Bison Advocates Hold Rally on the Capitol Lawn in Montana
Join BFC and other bison advocates for a gathering in Helena on Wednesday, May 14, to hold Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Accountable for the Largest buffalo slaughter Since 1800s. Schweitzer and Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis will be presented with the Buffalo Bill Award for killing the most wild bison since the late 19th century. They will be remembered for this shameful act that has devastated our national heritage, the American bison. [more]
Press Release: Buffalo Allies of Bozeman Is Founded to Take Action against the Slaughter and Hazing(Bozeman, Mont.) – In a winter where more wild buffalo have been killed than at any time since the 19th century in and near Yellowstone National Park, concerned local residents in the Bozeman area have formed Buffalo Allies of Bozeman – a new grassroots group taking action on behalf of the American bison.
“We believed we needed to build a community of action so that the slaughter we have seen this year, where over 1,600 animals have been killed, never happens again,” said Mel Schroeder, one of the members of Buffalo Allies of Bozeman. [more]
Big Sky Coalition Founder Built Home in FloodwayFor a group billing themselves as "environmentalists with common sense" the Big Sky Coalition sure has a funny way of being green. [more]
The Doctrine of Discovery Celebrates 515 YearsOn May 4, 1493, at the urging of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Pope Alexander VI confirmed their right of possession of all newly discovered lands in the Americas. Even at this point in time, 515 years ago this month, the Christian conquest of the world was well under way. Alexander’s papal bull was a continuation of what is now called the Doctrine of Discovery. The irony of "discovering" native people in their own land is a sad and tragic one. Read full article at http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/discovery.htm [more]
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Wild Bison: BFC Update from the Field 5/8/08"Darrell and i spent many hours [last Friday] in Yellowstone driving from the west gate to Old Faithful, counting buffalo. The news is not good. In that 30 mile stretch we saw fewer than 200 buffalo total! In 14 years of living in Montana and spending lots of time at this time of the year in the park, I've never seen less than several hundred buffs in the meadows at Mary Mountain trail head; [Friday] we counted 41 with only 4 calves ... and that was the largest herd we saw all day." [more]
Wild Bison: BFC Update from the Field 5/1/08Blatantly ignoring Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's statement that no more wild bison would be shipped to slaughter, the Department of Livestock sent three magnificent bulls to their deaths from the Duck Creek area on Yellowstone's western boundary... the largest wild bison slaughter since the 1800s continues at the behest of cattle interests. [more]
Rapa Nui: A Case Study in Ecological DisasterIn 2004 I took an Elder Hostel tour to Napa Nui, better known as Easter Island. What was once a lush forest of wine palms and red ash is now just wind-swept grasslands. There is a lesson for all of us here, as the title of one book "Easter Island--Island Earth" indicates. For a text with my pictures, please go to http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/EasterIs.htm [more]
Wild Bison: BFC Update from the Field 4/24/08In the wake of the largest wild American buffalo slaughter since the 1800s, fewer than 2,300 buffalo remain. How can Yellowstone National Park possibly save face? They have shamefully joined the ranks of the 19th century hide hunters, who wastefully soaked this continent with buffalo blood. [more]
Sign the petition to stop the Yellowstone bison slaughterOne-third of the entire bison population - the last in the U.S. - has been wiped out on order from officials in the National Park Service and the Montana Department of Livestock under Governor Brian Schweitzer. Please sign this emergency rule making petition to stop the U.S. National Park Service from slaughtering wild bison http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/stoptheslaughter.html [more]
MT Fire Suppression Committee: Please focus on common groundWhile some in the logging industry - and even some members of this Committee - may continue to falsely portray the conservation community's position on issues related to fuel reduction, fire suppression and restoration, the truth of the matter is that a lot of common ground has been reached. The Montana Fire Suppression Committee should focus on these vast areas of common ground and agreement, rather than entertaining a perspective that calls for the National Environmental Policy Act and the public appeals process to be suspended. [more]
Why buffalo and why not the CUT deal? Against utilitarianismAs Yellowstone's buffalo population plummets from 4,700 to 2,300, people have questioned whether this is a serious issue, whether those acting for the buffalo might spend their time in better ways. At the same time, other mainstream environmental groups have promoted a deal the Park Service and the governor of Montana have announced this week, which though they claim is flawed, they promote as a good "first step." "Is this a good step, or is there something else we might be doing?" is a question one might ask of both. As an advocate for buffalo but a critic of the deal announced last week, how can I answer that question - that I should be acting on behalf of buffalo in Yellowstone but reject that we should be taking the route proposed by the mainstream environmental groups? This essay aims to answer both. The common thread that clarifies how we should look at this is a rejection of basing our ethical decisions on utilitarianism, or the belief that we should always "act for the greatest good for the greatest number." [more]
