In one of the more controversial rites of spring across the National Park System, Yellowstone National Park bison are being hazed on the ground and from the air out of the Montana countryside.
The operations, which at times employ helicopters buzzing as low as 20 feet off the ground along with hazers on horseback or riding ATVs, began this week just west of the park. The hazing is authorized under the Interagency Bison Management Plan that federal, state and local authorities hashed out back in 2000. Under that plan, brokered by the state of Montana, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the goal was to come up with a way to prevent Yellowstone bison from spreading brucellosis to cattle beyond the park's borders. (There has, however, been no documented case of such a transmission, although there have been suspected transmissions from elk to livestock.)
A year ago the hazing at times created harsh images of bison -- young and old -- being forced to ford the Madison River as it ran high with snowmelt.
In trying to see the hazing end, the Buffalo Field Campaign churns out a mix of at-times graphic videos and still photographs of the hazing operations and supplements them with press releases critical of both the Montana livestock industry and the federal agencies, including the National Park Service, that developed the hazing plan.
A formidable threat awaits these buffalo. Not the natural predator of bear, wolf, or lion, but the beast of greed that takes human shape: government agents unjustly catering to livestock interests will soon arrive with harmful intentions to force these buffalo - with horse, ATV, truck, helicopter and law enforcement - off of their native habitat in Montana. On Monday, BFC witnessed the season's first harassment operation as Montana Department of Livestock's Shane Grube and Jim Smolzynski, local game warden for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, hazed a group of 18 buffalo off of a section of their migration corridor along the lands south of the Madison River. There is a small private ranch there, but no cattle will arrive until late June. This one private cattle pasture, one landowner, drives the government's shameful mistreatment of America's last wild buffalo on this portion of their habitat.
So far this week the hazing operations involved moving bison off of private ranchland and onto the Gallatin National Forest, according to a representative of the Buffalo Field Campaign. Peter Bogusko on Thursday couldn't cite any instances that could be interpreted as animal cruelty, such as broken legs sustained during the hazing, or agents trying to push the animals across high-running streams or rivers.
But at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Mark Pearson, the group's national parks program director, maintained that bison cows giving birth were caught up in the hazing.
"Mother bison are literally in the throes of giving birth while livestock agents swoop in on them by helicopter, ATV, and horseback," said Mr. Pearson. "Most Americans would find this treatment of Yellowstone's iconic bison utterly abhorrent.
"The (Montana) Department of Livestock's indefensible annual show of force runs completely counter to the on-the-ground reality near Yellowstone National Park. A great many people worked hard on voluntary buyouts and other means to keep Yellowstone bison and cattle separate and ensure these are places where there is absolutely no chance for cows to be at risk," he added.
"The Department of Livestock and the Montana Stockgrowers Association should respect those voluntary efforts, along with the private-property rights of landowners who want bison allowed to roam on their property and the desire of the American people to not see this icon of the West harassed. It's well past time to stop this wholly unnecessary charade that results in stress, injury and even death for Yellowstone bison."
Comments
This animal abuse~no other name for it! APHIS has also started an unnecessary "testing" procedure on bull buffalo that recently resulted in two bulls being shot. The creatures need to be left alone to follow their natural migration path without hazing. Tax-payer dollars being spent to have helicopters chase buffalo~seriously, what is going on in Montana?
People just like to torment "lesser" creatures. It's in our nature. Only through selective culling of our own herd will this scourge be eliminated.
[Before people freak out, I'm just trying to make a sardonic point.]
The brucellosis problem has been in Yellowstone for almost 100 years. When you have a program that is ruled by committee, nothing ever is solved. Millions of dollars are being spent, each year on "fun" projects to provide papers for graduate students and doctoral candidates. You should take the time to read some of the data and papers. Real tax dollars at work. If polio had been subjected to such a "rule by committee" approach, it would still be a problem today. Luckily, one person had the common sense to stop the lies and propoanda and focus on the results, with polio. There is a solution to the brucellosis problem in Yellowstone for the bison. This solution will also stop the problem in cattle. I hope that someone in authority will take charge and stop the nonsense soon.
How much of the land in question is private land and how much of it is leased by the ranchers from the federal government? I've read that much of the ranchland in the west is actually leased for a relatively small amount of money. If this is true, it seems to me that the bison should remain there. Can anyone shed any light on this situation?
Montana Ranchers...the Mafia of the west. First they want to shoot the wolves, now they want to chase the Bison away. You know what fellas you run a business and there are no guarantees in business. Learn to adapt to the changing market conditions like every other private business owner does. Besides your product has contributed to the wide spread obesity in this country.
Funny, how would GYC know? They are not in the field with the buffalo. They get their information from Buffalo Field Campaign. It's calving season for buffalo, so there's always pregnant mothers, newborn calves, or mothers in the throes of giving birth that get caught up in hazing operations. Injuries occur all the time, but none were reported last week. It's always tragic and terribly unnecessary. It's a tragedy that the livestock industry has so much power that they can dictate how the last wild buffalo live (or die), and that Yellowstone NP and Gallatin National Forest are still puppets for the livestock industry. Not to mention Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bending over backwards to do the DOL's bidding. They've been out hazing every day to move buffalo out of an area near ONE private ranch, and there are no cows there. Seems to me the rancher, Pat Povah, needs to construct a better fence or move his cattle out of the buffalo's range. Ranchers need to mind their cows and stop putting the blame and burden on wildlife, and asking taxpayers to foot the bill. Brucellosis is an excuse the cattle industry uses to keep buffalo from eating grass ranchers believe is for cattle. And just yesterday a bunch of us got to witness the miracle of a buffalo being born....it was AMAZING, yet there was also sadness because this little wild calf was born between a livestock fence and a highway... in its first five minutes of life, it rolled and ended up on the wrong side of the fence. After a few minutes, it figured out how to get out...and this coming week, it's going to have to use those brand new little legs to keep up with mom as she and her family are yelled at and chased by cowboys who don't want to share the grass. Another very interesting thing we documented: the mother buffalo ATE the ENTIRE placenta, then buffalo birds appeared and ate around the area, then the buffalo came back and grazed the area.... CLEAN as a whistle. The cattle industry's propaganda is fear-based. Please, if you love wild buffalo, wolves, elk, bears....BOYCOTT BEEF. Cows kill everything. Please come to West Yellowstone and also see for yourself what is going on out here on our cattle-free public lands. It's a veritable war zone. If you can't make it, tune in to Buffalo Field Campaign, because we will be with the buffalo as we always are, documenting all actions made against them. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
Stephany,
I used to want to boycott beef because of the ranches out west, but the majority (95%) of the beef sold in stores comes from eastern farms. I have no idea what all the cattle out west are used for, but it isn't for our meat.
While living in New Mexico I would buy beef from an in state ranch. When the local slaughter/meat packing plant closed down I could not find it in any stores any more.
Returning home I asked around at various stores (Safeway, QFC, Albertsons, etc.) where their beef came from. All of them could only tell me they got their beef from various slaughter/meat packing plants, all in the midwest and eastern US where the majority of the major slaughter / meat packing plants are located.
I did find one independent "Family Grocer" in the small town where my brother lives, there is a honest to god true butcher there who replied to my question with, "a couple Eastern Washington Ranches, get my pigs from a farm in northern Oregon" as he hacked on a side of beef hanging from a large hook in the ceiling...