Ecological Health News

Bison advocates aim to seed West with new herds

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:51:52 -0400

Bison advocates aim to seed West with new herds : “Buffalo have always been a part of us, for our culture and a lot of our spirituality,” Carlson said. “I’d like to see them just like other wildlife. They’d be able to roam free just as other wildlife are able to do.”

Once the bison are placed, the bison will be designated as wildlife and fall under state regulation. If one migrates off the reservation, it will still be considered wildlife and can be hunted only under state regulations.

Western governors discuss Wildlife Corridors Initiative

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:05:47 -0400

Western governors discuss Wildlife Corridors Initiative

Minnesota tribe buys up land to restore prairie

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:58:41 -0400

Minnesota tribe buys up land to restore prairie: By Patrick Condon — Associated Press

One million vow to reduce carbon by being vegetarian

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:56:36 -0400

One million vow to reduce carbon by being vegetarian

"Recent studies have shown prairie dog shooting contests have a ‘residual, negative physical..."

Tue, 20 May 2008 13:54:00 -0400

“

Recent studies have shown prairie dog shooting contests have a ‘residual, negative physical and ecological effect’ on prairie dog colonies, and feeding and reproductive behavior, Short said in a phone interview.

‘The bullets used are also typically non-jacketed, hollow-point, exploding bullets designed to ‘mist’ the prairie dog, which is a pretty despicable practice,’ he said.

”

- Duane Short, wild species program director for the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance

"This is not one single herd. This is a unique population of animals with various sub-populations. ..."

Sat, 17 May 2008 22:00:09 -0400

““This is not one single herd. This is a unique population of animals with various sub-populations. When you kill more than 1,600 animals you affect the genetic integrity of this incredible species in ways which you can’t understand. Extinction is forever! Enough is enough! Please, if you are able, come here and reconnect with your wild and stand with the buffalo.””

- Roman, volunteer for Buffalo Field Campaign www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

Why I join Ann on some Saturdays at Cherry Creek FUR!

Mon, 05 May 2008 21:49:34 -0400

….at least ONE of the reasons. I try to attend as often as possible … she has a protest each Saturday (11:30AM) at Marks-Lloyds Furs in Cherry Creek. This is just a “FYI” for you acquaintances, friends and family who live outside of the Denver area. There are many other reasons to speak out and act-out against the use and wearing of fur-bearing animals, but this is one of the more revolting reasons that was written about in the Denver Post on Thursday:

N.Y. The FIRST STATE To BAN ELECTROCUTION On FUR FARMS

Albany, N.Y…..New York has become the first state in the nation to ban the electrocution of animals in a particularly gruesome way to harvest their fur. The law bans the practice of anal and genital electrocution of fur-bearing animals, including mink, foxes, chinchillas and rabbits. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail. National animal-rights advocattes Wednesday said they hope it will force similar measures in other states. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to use the law to push other states to ban similar practices on farms.

“Anal electrocution is common practice in fur farms across the world,” said Melissa Karpel of the Norfolk, VA-based PETA. “A lot of these methods aren’t effective, and these animals will wake up while they are being skinned.” There is no similar law or pending bill in any other state, said janna Goodwin of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Most established fur farms adhere to American Veterinary Medical Assn. standards, said Teresa Platt, executive director of the Fur Commission USA, a trade association with members on 330 farms in 28 states.

Those can allow for use of electricity to kill some animals, although mink are usually killed by gas, she said. Platt said that the practice is not as common as the animal-rights advocates contend. She said there are rogue fur suppliers, but she doubts there are many because they risk their farms and imprisonment on cruelty charges if caught.

WildEarth Guardians is trying to obtain a prairie dog shooting ban in Colorado.

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:32:00 -0400

It is hard to believe that it’s legal to use live animals as target practice. But “shooters” (you can’t call them hunters) regularly aim high-powered rifles at endangered, ecologically vital prairie dogs and celebrate when they explode these small animals into “red mist” or kill three or four hugging prairie dogs with one shot. The prairie dogs don’t have a chance: they are often gunned down from hundreds of yards away as they emerge from their burrows.

