue the Special Permit (which >it already has done) for the construction and operation of the facility. > >"The No Action Alternative would constitute a decision not to issue a >special use permit to the DOL for the installation or operation of a bison >capture facility in the Horse Butte area." (from the EA) > >In other words, there isn't any possibility that the Forest Service will >chose the no action alternative, because the permit already has been >issued. Double speak extraordinaire. > >The main issues: > >* The trap will be placed in a location where the greatest concentrations >of buffalo are. Buffalo will be lured into the trap by baiting with hay or >by hazing. All animals will be tested for brucellosis. All "pregnant >females and animals testing positive would be transported from the site for >disposal." That means slaughter. > >* The preferred alternative (Alternative 1 at Site A2) would locate the >trap within 1/2 mile of a bald eagle nesting site. The so-called reason for >splitting the project into two parts (CE and EA) rests with the Bald Eagle >(a threatened species) situation. Until February 1st, the project would not >necessarily violate Bald Eagle management guidelines. After that day, the >nest site is considered to be active, and a higher level of restrictions on >human activity kicks in. The Gallatin NF's solution? A site specific Forest >Plan Amendment to exempt the project from Bald Eagle guidelines and to >exempt it from visual quality standards. Don't like restrictions? Sweep >them under the carpet. > >* The Gallatin already has shown its unwillingness to enforce Bald Eagle >closures. Last winter a DOL hazing operation violated a special closure >around the Horse Butte nesting site by flying a helicopter through the area >and actually landing in the area. Buffalo Nations and Cold Mountain, Cold >Rivers have video documentation of the violation. Helicopter? What >helicopter? I don't see no helicopter. > >* The Forest Service's whole logic with permitting the trap rests on the >notion that if they allow the capture facility, then only animals that test >positive to brucellosis or pregnant females (even if they test negative) >will be slaughtered. They infer many times that without the trap, more >animals will be slaughtered through indiscriminate shooting. The EA refuses >to examine the issue of brucellosis transmission from buffalo to cattle. >But how can you determine that there is a need for an action (slaughtering >buffalo) without discussing the scientific data (or lack thereof) on >transmission of brucellosis from buffalo to cows. Cows are not even present >in the area until June, and it is an accepted scientific fact that if the >buffalo move back into the Park 30-60 days prior to cattle being moved into >the area, that there is no risk of transmission. > >* Horse Butte is a beautiful area surrounded on three sides by water. The >facility will be located at the neck of it. It is traditional >winter/nesting/birthing grounds for not only the endangered bald eagle and >the buffalo but elk, deer, swans, pelicans and other many species. > >Make sure to include the following points in your comments: > >* Demand that the Forest Service adopt the "no action" alternative, which >will not allow the trap to be built or operated, and to rescind the Special >Use Permit that the CE allowed. > >* Splitting the DOL's Special Use Permit request into a CE and an EA >violates NEPA by segmenting the trap project into two connected actions. >This is illegal. > >* Exempting the trap from Bald Eagle protection guidelines in the Forest >Plan (by amending the Plan) is wrong, and will not exempt the trap from >provisions of the Endangered Species Act that protect threatened and >endangered species. > >* Reducing buffalo population numbers in the ecosystem through unnatural >processes (trapping and slaughter) impacts the grizzly bear by removing an >essential food source (winter killed and weakened animals) in the spring. > >* Demand that the Forest Service adopt scientifically based "risk >management" techniques instead of the DOL's "zero tolerance" approach to >buffalo management. These risk management tactics are discussed more fully >in Plan B and the Bison Alternative (independently developed alternatives >to the EIS on Bison Management in Yellowstone and Montana that is in >progress). > >* There are many other issues involved with this proposal with other >threatened and endangered species, local residents, snowmobiling, etc. If >you take the time to read the EA (see online address below), you'll >discover many other things to >comment on. > >Thanks! > >______________________ > >Please send your comments (by Jan 13th), or requests for further >information to: > >Olleke Rappe-Daniels >USDA Forest Service R1 HQ >200 E. Broadway >Box 7669 >Missoula, MT 59807 >ph: 406-329-3028 >mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >CC: to 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] > >If you send your comments by email, make sure to include your name and >address so that the Forest Service can fully analyze the range of comments, >and where they come from. > >For more information, you can view the EA online at: >http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/bison/index.html > >You also can check out our web pages for more information in general about >the buffalo situation in Yellowstone National Park: > >Buffalo Nations: http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/ >Stop the Slaughter: http://www.wildrockies.org/bison/ >Plan B: http://www.wildrockies.org/PlanB/ > >************************************************************************ >List-Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >News Submissions or Problems: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >This list is a public service provided by WIN: http://www.wildrockies.org > <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
