Copyright © 2000 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

MONTANA - Thursday, November 2, 2000, Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) agents arrived in West Yellowstone to again harass buffalo. Happily, the buffalo out smarted the DOL. All Terrain Vehicles (ATV's), horses and cracker barrel shot gun rounds traumatized buffalo, but they hid in the woods and lost their persistent agitators.

Buffalo Field Campaign was there and documented it all. My fears of a big slaughter this year looked uncomfortably real when the DOL spent the rest of the day repairing and preparing the Duck Creek capture facility.

One of the DOL told me that they did a fly over of the park and estimate the herd at 3,200. This is 200 more than the new Bison Management Environmental Impact Statement arbitrarily allows.

We have committed to being here all winter, as usual, and are running daily patrols. Our grassroots, front lines approach to this issue proved itself when last winter, not the first of many, not a single buffalo was killed. Thank you for your prayers of support that this will be the case this winter also. Unfortunately, with the current political climate in Montana and the federal government, things could escalate quickly, that and the makings of a long, cold winter ahead.

We are privileged that we can be here and make a difference. We appreciate our supporters recognizing that we offer more than rhetoric and pretty pictures in our brochures, that we are putting our bodies on the line and doing something! Every phone call, letter and presentation helps our struggle.

With the Buffalo,
Mike Mease