In disgust at this activity and out of recognition that shooting threatens all three prairie dog species that inhabit Colorado, WildEarth Guardians launched an effort in January to outlaw all prairie dog shooting in the state. In response, the prairie dog shooters and the National Rifle Association are mobilizing, and mobilizing quickly. We need your help to show the Colorado Wildlife Commission that banning prairie dog shooting is the right thing to do. Here are actions you can take:

It takes less than a minute to sign a petition in support of our effort. [link to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/colorado-petition-to-ban-prairie-dog-shooting]
Better yet, please attend the Colorado Wildlife Commission meeting from 8:30am-noon on Thursday May 1^st in Grand Junction, Colorado. [link to meeting detail page below]
Contact the Colorado Wildlife Commission and urge them to adopt a full ban on prairie dog shooting in the state. [link to form letter below]

This is not an anti-hunting campaign. Rather, many hunters consider prairie dog shooting as unethical given that shooters don’t use any part of the prairie dogs they kill, there is no fair chase, and shooters can instead use pop cans or other inanimate objects for target practice.

Prairie dogs are ecologically important and imperiled members of Colorado’s environment. They should be treated with respect and not blown to bits by people who derive a perverse pleasure from prairie dog shooting. Prairie dogs aren’t pop cans.

[form letter]

Email to: wildlife.comm@state.co.us

Dear Wildlife Commissioners,

Please ban prairie dog shooting in Colorado. Prairie dogs should not be killed for target practice. They are important to Colorado’s natural environment, providing prey and creating habitat for diverse wildlife, including hawks, eagles, owls, foxes, songbirds, and many others.

Prairie dog shooting is cruel and wasteful. Please send a clear message to your constituents – including both hunters and wildlife-watchers – that you recognize that prairie dog shooting is offensive and unacceptable to people from a variety of backgrounds.

While some of the opponents of the petition to ban prairie dog shooting may tell you so, a prohibition on shooting will not limit prairie dog poisoning or the use of fumigants to kill prairie dogs. Outlawing the use of prairie dogs and other live animals as shooting targets will also not affect the majority of hunting activities in Colorado, including hunting of elk, deer, pronghorn, and other wildlife.

Please support a ban on prairie dog shooting in Colorado. Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Name

Street Address/PO

City/State/Zip

[meeting detail page]

The Colorado Wildlife Commission will discuss our petition to ban prairie dog shooting at its May 1^st meeting in Grand Junction, CO. The meeting begins at 8:30am, and the item should be heard before noon. Please plan on attending for as much of the morning (and possibly afternoon) as you can. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn at 755 Horizon Drive in Grand Junction.

Please be respectful and, if you choose to provide a public comment, remember:

Stress that prairie dogs should not be used as live targets and that prairie dog shooting is cruel and wasteful.

Thanks for your help!

Biodiversity loss will lead to sick world : experts - Yahoo! News

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:39:36 -0400

Biodiversity loss will lead to sick world : experts - Yahoo! News:

David Suzuki: “We are creating an illusion that everything is fine, and we are getting richer and richer. But we’re doing it at the expense of our children and grandchildren… all in the name of economic growth and progress,” he said in a keynote address via video conference.

One solution will be to “take our eyes off the economy,” he suggested.

“The real bottom line is clean air, clean water, clean soil that gives us our food, clean energy that comes from the sun, and biodiversity. These are ultimately the most important needs that we have to fight for at all cost.”

PETA offers $1 million for new meat source

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:57:23 -0400

PETA offers $1 million for new meat source: If meat could be produced in vitro, thereby bypassing the catastrophic ecological destruction and horror that the modern livestock industry provides, the Earth’s ecosystems and climate would immediately receive massive relief.

Wind power & Fort Worth Prairie Park: Channel 5 news video

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:56:16 -0400

Wind power & Fort Worth Prairie Park: Channel 5 news video

"HISTORIC" DEAL WITH CHURCH BAD FOR WILD BISON

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:50:34 -0400

BUFFALO FIELD CAMPAIGN (BFC)
P.O. BOX 957
WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

* NEWS RELEASE *

“HISTORIC” DEAL WITH CHURCH BAD FOR WILD BISON
Millions Spent But Slaughter Will Continue

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 17, 2008
Press Contacts:
Mike Mease, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-531-9284, mease@wildrockies.org
Stephany Seay, Buffalo Field Campaign, 406-646-0070, bfc-media@wildrockies.org

(GARDINER, MT) - Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer and Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis are expected to make an “historic announcement” today regarding the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which this year alone has been responsible for the deaths of over 1,600 wild American bison, the last continuously wild population in the United States.

