*SPECIAL ALERT! Buffalo Field Campaign Special Alert! March 20, 2006 http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org Dear Buffalo Friends, The National Park System Advisory Board (the Board), the body that advises the Director of the National Park Service and the Secretary of the Interior on matters relating to the National Park Service, the National Park System, and programs administered by the National Park Service, has scheduled a meeting in Jacksonville, FL for this Wednesday, March 22, 2006. According to the March 6 Federal Register announcing the Jacksonville meeting, NPS Director Fran Mainella will attend the meeting next week to address the board. The board meetings are open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis and minutes from the board meeting are produced and available to the public about 12 weeks after the meeting. In addition, anyone can submit a written statement to the board regarding any national park system issue. We urge each of you to contact the the Board liaison and demand that the NPS refrain from harming and killing America's last wild buffalo, and take all necessary and available measures to ensure their lasting protection. A sample letter is provided below. You might also mention that Yellowstone National Park has been completely unresponsive to requests from the American people demanding the halt of bison slaughter and harassment, and as a public agency, this behavior is not only unacceptable but unconstitutional as well. Below is a breakdown of the aggressive and lethal actions Yellowstone National Park has taken against America's last wild bison: Yellowstone National Park - Bison Slaughter & Removals: 940 Total 1 Shot 849 slaughtered 3 died in capture facility 87 calves sent to quarantine In addition, Montana's Department of Livestock (DOL) has, so far, killed 78 wild Yellowstone buffalo, bringing the total death and removal by state and federal management activities to an astounding and unacceptable 1,018 buffalo. TAKE ACTION FOR THE WILD YELLOWSTONE BUFFALO! Please use the sample letter below for guidance, and in your own words, ask the Board to address this critical issue and advise the NPS to protect, not harm or slaughter, America's last wild bison. Address your emails to Loran Fraser, Chief, Office of Policy NPS and NPS liason to the advisory board. Email: loran_fraser@nps.gov *SAMPLE LETTER (please personalize for effectiveness!) Dear Ms. Fraser & NPS Advisory Board: I am writing to express my outrage over the cruel mismanagement of Yellowstone's wild bison by the National Park Service (NPS). In a matter of only a few short weeks this winter, the NPS has removed 940 bison from Yellowstone National Park - nearly one-fifth of all bison -- sending 849 to slaughter, shooting 1, killing 3 in the capture facility, and relegating 87 to confinement for a ill-conceived experiment which will result in at least half being killed. The NPS decision to send captured bison to slaughter without testing for exposure to Brucella abortus violated its own management plan that requires such testing until the NPS conducts a late winter/early spring bison count - a count that was just recently completed. To date, with several months left before the killing is likely to stop, a total of 1018 bison have been killed or removed by the NPS and its partner agencies in their implementation of the Interagency Bison Management Plan. There has never been a documented case of wild bison transmitting brucellosis to cattle, yet bison are being persecuted and sent to their deaths regardless of this fact. Today, Yellowstone has less than 3,500 wild, free roaming bison. The bison of the Yellowstone region are the last wild, genetically pure, unfenced bison left in the United States. 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 prevented from leaving the confines of Yellowstone National Park and face a zero-tolerance policy when they enter Montana and consequently it's killing fields. The slaughter, harassment and quarantine of America's last wild bison must cease! Cattle interests should not take precedence over the protection of the country's only wild bison herd. I demand that the NPS take measures to work with state, federal and tribal governments, as well as willing private landowners, to safeguard critical winter and spring habitat for wild bison. The NPS must adhere to the wishes of the American people, especially First Nations, in regards to the management and protection of this unique herd. Sincerely, YOUR NAME MAILING ADDRESS *THANK YOU for taking action to protect America's last wild, free roaming herd of buffalo! -- Media & Outreach Buffalo Field Campaign P.O. Box 957 West Yellowstone, MT 59758 406-646-0070 bfc-media@wildrockies.org 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. Stay informed! Get our weekly email Updates from the Field: Send your email address to bfc-media@wildrockies.org BOYCOTT BEEF! It's what's killing wild buffalo. Speak Out! Contact politicians and involved agencies today: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html Write a Letter to the Editor of key newspapers: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/lte.html Help the buffalo by recycling your used cell phones & printer cartridges: It's free and easy. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/support/recycleprint.html. ************************************************************************ List-Subscribe: mailto:Stop-the-Slaughter-on@vortex.wildrockies.org List-Unsubscribe: mailto:Stop-the-Slaughter-off@vortex.wildrockies.org News Submissions or Problems: mailto:bfc-media@wildrockies.org