----------
> From: Wild Rockies InfoNet <wild-rockies-alerts@wildrockies.org>
> To: wild-rockies-alerts@wildrockies.org
> Subject: Buffalo Nations Update 12/29/1997
> Date: Monday, December 29, 1997 12:59 PM
> 
> From: buffalo@wildrockies.org
> Subject: buffalo nations update
> 
> E-mail Update!
> 
> Temperature's around West Yellowstone have dipped down to -30F, but the
> sun's out by mid-morning.  The Department of Livestock has created its
own
> imaginary closure on Forest Service land (public land) surrounding their
> buffalo capture facility.  Insiders from the Park Service have expressed
> their belief that this closure is illegal.  The Forest Service is the
> agency in charge of our federal public lands (Department of Livestock is
a
> state agency), is still uncertain whether the closure is legitimate or
not.
> It seems to us that the closure was made up on the spur of the moment to
> intimidate us, without the consent of all 5 agencies listed on their
signs.
> We remain undaunted.
> 
> Last year hundreds of bison were killed on Forest Service land west and
> north of Yellowstone National Park.  One local resident was disgusted to
> learn that his dog had gained 60 pounds from gorging on the gut piles
left
> near his Horse Butte home.  Millions of acres of Forest Service land,
> public land, SHOULD be open and available as a reservoir for the bison to
> spill over onto during winter months.  We need people to help us focus on
> this aspect of the campaign.
> 
> If we all had one wish on X-mas day, I think we all wished for more folks
> to join us out here in this winter wonderland.  This is a fantastic
> opportunity to learn and practice winter camping skills, cross-country
> skiing, snow shoeing, and tracking animals.   If you enjoy these
> activities, we can accommodate you.  We also need people who are good
> researchers, writers and canvassers.
> 
> Those of us already here roam the fields with the buffalo and have a
> kinship with them. The magnificence and ruggedness of these beautiful
> animals has all of us in awe of their role in nature and humble us in our
> own role.  There is nothing quite like the site of buffalo playing while
a
> bald eagle flies overhead, a coyote hunts for scurrying food, a wolf
howls
> in the not-so-far distance, while we keep a watchful eye out for the
D.O.L.
> All in a day's work at Buffalo Nations.  So come out and be ready for
> action or help support us in anyway you can.
> 
> Buffalo Nations
> PO Box 957
> West Yellowstone, MT 59758
> 406-646-0070 phone
> 406-646-0071 fax
> mailto:buffalo@wildrockies.org
> http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/
>