Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
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Helena, MT - A group of citizens will gather at 10 am today to let Governor Martz know that she has constituents with deep concerns about the new Yellowstone bison management plan. The rally, being organized by members of the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC), will be held at the State House in Helena.

According to BFC spokesperson Summer Nelson, "As governor, Judy Martz has the authority to challenge the management plan and implement a more equitable solution."

BFC volunteers will speak and distribute information on the recently approved federal/state bison management plan. Under the new plan buffalo will continue to be needlessly hazed, captured, and shot on public and private lands outside the park. Specifics of the plan include hazing bison within the boundaries of Yellowstone, quarantining members of America's only continuously wild buffalo herd for up to four years, and fitting bison with radio collars and vaginal telemetry devices. The plan calls for culling the herd to maintain a maximum population of 3,000 animals.

"The National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service plan to do over the next 15 years what the State of Montana has been doing to the buffalo for the last 10 years," said Darrell Geist, Executive Director of Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers--a Missoula-based environmental and human rights group. "Two thousand holy cows will continue to range on public lands at taxpayer expense, while buffalo are denied that range and killed for trying to migrate there." The 15-year management plan, designed to protect 2,019 cow/calf pairs, will cost taxpayers between 39 and 44 million dollars.

Martz has repeatedly made misleading statements about the state's role in the bison slaughter. Last spring, during the Governor's Conference on Tourism in Big Sky, she stated that the state of Montana has not killed a single buffalo in over two years. However, less than a year earlier, during the winter on 1998-'99, the Montana Department of Livestock sent 94 bison to slaughter.

"By attending Martz' inauguration, we hope to draw attention to her attempts to mislead the public and to encourage her to begin her term with honesty and integrity," said Dan Brister of the Buffalo Field Campaign.

Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers defend the buffalo on their traditional habitat and advocate for their protection. BFC is the only group working in the field every day to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone's wild buffalo.

Interviews available at the rally. Contact: Peter Leusch, Summer Nelson, phone: 406-646-0070.