Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Gallatin National Forest is now seeking public comments on a proposal to continue livestock grazing on the Horse Butte, a peninsula jutting into Montana's Hebgen Lake west of Yellowstone National Park. This tract of land is important winter habitat for Yellowstone's bison herd.

Each winter, the animals leave the Park's high elevation and deep snow, as well as the safety the Park's borders provide, and migrate to Horse Butte to find food. As they make this timeless and natural trek, many of the bison are harassed and eventually killed after crossing over they Park's border.

The reason is that the Forest Service has unnecessarily set up a conflict between livestock and bison by allowing several hundred privately-owned cattle to graze on the peninsula. During the harsh winter of 1996-97, for instance, 310 buffalo were shot along Yellowstone's west boundary as they tried to move onto Horse Butte and another 48 were sent to slaughter.

The public was told that the slaughter was necessary so that buffalo would not transmit the disease brucellosis to domestic cattle, though there has yet to be a documented case of cattle contracting the disease from wild buffalo.

TAKE ACTION: Please go to NPCA Take Action to send your comments in to the Forest Service today! Comments are needed by December 21, 2001. A sample letter and contact information is provided below for those preferring this method - just let TakeAction@npca.org know you wrote! Your comments will help them identify issues that should be addressed during the coming environmental assessment. Contact pborneman@npca.org for more information and to learn about other ways you can help protect our last, wild buffalo herd.

Protect Yellowstone's Bison From Needless Slaughter: Please write to the U.S. Forest Service and let them know you fully support allowing bison to range outside Yellowstone's Park boundaries to forage for food during long winter months. Write to: tlhoffman@fs.fed.us

Sample letter...

Tris Hoffman
Hebgen Lake Ranger District
P.O. Box 520
West Yellowstone, MT 59758

Dear Forest Service,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide scoping comments for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the re-issuance of the Horse Butte Grazing Allotment permit. The viability of the Yellowstone bison herd relies on their ability to range outside park boundaries in an effort to forage for food during the long winter months.

Among the wide range of alternatives the USFS will present in their NEPA analysis, one of those options must include a thorough and serious discussion of the "No Grazing" alternative. The proximity of this grazing allotment so close to the Park is detrimental to the maintenance and preservation of the Yellowstone National Park bison herd. The presence of cattle on these lands has directly led to management practices for bison that include harassment, capture, and slaughter. Given the under-whelming scientific justification for such actions, and the overwhelming body of legal and administrative duties arguing for bison presence on these lands, the No Grazing alternative must be fully considered.

To address the apparent high public cost of managing bison on these lands and the comparatively small amount of grazing revenue generated by the allotment, the EIS must include a complete and comprehensive analysis of the economics benefits and costs associated with maintaining this allotment for grazing purposes.

National Forest lands have a fundamental and inalienable purpose to serve as viable habitat for native wildlife species - including bison - as required under the provisions of the National Forest Management Act. The Gallatin National Forest EIS on this allotment must include in all alternatives an assessment of the impacts on ESA-listed species such as bald eagles, wolves, lynx, and grizzly bear.

Please add my name to your mailing list to receive updates and future notices pertaining to the development of the Environmental Impact Statement for this grazing permit.

Sincerely,

*National Park Lines is a publication of the National Parks Conservation Association's Park Action Network. To learn how you and your friends can become more involved in national park advocacy, contact our grassroots staff by e-mail: Take action! Tell your friends! Just go to NPCA Take Action. Learn more about National Parks Conservation Association, by visiting NPCA online.