And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: To: "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: Wild Rockies InfoNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: CONGRESSIONAL PORK WILL KILL YELLOWSTONE BISON CONGRESSIONAL PORK WILL KILL YELLOWSTONE BISON CALLS AND FAXES URGENTLY NEEDED TO SAVE TAX DOLLARS AND BISON The House and Senate have passed Agriculture Appropriation Bills which contain hundreds of thousands of dollars for unnecessary research and killing bison outside of Yellowstone National Park. The differences in these bills will be ironed out by a House/Senate Conference Committee which will begin its deliberations this evening (September 21). Specifically, the Senate bill (S. 1233) includes $750,000 for Montana to construct and operate a quarantine facility and for the capture, testing, and slaughter of bison who wander outside of Yellowstone National Park. This is nothing but Congressional "pork" promoted by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) and is a waste or your tax dollars. This appropriation, if approved, will be used to operate bison traps on the Gallatin National Forest -- public land -- and on private land near the western border of Yellowstone where potentially hundreds of bison may be captured, tested, and shipped to slaughter. The private land trap is located mere feet from the Yellowstone boundary and is baited with fresh hay to lure bison out of the Park. The private land and Gallatin forest trap are entirely unnecessary since there are no cattle grazed in the West Yellowstone area between November and June, eliminating any perceived risk of BRUCELLA ABORTUS transmission between bison and cattle. Any leftover funds will be saved to be used for the future construction of a bison quarantine facility. This is unnecessary expenditure of your tax dollars because none of the agencies involved in bison management have decided to build and operate a quarantine facility for bison and, if constructed, such a facility would be a death trap for bison. Furthermore, Congress has already allocated $1.5 million for a quarantine facility. Any past or future allocations for a quarantine facility are likely illegal as they may predetermine the outcome of the ongoing National Environmental Policy Act process by pressuring the agencies to approve such a facility. The Senate bill also includes $610,000 for the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee (GYIBC). The GYIBC is comprised of all the state and federal agencies involved in bison management. It has been given the responsibility of resolving the ongoing controversy surrounding bison management in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Unfortunately its current solutions focus on manipulating and killing bison and elk to eradicate the bacteria while leaving the domestic livestock industry untouched. Though the Senate bill does not specify how this money would be spent, allowing the GYIBC member states (Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana) to control these funds is unacceptable. Finally, the House and Senate bills propose $150,000 and $500,000, respectively, for brucellosis vaccine research at Montana State University. These experiments, if funded, are unnecessary, could potentially result in the killing of dozens of bison, and continues to promote wildlife vaccination over cattle vaccination as a solution to this controversy. CALLS AND FAXES ARE URGENTLY NEEDED TO THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE/SENATE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE (LISTED BELOW) TO OPPOSE THE EXPENDITURE OF FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS ON UNNECESSARY EXPERIMENTS AND DEADLY MANAGEMENT OF YELLOWSTONE BISON. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CALL OR FAX ON SEPTEMBER 21 OR 22 SINCE IT IS NOT KNOWN HOW LONG THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE WILL BE MEETING. PLEASE TELL THEM THAT YOU DO NOT OPPOSE THE HOUSE OR SENATE AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATION BILLS, BUT THAT YOU DO OPPOSE THE USE OF FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS TO KILL AND EXPERIMENT ON BISON. If you are a constituent of any of the Senators or Representatives listed below, it is imperative that you take action immediately. If you are not a constituent of any of the conference committee members, call and fax as many offices as you can to tell them that you are a citizen of the United States and that you oppose the use of your tax dollars to kill and experiment on bison. The important points to make in your call or fax are: 1. Congress has already allocated $1.5 million for a bison quarantine facility which the agencies have not decided to build and which has not been subject to environmental impact analysis or public comment. Providing additional funds is unnecessary and illegal since it may unduly influence the ongoing Environmental Impact Statement process. 2. There is no justification for continuing to trap, test, and slaughter Yellowstone bison. There are no domestic cows in the vicinity of bison in the winter and bison are hazed back into the Park before cattle are returned to private or public lands in the spring. 3. Congress should not allocate federal tax dollars to states (Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming) who would prefer to persecute, rather than protect Yellowstone bison. 4. Federal tax dollars should not be used to support inhumane and unnecessary research which is not a priority and is of dubious scientific value. If Congress wants to help resolve the bison issue it should allocate funds for the purchase of cattle and private land to increase the amount of winter range for bison. AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS CONFEREES: SENATORS: Ted Stevens (AK) 202-224-3004 ph 202-224-2354 fax Robert Byrd (WV) 202-224-3954 ph 202-3384467 fax Thad Cochran (MS) 202-224-5054 ph 202-224-9450 fax Arlen Specter (PA) 202-224-4254 ph 202-228-1229 fax Christopher Bond (MO) 202-224-5721 ph 202-224-8149 fax Mitch McConnell (KY) 202-224-2541 ph 202-224-2489 fax Herb Kohl (WI) 202-224-5653 ph 608-264-5473 fax Tom Harkin (IA) 202-224-3254 ph 202-224-9369 fax Byron Dorgan (ND) 202-224-2551 ph 202-224-1193 fax Dianne Feinstein (CA) 202-224-3841 ph 202-228-3954 fax Richard Durbin (IL) 202-224-2152 ph 202-228-0400 fax REPRESENTATIVES: Bill Young (FL) 202-225-5961 ph Dave Obey (WI) 202-225-3365 ph Joe Skeen (NM) 202-225-2365 ph 202-225-9599 fax James Walsh (NY) 202-225-3701 ph 202-225-4042 fax Jay Dickey (AR) 202-225-3772 ph 202-225-1314 fax Jack Kingston (GA) 202-225-5831 ph 202-226-2269 fax George Nethercutt (WA) 202-225-2006 ph 509-353-2412 fax Henry Bonilla (TX) 202-225-4511 ph 202-225-2237 fax Tom Latham (IA) 202-225-5476 ph 202-225-3301 fax Jo Ann Emerson (MO) 202-225-4404 ph 202-226-0326 fax Marcy Kaptor (OH) 202-225-4146 ph 202-225-7711 fax Rosa DeLauro (CT) 202-225-3661 ph 202-225-4890 fax Maurice Hinchey (NY) 202-225-6335 ph 202-226-0774 fax Sam Farr (CA) 202-225-2861 ph 202-225-6791 fax Allen Boyd (FL) 202-225-5235 ph 202-225-5615 fax ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
