Bison Advocate Closes Trap; Forcibly Removed & Arrested
By LetBuffaloRoam, New West Unfiltered 2-27-08
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, Montana 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
* PRESS RELEASE*
BISON ADVOCATE FORCIBLY REMOVED FROM PROTEST PLATFORM
Yellowstone and Department of Livestock Continue to Capture and Slaughter Wild Bison
For Immediate Release, February 27, 2008
Contact: Buffalo Field Campaign, Nathan Drake or Stephany Seay 406-646-0070
WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA – The man who perched upon a platform suspended from the top of a pair of poles on public land inside the Horse Butte bison trap in protest of bison slaughter, Nathan Drake, 26, was forcibly removed and arrested Monday night by state and federal agents. He was charged with three misdemeanors: obstruction, trespassing, and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bail, reportedly the highest yet for bison-related direct action protest.
Montana Department of Livestock agents, Gallatin National Forest law enforcement and a Gallatin County sheriff were present and participated in the removal of the citizen.
“The agents who made their way up to my perch with an eighty foot cherry picker were unconcerned with my safety,” said Nathan. “They cut my sleeping bag that was my protection from the Montana winter, took off my boots and threw them to the ground, attempting to freeze me out of my lock box. The sheriff and Forest Service agent cut my safety line, attached me to the cherry-picker bucket and threw me in it.”
Exclusive Buffalo Field Campaign video footage of Nathan’s protest and subsequent removal and arrest can be viewed at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.
During the ordeal, Nathan maintained non-violent, non-threatening behavior, however the officers involved in extracting him from the bipod used considerable force and pain compliance to remove him from his position.
“They nearly broke my arms while descending with me. I was still attached by my lock box to a leg of the bipod,” said Nathan. “I was screaming in excruciating pain, and I looked down to see Montana DOL agent Shane Grube laughing at my plight and continuing to offer suggestions that would grossly endanger my life and the lives of the agents who were throwing me against the bucket of the cherry picker over and over.”
Forty-five minutes into their attempt to cut Nathan out of the lock box with a pipe cutter, they tossed him to the ground. Five agents then picked up one leg of the bipod, which was precariously balanced, risking Nathan’s life, where they attempted to pull him out from underneath it.
“It was indeed the scariest moment of my life,” said Nathan.
Nathan occupied the Horse Butte bison trap, effectively rendering it inoperable for 15 hours, in protest of the continued capture and slaughter of the United State’s last wild population of American bison. He took this direct action because of the tens of thousands of citizens who, for years, have protested the slaughter of wild bison yet have been completely ignored by decision-makers involved with the Interagency Bison Management Plan. Public officials are adhering only to Montana cattle interests.
“I risked life and freedom on behalf of the thousands of frustrated people fed up with this government and their full tilt assault on the last wild bison,” said Nathan. “I know full well that the frustration felt in me was echoed with the tens of thousands of people who called, wrote and petitioned the government to voice their concerns for these amazing animals; concerns that repeatedly fall upon deaf ears.”
The Montana Department of Livestock constructed the Horse Butte bison trap last week for the first time since 2004. Horse Butte is mainly publicly-owned national forest land, habitat favored by wild bison, and is one-hundred percent cattle-free at all times of year. On Tuesday, Department of Livestock agents captured 30 wild buffalo in the Horse Butte trap, shipping them to slaughter Wednesday morning.
As of Wednesday, in contrast to the public interest, Yellowstone National Park and the Montana Department of Livestock have collectively captured nearly 600 wild American bison, and have already sent 437 to slaughter. None of the bison have been, or will be tested for exposure to brucellosis, the supposed reason for the severe management actions.
While the government's official reason for the slaughter is to prevent the spread of brucellosis from wild bison to cattle, no such transmission has ever been documented. Because there are no cattle on any part of the Horse Butte Peninsula at any time of the year, such a transmission is impossible and Montana's intolerance for bison in the area unjustifiable.
More than 2,500 wild American bison have been killed or otherwise removed from the remaining wild population since 2000 under actions carried out under the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), as well as state and treaty hunts. The IBMP is a joint state-federal plan that prohibits wild bison from migrating to lands outside of Yellowstone's boundaries. Wild American bison are a migratory species native to vast expanses of North America and are ecologically extinct everywhere in the United States outside of Yellowstone National Park.
Buffalo Field Campaign strongly opposes the Interagency Bison Management Plan and maintains that wild bison should be allowed to naturally and fully recover themselves throughout their historic native range, especially on public lands.
Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, every day, to stop the slaughter of the wild American buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo and their native habitat and advocate for their lasting protection. Buffalo Field Campaign has proposed real alternatives to the current mismanagement of American bison that can be viewed at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/solutions.html. For more information, video clips and photos visit: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.
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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
in defense of the last wild buffalo in the U.S. [End of article]
The fault cleary lies with the BFC for not training its members as to what to expect in resisting arrest during the commission of crimes.
Comment By neesan Sims, 2-27-08To someone such as myself the Bisson are a true symbol of America as much as the Eagle and the Bear !
How on Earth can you kill such an advocate for your country ?
Shame on you !!!
As anyone who has ever been involved in the outdoors knows, the habitat can only support so many animals. Should the bison be allowed to breed on, unchecked indefinately? The excess has to be removed, of the habitat will be destroyed, and then it can support no bison. Also, some falsities of the article: there are wild ranging bison in North Dakota, Utah and Alaska, to name a few, and they are not "ecologically extinct everywhere in the United States outside of Yellowstone National Park". Additionally, there are numerous recorded cases of brucellosis transmission to livestock. If you are going to post your website and try to raise cash through it, at least do your research first so that you do not appear to be ignorant when you are portraying yourselves as the experts.
Comment By Anne Marie, 2-28-08Elk have transmitted brucellosis to cattle; bison have not. The wild-ranging bison elsewhere are not genetically pure, they have been interbred with cattle and have been impacted such that they no longer follow historic migration routes.
The plains bison in Alaska are an introduced species to replace the wood bison which were hunted to extinction in Alaska.
Ecologically extinct refers to occupying their native niche, not being introduced into areas it was never native, cross bred with domesticated animals, or having their population and habitat so altered that they no longer fulfill their original role in the ecosystem.
The Buffalo Field Campaign is an organization that clearly does their research, however those posting in comments lack this knowledge.
As far as the argument that bison need people to manage them as far as their population, the numbers claimed as the carrying capacity of the park cannot be relied upon, as biologists watch their data manipulated by the department of livestock for their own means. Bison are kept out of national forest, even when it has no grazing allotments, simply for the benefit of the cattle industry. A further blow to research on the bison populations within the park is that the collared research animals are regularly captured and slaughtered, preventing important data on population dynamics from being collected.
Bison have predators and have survived thousands of years without humans micromanaging them. Within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, purportedly the largest intact ecosystem in the lower 48, they do not need people drawing imaginary lines and micromanaging their populations.
Anne Marie, look here for a listing of genetically pure herds:
http://www.editthis.info/wildbison/List_of_Wild_Bison_Herds
Yes, there are a few other genetically pure herds, but they are no longer migratory, altering their interaction with the ecosystem.
Yellowstone's bison are genetically pure AND migratory.