“The only historic announcement that Schweitzer and Lewis could possibly make is that they’ve killed more wild American buffalo than anyone since the 1800s,” said Buffalo Field Campaign co-founder Mike Mease.

The decision-makers are expected to reveal information regarding an agreement that has been reached between the Church Universal & Triumphant (CUT), the state of Montana, the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and National Parks Conservation Association surrounding issues concerning wild American bison (or buffalo) and cattle owned by the CUT.

According to information made public in recent months, CUT will be given more than $2.5 million in private and taxpayer money, in exchange for removing their cattle for 30 years and allowing twenty-five bison to temporary access to some Gallatin National Forest and CUT lands. These twenty-five bison will first have to be trapped, tested for brucellosis exposure, tagged, and the females fitted with vaginal telemetry devices.

Today’s announcement comes in the midst of the largest wild buffalo slaughter since the 1800s. So far this season, over 1,600 bison have been killed through state and federal actions. Nearly 1,300 of the bison killed were trapped and sent to slaughter for migrating towards CUT land from Yellowstone National Park’s northern boundary near Gardiner, Montana.

“This deal will not stop the slaughter,” said BFC habitat coordinator Darrell Geist. “CUT already received $13 million tax dollars in 1998, and yet more than 3,000 bison have since died for merely attempting to access this portion of their habitat. Why should we give them millions more to do what they should have done years ago?”

Announcement of the land deal coincides with the recent release of a Government Accountability Office report that strongly criticized the Interagency Bison Management Plan participants for failing to move forward in allowing wild bison room to roam in Montana.
More than 1,600 wild American bison have been eliminated from the remaining wild population this winter under actions carried out under the Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP), as well as state and treaty hunts. Buffalo Field Campaign strongly opposes the Interagency Bison Management Plan and maintains that wild bison should be allowed to naturally and fully recover themselves throughout their historic native range, especially on public lands. Bison are a migratory species native to vast expanses of North America and are ecologically extinct everywhere in the United States outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Buffalo Field Campaign is the only group working in the field, every day, to stop the slaughter of the wild American buffalo. Volunteers defend the buffalo and their habitat and advocate for their lasting protection. Buffalo Field Campaign has proposed real alternatives to the current mismanagement of American bison that can be viewed athttp://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/solutions.html. For more information, video clips and photos visit: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.

—

Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo in the U.S.

Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird?

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 22:00:10 -0400

Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird?

Rudimentary math skills among fish

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:11:24 -0400

Rudimentary math skills among fish

Prairie dog protection sought

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 23:31:09 -0400

Prairie dog protection sought: Interior accused of stalling “endangered” designation.
From the Associated Press, March 20, 2008

Lusaka Sunrise

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:43:18 -0500

Lusaka Sunrise: Excellent video about community organizers using the culture of soccer to embrace action and life in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Zambia

Exposed: The Long, Cruel Road to The Slaughterhouse

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:06:55 -0500

Exposed: The Long, Cruel Road to The Slaughterhouse: by Emily Dugan. Millions of animals are suffering unnecessarily at the hands of meat traders by enduring cruel, drawn-out journeys across the world to be slaughtered on arrival.

Study shows health of survivors in shot-at prairie dog colonies overwhelmed by stress

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:05:45 -0500

Study shows health of survivors in shot-at prairie dog colonies overwhelmed by stress: Summary: Surviving prairie dogs spend more time underground, lose weight, reproduce less, don’t eat as much, and remaining colony generally declines in health

Study: Corn ethanol worse than gasoline

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:46:00 -0500

Study: Corn ethanol worse than gasoline:

Greenhouse emissions much higher if land use factored in, researchers say

Ex-ferret-recovery head blames political pressure for prairie dog decisions

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:49:00 -0500

Ex-ferret-recovery head blames political pressure for prairie dog decisions: