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Subject: [NATIVE-AMERICAN-NEWS] Buffalo Field Campaign
Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 16:28:51 EDT
Buffalo Field Campaign
News from the Field
05/16/02
In this issue:
*Update from the Field
*BFC Settles Right-to-Know Lawsuit against Montana Department
of Livestock
*The Buffalo Slaughter and Native American Traditions
-----------------------
Update from the Field
Most of the buffalo are back inside Yellowstone National Park after
two consecutive weeks of hazing by the Montana Department of
Livestock (DOL) and cooperating agencies. While such hazing--which
relies on frightening bison with helicopters, all-terrain vehicles,
horses, and explosive shotgun-fired cracker rounds--is very
disruptive to the ecosystem, we are relieved that the bison are still
alive.
Like all DOL operations, yesterday's was very intensive. The DOL
even burned bridges with their strongest constituents, the ranching
industry. A local horse ranch had just completed the yearly
fence-repair work and was planning on putting the horses out to
pasture today. Their plans were changed without warning after the
DOL helicopter hazed a group of frightened bison and ruined 1500 feet
of newly-repaired fence. This is a common occurrence during hazing
operations which inflicts serious injury on the bison. The irate
ranchers, seeking compensation from the DOL for the damages, were
greeted not with sympathy and understanding but denial. The agency,
denying any responsibility for the broken fences, is leaving the
ranch to foot the bill.
Having dealt with this agency for the past five years, we are not
surprised by such irresponsible behavior, though we thought they
would treat their strongest supporters--the livestock industry--with
more respect. We are working with these ranchers, providing them
with video footage of buffalo being pushed through the area and
damaging fences.
Today's update will be the last I write for a while as I am leaving
camp for the season next Sunday. Until then these updates may be
more sporadic, timed with the occurrence of newsworthy events.
Please remain signed on, as you are the base of our support and your
efforts on behalf of the buffalo will ultimately end the senseless
slaughter we have seen so much of this winter.
Unfortunately this year's slaughter will probably not end with the
171 buffalo killed thus far. The DOL is still in town, the buffalo
will continue to come out of the park, and the people calling the
shots will, as they have promised, continue to slaughter.
As we make the transition from winter to summer, and shift gears from
field patrols to our outreach and tabling campaign, your help is as
crucial as ever. If you are planning a trip to Yellowstone this
summer, please stop by the cabin and introduce yourself. Spend a day
tabling with us or go for a hike and see what rich habitat this
ecosystem provides for the buffalo and their fellow species. If you
can afford to, please make a donation to the Buffalo Field Campaign.
With your help we will gain lasting protection for the Yellowstone
herd.
Thank you for your support through these difficult times.
With the Buffalo,
Dan Brister
-----------------------
BFC settles Right-to-Know Lawsuit against MT DOL
"The people of the state do not wish to abdicate their sovereignty to
the agencies which serve them." --Montana Code 2-3-201
Yesterday, on Thursday May 15th--nearly 14 months after filing a
written request for information with the Montana Department of
Livestock--the Buffalo Field Campaign, Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers,
and the Missoula-based Ecology Center settled their lawsuit against
the DoL for withholding access to that information.
The three groups originally filed a Writ of Mandamus in State
District Court last year asking the Judge immediately to compel the
MT DoL to respond to our written requests for specific information.
The Dol had been refusing to comply with those requests, noting that
the three groups had filed suit against them in Federal Court for
their illegal use of helicopters while hazing bison back into
Yellowstone or towards the Horse Butte Capture facility.
The DoL maintained that the federal lawsuit "modified" the plaintiffs
ability to access public information via Montana's Right-to-Know laws
and Constitutional rights granted to Montana citizens in the 1972
state Constitution. They pointed out that we could use the discovery
process in our federal suit to get the information we wanted. While
information could have been accessed in this manner, we maintained
that we still had the right to access all public information from
state agencies at any time. And we also were asking for other
information that wasn't pertinent to that lawsuit.
