And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: via Joe Don Chipps and the Buffalo Rescue newsletter -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Editorial Support for an End to the Killing in Yellowstone Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 10:43:55 -0600 From: ITBC (MB) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'J.D.K. Chipps'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reprinted with permission of the Daily camera Stop the senseless killing Since April Fool's Day, 18 more Yellowstone National Park bison have been lured outside park boundaries, trapped and shipped to slaughter. Montana livestock officials, assisted by federal park managers, are steadily killing off America's largest free-ranging bison herd. It's a foolish and wasteful policy that ignores the public's expressed desire to protect a national treasure. Close to 3,000 bison have been killed inside and outside Yellowstone since 1996, the year cattle ranchers pressured state officials to start killing bison that wander outside the park where cattle graze. The move was based on an unfounded fear that bison could transfer brucellosis - a bacteria that can cause miscarriages - to domestic animals. Although transference of the disease has never occurred in nature, the beef industry has been unwilling to bend toward sound alternatives to extermination. Opponents to the slaughter have had to pursue their case in the judicial system. Today a federal court of appeals in Seattle, Wash., will consider the future of the Yellowstone bison. The EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund, speaking on behalf of 45 Native American nations and a number of wildlife organizations, will ask a three-judge panel to address two main points: whether the National Park Service should be in the killing business and whether the environmental impact statement required prior to killing scores of bison was done properly. The National Park Service is endowed with the awesome responsibility of conserving wildlife on national parks for future generations. Last month the public said - loud and clear - it wants that mission to hold strong. An overwhelming majority (48,000 out of 67,000) of the public said, according to a park service March report, that it opposes killing as a management strategy. Instead, the public enthusiastically supports a "Citizens' Plan" by the National Wildlife Federation and the InterTribal Bison Cooperative, which ensures wild herds are overseen by professional wildlife managers. Lawyers for EarthJustice claim that the park service did a weak job accounting for the impacts its bison program will have on the vast ecosystem of Yellowstone. In 1996, officials claimed that no more than 569 bison would be killed, but more than 1,100 were slaughtered that year. Higher losses will take a toll on grizzly bears and other animals that rely on bison for their diet. Wildlife management policy should not be driven by the economic concerns of one special interest group. Clearly, there are better alternatives to rounding up wildlife and placing it under stressful tests for a phantom infectious disease. Advanced government tests show that bulls and yearlings are low risk, so testing could be more selective. How about putting some of the burden on the cattle ranchers? Cows can be vaccinated just as well as bison. If it comes down to it, bison could be relocated to tribal lands. The simplest approach would be to make sure bison have left the area before livestock begin grazing. The public has largely been ignored in Yellowstone's bison management plan. Yet at the same time, it is our tax dollars that allow cattle ranchers to benefit from low grazing fees on public lands. If the courts fail to bring a sense of balance to this issue, then the public must continue to put pressure on local and federal authorities to stop the senseless killing. April 13, 1999 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Copyright 1999 The Daily Camera. eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/buffalo-rescue Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
