First Tribal Permit Used in Montana's Yellowstone Bison Hunt Date: 1/9/2006 4:4

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Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC)

PO Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758

(406) 646-0070 phone

(406) 646-0071 fax

bfc-media;

www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

 

First Tribal Permit Used in Montana's Yellowstone Bison Hunt

 

For Immediate Release, January 9, 2006

Contact Stephany Seay: (406) 646-0070

 

GARDINER, MONTANA. In spite of continuous national public outcry calling for

Montana to cancel its controversial bison hunt, the state's zero-tolerance

policy against the country's last wild bison continues. Two more bull bison were

killed in Gardiner on Saturday, just outside the boundary of Yellowstone

National Park. The shooters included a man from Belgrade and a man from the

Little Shell Tribe.

 

Montana issued bison hunt permits to eight Montana Indian tribes to assist

their diabetes programs. Montana's Indian bison hunt legislation, section

87-2-731 of Montana Code Allocated 2005, Allocation of Wild Buffalo Licenses to

Tribes for Traditional Purposes, states " Wild buffalo taken pursuant to the

special licenses issued under subsection (1) must be harvested by tribal members

in

accordance with the traditional ceremonies of each tribe. " As far as BFC

witnessed, the Little Shell hunter held no ceremony in reverence for the

buffalo.

 

" How can we, as Native People exhibit prayer so it is understood by those

watching? With this hunt the Native People have been forced [by the state] to

expose their most holy relationship. How many other people have their religion

treated this way? With this rudeness Native People have the chance to show

people how to honor life as well as death, and the relationship to the buffalo. "

Scott Frazier a Crow and Santee Elder wrote.

 

All eighteen non-Indian permits have been filled for the first phase of

Montana's bison hunt, which ends January 15. Of the eight tribal permits issued

for this phase only the Little Shell Tribe has used theirs. The Crow Nation and

the tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation (Assiniboine, or Nakoda, and the

Gros Ventre Nations) have rejected the two permits offered them.

 

In the past ten years Montana and the U.S. Government have killed 2,479 wild

Yellowstone bison, more than half of the existing herd. Twenty-two wild bull

bison have been killed in Montana since September: nineteen were shot by

Montana hunters, two by Montana's Department of Livestock (DOL), and another by

a

Yellowstone National Park ranger.

 

Nearly all of the bison that have been killed in Montana's hunt have been

shot less than five miles from the boundary of Yellowstone National Park. Two

bison have been shot at the site of the Duck Creek Bison Capture Facility. The

Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks claims bison have access to

460,000 acres of Montana lands during the hunt, yet the overwhelming majority of

this terrain is mountainous and rocky and bison naturally require

lower-elevation grasslands. Only a tiny fraction of the so-called " tolerance

zone, " or

hunt-area, is being used by bison. Further, immediately after the bison hunt

ends on February 15, the 460,000 acres will no longer be available to wild

bison.

 

The National Park Service has been engaged in numerous hazing operations

during the state's bison hunt, along Yellowstone's northern boundary near

Gardiner, Montana. Sunday was the only day last week that there wasn't a haze.

On

Saturday, Park Rangers forced two groups consisting of 61 wild bison off of

their native landscape - including portions of the CUT ranch - back into the

boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, where they added nearly 290 more bison

that had never even left the park, pushing them further towards the Mammoth

area.

The haze into the Park also disrupted area pronghorn, a species of special

concern. Today, the NPS hazed another 100-plus buffalo back into the Park.

 

" The so-called tolerance zone doesn't really exist, " said Mike Mease,

subsistence hunter and cofounder of BFC. " These buffalo can get hazed one day

and

shot the next. On the west side of the Yellowstone River the buffalo are being

hazed by the Park Service almost every day, while on the east side of the

river they're shot by hunters. "

 

Deer, elk, moose and antelope enjoy habitat in Montana as well as a respite

from hunting when the season ends. Bison, however, are always targets of

persecution at every time of year, whenever they step foot into Montana's

borders.

 

" Permanent habitat, wildlife designation, and management by trained wildlife

professionals must come before a species can be legitimately hunted, " said

Stephany Seay of BFC. " Montana's bison hunt lacks each of these elements, and

therefore they are conducting an illegitimate hunt that we strongly oppose. "

 

Montana claims its bison hunt is popular among citizens, yet Montana Governor

Brian Schweitzer is ignoring the thousands of phone calls and letters he has

received urging it's immediate cancellation. Citizens nation-wide have been

calling on Montana to end its zero-tolerance policy and afford lasting

protection to the country's last wild herd of bison.

 

The state justifies its lack of bison tolerance on the unfounded fear that

bison may transmit brucellosis, a European livestock disease, to cattle. There

has never been a documented case of wild bison transmitting brucellosis to

livestock. Bulls pose no risk of transmitting the bacteria.

 

The bison that inhabit the Yellowstone region are the last wild, genetically

pure, unfenced bison left in the country. They are the only bison to have

continuously occupied their native range and they are the last bison to follow

their natural instinct to migrate. Like other wild ungulates, the region's

harsh winters forces necessary migration into lower elevation lands where

available forage is found. Yet, unlike other wild ungulates, wild bison are not

allowed to leave the confines of Yellowstone National Park and face a

zero-tolerance policy when they enter Montana and consequently it's killing

fields.

 

Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, everyday, to

stop the slaughter of the wild Yellowstone buffalo. Volunteers defend the

buffalo on their native habitat and advocate for their protection. BFC video

footage and photos are available upon request and may be viewed at

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.

 

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Media & Outreach

Buffalo Field Campaign

P.O. Box 957

West Yellowstone, MT 59758

406-646-0070

bfc-media

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

 

 

BFC is the only group working in the field every day

to defend the last wild herd of buffalo in America.

 

 

STOP THE HUNT! Call Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer:

Phone #: 406-444-3111

 

 

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