The Settlement Agreement reached Wednesday between the groups and the
DoL reaffirmed our rights to unfettered access to public records held
by state agencies, and set specific times for us to come into the DoL
office to examine and copy information. The Settlement specifically
will allow us access today and tomorrow (May 16 and 17) to the DoL
office so we can inspect and copy records.
The Settlement Agreement also directed the DoL to adhere to it's
written policy for public access and only charge us the same fee for
copying records as it would charge any other individual. The DoL had
maintained that our requests had placed an "undue burden" upon their
agency, and therefore they were going to charge us more than the
general public. At one point in the Settlement negotiations the DoL
wanted to charge us $10 per page, instead of the $.20 per page that
it's policy dictates. The Settlement also directed the DoL to pay our
attorney fees and costs associated with our carrying this lawsuit.
While the Settlement only specifies two days where the DoL will allow
us access to documents requested in the original written requests, it
was timely, as those two days will allow us immediate access to
documents needed to prepare for our federal lawsuit against
helicopter hazing which is currently happening in the Horse Butte
area west of Yellowstone. After those two days, we will hold the DoL
to adhere to the state Constitution and state laws that guarantee our
right to inspect any and all records (except where a privacy concern
can allow an agency to withhold information). Also, the DoL must
maintain an open office to the public and keep their records in order
so that the public can exercise it's rights to examine public records.
Once a totally rogue agency, the DoL is slowly beginning to realize
that it has to comply with the same laws and regulations as other
state agencies. An agency born in the cattle baron days of the 19th
century, the DoL is finally beginning to realize that Montana's
Sunshine Laws are going to breathe some light into its dark offices.
The public will begin to see how corrupt the agency has become as it
works to protect the interests of the cattle industry to the
detriment of the Yellowstone bison and other wildlife species. And
the information we gain from examining their records will be
invaluable in our fight to protect the wild Yellowstone buffalo--the
last remaining truly wild herd of buffalo left in the lower 48 states.
****************
Your legal rights to know under Montana Law
* Montana Constitution, Article II, DECLARATION OF RIGHTS:
Section 4. Individual dignity. The dignity of the human being
is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the
laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or
institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of
his civil or political rights...
Section 9. Right to know. No person shall be deprived of the
right to examine documents or to observe the deliberations of all
public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions,
except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly
exceeds the merits of public disclosure.
-----------------------
The following piece was put together by Flo Gardipee, a BFC board
member, lab technician, and student of wildlife biology.
How has the historic bison slaughter affected Native American traditions?
Bull Lodge was a holy man and warrior of the White Clay People,
otherwise known as the Gros Ventres, and was well known for his gifts
of healing and prophecy. He held the last sacred place in history as
the fourth and final man of the White Clay People to receive special
powers as Keeper of the Feathered Pipe bundle. One night he received
the Gift of the Four Sweat Tents through a vision in his sleep. An
old man with long white hair and red paint on his forehead provided
him with instructions for a ceremony. This ceremony would give Bull
Lodge the power to resurrect himself. It required a sufficient number
of buffalo robes to cover each of the sweat tents to be used
simultaneously in the ceremony.
This ceremony, which required enough buffalo robes to simultaneously
cover several sweat lodges, would give Bull Lodge the power to
resurrect himself.
When Bull Lodge received the message that it was time for him to
perform this ceremony, he was unable to do so because the number of
buffalo robes he needed were unavailable. The large, free ranging,
wild herds of buffalo had been extirpated. Unable to conduct the
ceremony, Bull Lodge resigned himself to his fate and passed away at
the age of eighty-five. His story is just one of the many tragedies
caused by the removal of the buffalo.
Below is a quote from "The Seven Visions of Bull Lodge" :
" Bull Lodge's final experience was to be his greatest. For he had
been given the power of resurrection, and was in constant
communication with 'those who watch over him.' However, the buffalo
hides which had to be used for the Sweat Tent ceremony could not be
obtained, and the ceremony could not be performed. The white man felt
that the only way to settle our race was to kill off the buffalo
which the Indian hunted for a living. So Bull Lodge passed beyond
recall, calm and perfectly resigned to his fate."
Fred P. Gone, White Clay, tribal historian
"The Seven Visions of Bull Lodge"
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