HAZING OF BUFFALO IS OVER!

For this season at least... There have been no hazes for the last three days in a row, there have been no movements by agents that could mean a haze, and there was a press release from the Department of Livestock that claimed hazing has ended. But given how blatantly and how much the DOL lies, there's really no telling. Plus, there's going to be more to come next year.

Next year will likely be a difficult one for the buffalo. This year's mild winter kept most buffalo from leaving Yellowstone National Park on the north side, where the National Park Service hoped to murder 700+ buffalo this year. Next year, the herd will be even bigger, and the Park Service will still try to cap the population of the last wild buffalo at the arbitrary number of 3,000. Niel Livingstone, a possible Republican candidate for Governor of Montana, said "Montanans need to manage their own wildlife resources. If I have to stand on the border of Yellowstone and shoot the first buffalo that comes out, I will." He also said Yellowstone National Park should erect a fence to prevent buffalo from leaving the park "if they don't want me there with a hunting rifle." Two major allies within the hazing agencies are also retiring this summer.

For now, it's time for Spring Cleaning (weather permitting), and doing all of the maintenance projects to get the campaign ready for next season. We'll also be tabling inside Yellowstone National Park telling people about what's happening to the last herd of wild bison, a public treasure, using many millions of yours and their tax dollars. If you're interested in what's happening here, go to www.buffalofieldcampaign.org, where you'll find information on pretty much anything you want to know about this profound problem.

Snow every month of the year

I took these photos 3 minutes ago from the front porch, after 10 minutes of snow. I love living at this elevation. There's snow every month of the year. We had hail the size of golf balls last week. No shattered windows thankfully. If it keeps up this rate all night we'll have to shovel the driveway!

Grammar

Here's a grammatically correct sentence:

Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Think about it. ; )

-Courtesy of Danny B

Centuries Old Prejudice in Summary

The following transcript summarizes some of the worldview driving much of industry to view the west and wildness as things to be conquered. This prejudice is VERY MUCH alive today, whether it's the ungrounded fear and decimation of wild wolves and buffalo, or mountaintop removal and clear-cutting. Many members, especially enforcers of the livestock industry still use almost the same rhetoric regarding buffalo and Native Americans:

Columbus Delano
Secretary of the Interior
Annual Reports for 1872, 1873

"In our intercourse with the Indians it must always be borne in mind that we are the most powerful party... we are assuming,  and I think with propriety, that our civilization ought to take the place of their barbarous habits. We therefore claim the right to control the soil the occupy, and we assume that it is our duty to coerce them, if necessary, into the adoption and practice of our habits and customs... I would not seriously regret the total disappearance of the buffalo from our western prairies, in its effect upon the Indians, regarding it rather as a means of hastening their sense of dependence upon the products of the soil."

Peachy fellow... If that sounds fucked up to you, do something about it! It's still happening! Come to Native American gatherings and learn who they are; step in their shoes and experience their history and culture. Come to Montana and stand up for the endangered buffalo. Go to New Mexico and stand up for the near-extinct Mexican Gray Wolf. These essential elements of the American West and to existence as we know it are not only unprotected, they are actively persecuted and murdered, and their ways of life are almost completely destroyed. Start somewhere. Here are a few links to get you going:

http://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/
www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
http://blackmesais.org/
http://www.7genfund.org/
http://www.defenders.org/mexican-gray-wolf/basic-facts

Happy actions!