[RFN] RFN Report: A Flurry of Activity

[Stephany Seay]

[Please don't reply to this email. Message roamfreenation at gmail.com]

Dear Friends,

Things are beginning to pick up, some of it positive and exciting, and some
of it business as usual.

THE “HUNT”

The Montana state bison “hunt” began on November 15. Eight bulls, from the
imperiled Central herd, have already been killed by state hunters near West
Yellowstone, in the Hebgen Basin. Yellowstone National Park has been
warning against killing any buffalo in the Hebgen Basin for many years now,
because the Central herd – the truly last wild, migratory buffalo -
continues to decline.  The Central herd migrates both into the Hebgen Basin
(to the west) and the Gardiner Basin (to the north), so they are doubly
impacted by mismanagement actions. In the Gardiner Basin, both the Northern
herd and Central herd move into harm's way. But only the Central herd
migrates into the Hebgen Basin, so by refraining from killing there, at
least some Central herd buffalo are protected. These warnings by the Park's
bison biologists continue to fall on the deaf ears of both state and treaty
hunters.  However, due to the continuing decline of the Central herd,
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks are proposing to reduce the number of state
licenses for next year from 40 to 25 in the Hebgen Basin. It’s still 25 too
many, but it’s something.

Winter has been slow to arrive. West Yellowstone (Hebgen Basin) is just now
starting to get some snow. It may be a mild winter this year, and if so, it
could ease human-caused hardships on the buffalo. But, just as we need the
snow so the rivers will be full in spring, the buffalo need to roam, to
express themselves upon the earth and heal the wounded land.

MEDIA TRACTION

There's been quite a flurry of activity in the past couple of weeks. Roam
Free Nation joined with our allies, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies
(AWR), Council for Wildlife and Fish, and the Gallatin Wildlife Association
in sending a letter to Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Mary Erickson,
urging her to close the Gardiner Basin's Beattie Gulch (“the killing
fields”) to buffalo hunting. We raised concerns about the serious public
safety issues, and of course the buffalo suffer at this bottleneck
migration corridor on the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park. Ms.
Erickson is the perfect bureaucrat who responded with policy jargon that
avoided the issue entirely. To support our effort, Mike Garrity, executive
director of AWR wrote a column, "Alliance Asks Forest Service to Close
Bison Hunting Area Next to Yellowstone National Park Before Someone Gets
Killed.
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/11/17/alliance-asks-forest-service-to-close-bison-hunting-area-next-to-yellowstone-national-park-before-someone-gets-killed/>"
Soon after, Roam Free Nation’s latest op-ed started making the rounds, "Cease
Fire! Yellowstone Buffalo Need to Recover
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/11/24/cease-fire-yellowstone-buffalo-need-to-recover/>
".

TAKE THE POLL! VOTE “YES” TO CLOSE BEATTIE GULCH!

Shortly after that, the Montana-based Bozeman Daily Chronicle began a poll
asking if Beattie Gulch should be closed to buffalo hunting. We sent out a
last-minute alert and so many of you responded! Thank you! As of this
writing, the poll is still open to voting – so visit this link
<https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/polls/should-beattie-gulch-be-closed-to-bison-hunting/poll_1f8635c8-9072-11ee-b473-275c9c13005d.html>
and make your voice herd now! The "yes" votes were up to 80.2% in favor of
closing Beattie Gulch!

NEW BILLBOARD UP!

As all of this was taking place, our strong allies at AWR and Council for
Wildlife and Fish, like last year, got some billboards in the works! They
used Roam Free Nation's image of a mom and baby buffalo, with the message:
“Save Yellowstone Buffalo. Stop Buffalo Genocide.” There is currently a
billboard up in Billings, Montana, and soon to be one in Missoula. We give
thanks for all the support from AWR and CWF!!

THE HARD TRUTH

Just the other day, our friend and ally, Steve Kelly, of Council for
Wildlife and Fish had a really powerful column published, “Stop Buffalo
Genocide and a Repeat of History
<https://missoulacurrent.com/viewpoint-buffalo-genocide/>", representing
our billboard and urging folks to contact Gallatin National Forest
Supervisor Mary Erickson to close Beattie Gulch to buffalo “hunting”. You
can take that action right now by emailing her at mary.erickson at usda.gov.

KEEP RFN IN THE FIELD!

Roam Free Nation will soon be heading into the field to monitor the
situation and defend our relatives, the buffalo. We need your support
<https://roamfreenation.org/support-us/>, however you can offer it. We give
thanks to you and all of our allies for standing up for the last wild
buffalo!

Wild is the Way! Roam Free!

~ Stephany Seay
Co-founder, Roam Free Nation
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