http://counterpunch.com/frank04132010.htmlThe Privatization of Wildlife
It is just one more battle in the century-and-a-half-old range wars, where land and wildlife have come into direct conflict with selfish, private interests. It's also a story of privileged ethnocentrism, where a once proud indigenous culture and the wild species it depended on have been all but eviscerated.
Welcome to the Interior West, the land of selective freedom and prosperity.
"I love this land and the buffalo and will not part with it," wrote the great Kiowa Chief Santana, who later killed himself while imprisoned in Texas after being tricked by General William Sherman into believing a peaceful council meeting was in his tribe's future. " ... A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers, but when I go up to the river I see camps of soldiers on its banks. These soldiers cut down my timber, they kill my buffalo and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting."
The betrayal continues. American bison once roamed these Great Plains in such large numbers that Lewis and Clark noted seeing 10,000 head in a single glance. Their observation no doubt sealed the species' fate. As anyone who has driven down Interstate 90 through Wyoming from Montana today can surely attest, these awe-inspiring creatures no longer dominate the Plains.
Instead hormone-infested cattle and genetically engineered crops occupy this lonely, dry landscape. Water has been stolen for profit. Impoverished Native Americans have been quarantined while oilmen keep drilling for more cash. The only remaining wild buffalo inhabiting these parts roam in places like Yellowstone National Park. But it is certainly no safe haven. When the buffalo migrate past the park's invisible boundaries (perhaps in an attempt to escape fanatical summer tourists sporting binoculars and high-powered cameras), they are killed under the pretext of "disease control." More than 3,000 have been killed since the 1980s by state agents and hunters who have purchased buffalo tags.
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What's driving the buffalo killings outside Yellowstone is the fact that a handful of ranchers graze cattle on the public lands adjacent to the park. The USDA and MDOL claim these livestock are at risk of contracting brucellosis, even though there has never been a single documented case of a wild buffalo transmitting the disease to cattle. Down in Wyoming's Grand Teton Park buffalo that carry brucellosis antibodies commingle with cattle on a daily basis, yet there has not been a single contamination instance ever recorded.
"The so-called random shooting at the Montana borders is actually eliminating or depleting entire maternal lineages, therefore this action will cause an irreversible crippling of the gene pool," warned Dr. Joe Templeton of Texas A& M University's Dept. of Veterinary Pathobiology back in 1998. "Continued removal of genetic lineages will change the genetic makeup of the herd, thus it will not represent the animal of 1910 or earlier. It would be a travesty to have people look back and say we were 'idiots' for not understanding the gene pool."
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But as the 11th hour of Feasibility Study struck, a backroom deal was hatched. The ranching community had been successful and forced the agency to backtrack on its original promises. Not once were there public discussions on whether or not to let the bison roam free on tribal lands, even though the Northern Arapahoe said they would allow their lands to be grazed. Millions of acres could have been considered for the buffalo's relocation in Montana and Wyoming alone.
Instead, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer picked up the phone and called a uber-wealthy rancher to bail the agency out.
Ted Turner, the media mogul-turned-Montana buffalo rancher, answered the governor's call. In exchange for 75 percent of the herd's offspring, Turner would allow the buffalo to live on his Green River ranch for the next five years. In all, there could be upwards of 400 buffalo born into his possession. Turner certainly had to be excited about the opportunity to improve the genetics of his own domestic herds. In February, 88 Yellowstone buffalo were transported, protected by Homeland Security, to Turner's property. One calf from the herd has already perished.
"MFWP and the media would have us all believe that the only options that these buffalo had were going to Turner or to slaughter, and if you are opposed to them going to Turner then you must be for slaughter," the Buffalo Field Campaign wrote shortly after the announcement. "Ironic, coming from one of the agencies that participate in the slaughter of wild Yellowstone buffalo."
There are many reasons, aside from Turner's own greed, to oppose the relocation of the quarantined herd to Green River. Just two years ago a major anthrax outbreak occurred at Turner's Flying D ranch, which is located just down the road from where the buffalo are today. Anthrax, a deadly bacteria, occurs in soil and remains dormant until it rains when the spores can become lethal. The anthrax on Turner's ranch in 2008 took the lives of 257 of his domestic buffalo. It was also reported that at least two deer and 14 elk fell victim to the outbreak. A state veterinarian even recommended that cattle ranchers in the area vaccinate their cattle against Turner's anthrax.
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When it comes to buffalo, indigenous rights and the welfare of the land, special interests typically rule the day. Yet it is worthy fights like this that remain the wild buffalo's last chance at genetic survival.
"This is simply a clear violation of the public trust and the offspring of these wild buffalo do not belong to Ted Turner," Stephany Seay of the Buffalo Field Campaign told me. "Livestock don't own our land. We, the people and the bison do."
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greedy, stupid, uncaring ranchers
insane Ted Turner
corrupt US govt. agencies
is there no hope of saving the bison?
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