YELLOWSTONE BUFFALO STAMPEDE
IN WASHINGTON D.C. ON APRIL 4
TO STOP THE SLAUGHTER
After years of mismanagement by the State of Montana, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Yellowstone's bison have had it!  They have been harassed too much, trapped and tested too frequently, and have seen too many of their kin shot or slaughtered as the result of a scientifically fraudulent and publicly unacceptable management plan developed by federal and state agencies more concerned about cattle than America's last wild, free-ranging buffalo or bison.

IT'S TIME FOR A BUFFALO STAMPEDE!!!


 
WHEN: Thursday, April 4th; 12:00 noon-1:30 PM.
WHERE: The stampede will begin outside the Deartment of Agriculture building at 14th St. and Jefferson Dr., proceed past the Washington Monument, turn north, and end at the Department of the Interior.
WHY: To protest the ongoing slaughter of Yellowstone's bison, to condemn the federal government for developing and implementing this scientifically fraudulent management plan, and to demand that the agencies stop ignoring the public's will and implement a plan to protect Yellowstone's bison.
WHAT TO BRING: While some bison costumes will be provided, please create and bring your own. Feel free to be so creative.  Costumes representing live bison, dead bison, or the spirit of the bison past are all appropriate.  Placards will be provided.

The buffalo living in and around Yellowstone are the descendants of a small herd that survived the government sponsored bison slaughter of the mid to late 1800s.  Despite their tragic history and aesthetic, scientific, ecological, and cultural values, more than 3,200 bison have been shot or slaughtered since 1985 to placate the livestock industry and their unsubstantiated fear of brucellosis transmision from bison to cattle.  There has never been a confirmed case of brucellosis transmission from wild bison to cattle.  Furthermore, with no cattle present in the West Yellowstone area during the winter, bacteria transmission is impossible.

The USDA and Montana use grossly inaccurate blood tests, including a brand new test, on trapped bison to determine who lives and who dies.  the new test, arbitrariy implemented by the USDA and Montana, has resulted in more dead bison.  Constant hazing and harassment has resulted in substantial stress, injuries, and suffering of bison during winter.  Much of this hazing and harassment, which is allowed by the USFS on public lands, violates standards imposed to protect nesting bald eagles.  The USFS has largely ignoredthese violations.

This winter alone, the agencies have slaughtered 26 bison, including 23 bulls who are incapable of transmitting the bacteria which is spread via contaminated reproductive materials and three bison cows with calves.  The motherless calves were released and now must learn to survive on their own or die.  Tragically, hundreds of bison bulls, cows, and calves are likely to be slaughtered this spring if the agencies are allowed to continue on this deadly course. This is no way to treat America's largest wild bison herd.

WON'T YOU COME STAMPEDE WITH US?
We need activists to join togeter in the largest bison stampede D.C. has ever seen to protest the slaugter of American buffalo outside of the world's first national park.  Help save Yellowstone's bison by participating in this historic event.

For more information about the Bison Stampede contact:

The Buffalo Field Campaign
(406) 646-0070
buffalo@wildrockies.org
www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
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