Yellowstone National Park is the home of a national treasure, the American buffalo (Bison bison). Their history is a complex one. After decades of slaughter and poaching these buffalo were reduced to a meager 25 by 1901. Their offspring now comprise today’s Yellowstone buffalo herd, the last remnant wild buffalo herd.
Yellowstone’s wild herd is unique. It is the only truly wild, free roaming buffalo herd that has continuously occupied its native habitat in the United States. Because these buffalo have not interbred with cattle, they are also genetically pure and have retained their wild character.
But this herd is in jeopardy once again. Since 1985, more than 3,500 of Yellowstone’s wild bison have been needlessly slaughtered because of an agreement between the state of Montana and the federal government. When these magnificent beasts leave the confines of Yellowstone National Park and enter public land bordering the park they are rounded up and sent to slaughter. The slaughter is often preceded by lengthy hazing in which bison are chased for miles by helicopters, snowmobiles, and trucks, and driven to capture facilities within the park.
And why does this occur annually? Because the state of Montana claims that Yellowstone buffalo with brucellosis pose a threat to its cattle and the industry’s “brucellosis free” status.
What is Brucellosis? It’s a bovine disease that can cause aborted births of first calves in cattle. The disease bacterium, Brucella abortus, is transmitted through ingestion of contaminated reproductive materials.
The risk of transmission between buffalo and cattle was determined to be low in a 1992 GAO study, and again in a 1998 National Research Council study. In fact, there has never been a confirmed incidence of brucellosis transmission in the wild from buffalo to cattle.
Less than 500 cattle graze anywhere near Yellowstone National Park where they could, conceivably, have contact with wild buffalo. They are fenced and largely present only in summer, when buffalo, are miles away, in the Park. Therefore, the claims from the state of Montana that the buffalo are a threat to cattle are not credible and the slaughter is unjustified.
Legislation
Due to growing public opposition to the unnecessary hazing and slaughter of the bison herd in and around Yellowstone National Park, Representatives Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Charles Bass (R-NH) have introduced legislation H.R. 3446, Hinchey-Bass Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act. If passed, H.R. 3446 would prohibit state and federal agency officials from hazing, capturing, or killing Yellowstone bison on federal land, until certain specific conditions have been met.
>> See HR 3446.
Representatives Hinchey and Bass are not the only elected officials who care about this issue. In July 2003 Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV) introduced an amendment to the House Interior Appropriations bill that would have stopped the harassment and slaughter of bison in Yellowstone National Park. Rep. Rahall’s amendment was narrowly defeated, 199-220, showing the bipartisan support for protecting the bison. Also, in June of this year Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Corrine Brown (D-FL) along with thirty-six of their colleagues wrote a letter to the park service, questioning the agency’s bison management policy that allows for this lethal management technique.
What You Can Do
Please help us protect this national treasure. Contact your representative and ask them to cosponsor HR 3446, the Hinchey-Bass Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act.
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