Feds Kill Buffalo, Terrorize Bald Eagles

opinion by Buffalo Folks, contributors

The buffalo management plan--as now operated by the State ofMontana--and the US government in Yellowstone are illegally harmingbald eagles, trumpeter swans and their habitat, according to a lawsuitfiled recently in Federal District Court in Helena, Montana, by ColdMountain Cold Rivers, Buffalo Field Campaign, and the Ecology Center,Inc.

The groups charge that the Montana Department of Livestock, the USForest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Serviceare in violation of several federal environmental laws. They areseeking an injunction prohibiting the hazing and capturing of Yellowstone's wild buffalo herd on the Horse Butte Peninsula, part of the Gallatin National Forest near Yellowstone National Park. The areaprovides habitat for several threatened species and sensitivemigratory birds including bald eagles, grizzly bears, gray wolves, andtrumpeter swans. These species may be harmed by the hazing andcapturing process, which involves use of helicopters in wild areas.During winter-spring 2000-2001, the Department of Livestock repeatedlyused helicopters over the Horse Butte area to haze and capturebuffalo. Five buffalo bulls have been shipped to slaughter this year.Since 1984, the state has shot or shipped to slaughter 3,182 buffalo.The Yellowstone buffalo herd is targeted by the agencies for"brucellosis control" when they migrate to winter and spring rangeprimarily on public lands surrounding Yellowstone Park. Over the next15 years Montana and the US government plan to spend $40-$45 milliontaxpayer dollars to haze, capture, test, vaccinate, and slaughter wildbuffalo that migrate outside the Park.

"All this illegal activity impacting threatened bald eagles and theYellowstone ecosystem is done to protect cattle that don't winterhere," said Mike Mease of Buffalo Field Campaign. "Five buffalo bullshave been shipped to slaughter. Trumpeter swans and migratingwaterfowl have been displaced. Bald eagle nests are failing to produceyoung. Why? So a few more taxpayer subsidized cattle can range onpublic land--land the buffalo is wrongfully denied."

In 1999 and 2000 the Ridge bald-eagle nest failed, and in 2000 theHorse Butte bald-eagle nest also failed to produce young. This year,no bald eagles have been detected at the Narrows nest. The ForestService has not determined the causes of these nest failures, and hasa duty to cease any operations "in the interim period betweeninitiation and completion of the new consultation if any additionaltaking is likely to occur," according to the Fish and WildlifeService.

"The bald eagle and the wild buffalo are the great symbols of freedomand wildness in this land," said Jim Coefield of The Ecology Center,Inc. "The Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service are allowingthe Montana Department of Livestock to run amok and do what it pleasesat any cost. The vast majority of people do not support the agencies'actions."

Another spokesperson for the plaintiffs stated, "The Forest Serviceand Fish and Wildlife have wholly failed to analyze the effects ofaircraft on bald eagles and other native wildlife. Further, all of theFederal Defendants have actively assisted the Montana Department ofLivestock in its illegal activities. This lawsuit seeks to uphold thelaws that protect native wildlife and the ecosystems that are part ofthe American people's heritage."

For more information about the buffalo and to get active:www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo