Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

        We've been blessed with another beautifully quiet week with the buffalo. DOL may actually be busy working with cows, as it is calving season. All of our shaggy friends have been located, with 10 Bulls in Montana, and a group of 7 bulls each at the border on Duck Creek and the Madison river.

        The warm, sunny weather has left our 20 volunteers with rosy cheeks. We are gaining momentum for a big week of action, but could always use more volunteers. If you've ever thought of visiting... anytime during the upcoming month would be perfect.

        This lull in the action has given me a chance to head out for 24 hours to Horse Butte patrol. We'll spend the night in a 20' tipi at the edge of the forest service land on the east side of the butte. Tomorrow we'll keep an eye on the bulls in the area, the DOL capture facility, and document bald eagle and other wildlife activity.

        Why do I think these bison are important? They have the ability to awaken hidden instincts in all of us. Watch a small herd for awhile, and a light turns on inside. The head may deny, but the heart remembers. Mine remembers a warm fall day, a golden aspen grove, running forever across crunchy leaves. Living for the day, no worries, only Life: The message, the meaning, and all that matters.

We need volunteers! Give us a holler for more info!

And if you can't be here in person: You can see firsthand the terrible violations and harassment of buffalo that occurred on February 14th.

We have a high band width and low bandwidth (still working on the clarity of this one) clip available for you to view on the web site. We hope that this will be a valuable tool for you.

If the footage makes you sick to your stomach, please talk to the Forest Service public servant that is turning his back and allowing the State of Montana to violate the conditions of the Special Use Permit, the Environmental Assessment and the Biological Opinion that he signed himself.

Demand that he pull the Special Use permit since the DOL has violated the terms of it twice now. We shouldn't have to litigate over this - he should just do his job and act in behalf of the wildlife that he was hired to protect. (He's also the gent that signed the grazing permit on Horse Butte for 10 more years.)

Contact:
Dave Garber, Forest Supervisor
P.O. Box 130; 10 East Babcock Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59771
Telephone 406-587-6701 (voice)
Telephone 406-587-6801 (TDD)
Fax: 406-587-6758
E-mail: dgarber@fs.fed.us

You may also CC: his boss:
Mike Dombeck
Phone:202-205-1661
FAX: 202-205-1765
USDA Forest Service
P.O. Box 96090 201 14th Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20024
E-mail: mdombeck@fs.fed.us

Letters/ postcards and calls are the only way they know that the American public cares for the buffalo.

We couldn't have done it without the volunteers in the field shooting the great footage. Thanks MM & JC for putting the footage together. And thanks HSUS for those cameras!

Challenge Grant: Earth Friends has gallantly issued us a $1000 challenge grant for Buffalo Protection and Research. If you can help us match this grant, your money would be leveraged and worth twice as much! We promise we will put it to good use.

Just send in your gift and write "challenge" in the memo. We can stretch a dollar a long ways! Thanks for your help with this.

If there is one person out there who could personally match 1/2 of this - it would sure help. Write bfc-programs@wildrockies.org if you need more information.