Buffalo Field Campaign Road Show Tonight!

September 6, 2006
Show time 7:00 PM
Louden Nelson Center
301 Center Street (corner of Central and Laurel)
Contact: Dennis (831) 427-2626
Sponsored By Santa Cruz Earth First! & Free Radio Santa Cruz

The Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is a non-profit organization focused on protecting America's last wild, free ranging, genetically pure buffalo located in and around Yellowstone National Park. Although there are over 300,000 bison in the US only 15,000 are genetically pure. The rest have cattle genes. Of these 15,000 pure buffalo the Yellowstone bison are unique in that they have continually occupied their native range since the days when North America was inhabited by more than 30 million buffalo.

Montana has a "zero tolerance" policy for buffalo entering the state and has killed nearly 4,000 since 1985. The state blames the slaughter on brucellosis, although there has never been a documented transmission from wild bison to livestock. Ironically, the cows gave the disease to many species of wildlife and now only the buffalo are slaughtered. Elk have transmitted brucellosis disease to cattle yet elk are not even mentioned in the management plan as a problem.

With our country's infamous history of mass buffalo slaughter it is a bitter irony that 130 years later we are allowing history to repeat itself. Native American tribes have pleaded to take live YNP buffalo back to their reservations. The request has fallen on deaf ears. In a single week in March of 2003 the National Park Service slaughtered 231 buffalo from within Yellowstone National Park. In the year 2004 the Park Service killed 267 inside Yellowstone.

The Buffalo Field Campaign is working to gain protection under the Endangered Species Act for the herd. These buffalo are an American treasure and need all of our help to ensure their survival. The Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act (HR 2428) is currently gaining support in the US House of Representatives. We're traveling to gain support for these and other efforts to protect the herd.

Mike Mease, BFC’s co-founder & Campaign Coordinator and Josh Osher, BFC’s Research & Policy Coordinator will travel the West Coast from mid-August until mid-September, visiting farmer's markets and giving presentations in communities from Los Angeles to Eugene. We've got great events scheduled, including benefits in the Bay Area with Native American musician and activist John Trudell and activist and speaker Julia Butterfly Hill. West Coast dates have all been scheduled.

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The Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) is the only group working in the field, everyday, to stop the slaughter and harassment of Yellowstone's wild buffalo. Volunteers from around the world defend buffalo on their traditional winter habitat and advocate for their protection. Our daily patrols stand with the buffalo on the ground they choose to be on, and document every move made against them.

Volunteers spend all day, from sunrise until sunset, watching and documenting actions taken against the buffalo. We run patrols from cars, skis and snowshoes to protect buffalo outside the park. Tactics range from video documentation to nonviolent civil disobedience.

BFC enjoys incredible support and participation from the local community. Residents allow us to post signs on their property designating them as "Buffalo Safe Zones." We offer a fence repair service to mitigate damage caused by wildlife. Locals join us on our daily rounds, and many support our patrols with hot drinks and food.

All of our work happens because people are willing to take a break from their usual schedules and come help. Over 1500 people from all over the country and around the world have joined us in our log cabin on Hebgen Lake to help stop the buffalo slaughter. We feed and house all our volunteers in our cabin and tipi satellite camp. Volunteers patrol for buffalo by skis, snowshoes, cars, or snowmobiles. Everyone communicates by a network of hand-held radios, and also carries a video and still camera.

Our office runs outreach programs, including slide and video presentations, summer tabling in Yellowstone Park, website and e-mail updates, and national media coverage through press releases and video.