The Shundahai Network :A Decade of Resistance

Buffalo Field Campaign
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
February 21, 2008
------------------------------
View BFC Video Footage:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

* NEW VIDEO! To Protect the Wild Bison
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/aboutus/documentaries.html
------------------------------

Dear Buffalo Friends,

Last night, close to 8pm, after dinner and our general meeting, we
walked out of the warmth of the cabin into the frigid, clear night
air, down the snowy driveway to watch the total eclipse of the Moon.
She was so beautiful in her fullness, lighting up the white snow with
such brightness every move of your eye caused crystals to sparkle and
glitter.  The full moon on a snowy landscape can make even the most
practical-minded believe in some kind of Magick.  Slowly, the Moon's
glowing was eclipsed by the earth, her strong light fading with the
creeping of a red shadow moving across her pale face.  I certainly
can't speak for everyone, but I think it's safe to say that, while
reveling in this celestial phenomenon, each of us couldn't help but
turn our thoughts to the blood of the buffalo being spilled all over
the winter landscape.  Even the Moon reflects the season of buffalo
slaughter now full upon us.

Along the north boundary, near Gardiner, Yellowstone National Park
has captured and sent to slaughter 290 of America's last wild
buffalo.  It is so hard to imagine the stress and horror these
buffalo go through as they are captured and separated from their
families by age and sex.  Frightened, they run around in a panic,
goring each other as they try to find a way out of this thoughtless
prison.  The sacred buffalo, being loaded onto livestock trailers and
hauled to the dark nightmare of the slaughter house, to be processed
and cut to pieces.  How dare Yellowstone National Park condemn the
buffalo under their care to such a fate.

Here in West Yellowstone, Montana Department of Livestock (DOL)
agents have plowed the 610 Forest Service road that leads to the
Horse Butte trap site.  This morning, patrols began witnessing the
livestock agents assembling the trap.  According to the DOL, hazing,
capture and slaughter could begin any minute now.  The buffalo
scattered throughout the Madison Valley and Horse Butte Peninsula are
doing the best they can just to survive the winter.  Now their true
enemies are back in town ready to dominate the landscape and
terrorize every creature that lives here.  There are never any cattle
on Horse Butte, at any time of year, so why must the DOL make a
presence here at all?  Why don't they go to their precious feedlots
and cattle pastures and mind their widgets and leave the wild buffalo
alone?

All this killing and preparation for killing is happening while the
Nez Perce are engaging in their treaty hunt.  Near Gardiner the
Yellowstone River divides the types of death the buffalo are dealt:
to the west, slaughter and to the east the hunt.  But here along the
western boundary all these actions take place on the same landscape.
Will the DOL and other agencies haze and capture buffalo that the Nez
Perce are trying to hunt?  What conflict will this incite?  Already
on Horse Butte conflicts between Nez Perce hunters and state and
federal agents have taken place.  Hunters are none too pleased to
know that a buffalo trap is being set up by the government while they
are trying to hunt buffalo; their treaty rights are being infringed
upon, to be sure.  The response of the Nez Perce to these actions
remain to be seen, but things may heat up.  Yesterday, on Horse
Butte, seven buffalo were taken by Nez Perce hunters;  unfortunately,
they killed the buffalo in the middle of the bald eagle closure, an
area closed to all human activity from December through August to
protect nesting pairs of bald eagles.  Their thinking was that this
area didn't apply to their treaty rights to hunt on the landscape.
While this violation is tragic, even more telling is how the Forest
Service immediately ticketed the Nez Perce, but have turned a blind
eye to white hunters who have also violated the closure, and have
practically ignored the hundreds of snowmobiles who have
disrespectfully trashed this protected area.  It's selective law
enforcement, and the Forest Service even admits to it.

Either way, the buffalo lose.   They are being killed by the hundreds.

More than 400 of the country's last wild buffalo have been killed
just because they stepped foot into or approached Montana's borders.
Always, the decision-makers try to justify their actions by touting
the threat of brucellosis.  Yes, brucellosis is a threat, but not to
cattle.  It is a threat to the buffalo because it is being used by
the government and cattle interests to keep wild American bison from
reclaiming their native, historic range.  This is their land!  It's
infuriating how the industry-backed media reports how these
mismanagement actions take place to prevent bison from transmitting
brucellosis to non-native cattle, when it is the cattle that infected
our native wildlife to begin with.  And wild bison have never
transmitted this disease back to cattle.  There are upwards of 100
million cows in the U.S., and wild American bison number fewer than
4,300 individuals.  Brucellosis is an excuse that is being used to
control and kill wildlife, and give cattle interests dominion over
our national heritage - it's not just bison; it's elk and wolves and
bears and grasslands and water, and so much more.  Cattle make the
land and the people sick.  The cattle industry believes their profits
are more important than the health of the land, and has the
government's support in every possible way, using our tax dollars to
kill the buffalo.

Over the weekend we were blessed with a visit from BFC co-founder and
Lakota elder Rosalie Little Thunder.  See below for a special message
from her.  She, her sister Donna, and Donna's son Robert came to stay
with us and talk about how we can bring the Buffalo Culture tribes
together to make something happen for the buffalo.  Rosalie reminded
us that, while we may feel that change seems to never be in site,
things are moving in a positive direction.  It's like a pendulum, she
said, and it can only swing so far one way before it must start back
in the other direction.  We are on the cusp of that counter swing.

Roam Free,

"No Nukes" Action for Ohio's State Energy Bill
by Sierra Club
February 21, 2008

Right now, there is an opportunity to potentially have a major impact on the energy legislation. Some are saying that at this point, House Speaker Jon Husted is leaning towards leaving nuclear energy out of the substitute bill he is drafting.  From what we are hearing, he simply doesn’t think that nuclear power makes economic sense.  To increase the likelihood that nuclear is left out of speaker’s substitute bill – it would be great to generate calls and letters to Husted’s office urging him to leave coal and nuclear energy out of the renewable standard.  

Suggest calls or letters start by thanking the Speaker for his support of renewable energy – treat him as an ally.  As with other outreach, we should also include energy efficiency in the messaging.   

Here is a sample phone script: “Hi, my name is ___________.  I am calling to thank Speaker Husted for his support of renewable energy and to urge him to remove coal and nuclear power from any future versions of SB 221. If Ohio is to safeguard consumers from future high energy prices it is important that the states invests in least costs resources, such as energy efficiency, rather than expensive coal and nuclear.  I would be happy to leave my name and address for a response from the Speaker.”   

Jon Husted (R) Speaker of the House
77 S. High St., 14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Telephone: (614) 644-6008
Fax : (614) 719-3591
Email Address: district37@ohr.state.oh.us  

Also a call or letter to your State of Ohio Representative would be useful. You can find their contact information at State Representatives

Uranium mining bill should pass
HB1161 addresses accountability, need for information

Legislation that could tighten state regulations for uranium mining operations - a hot topic in Northern Colorado - cleared an important hurdle Thursday.

House Bill 1161, carried by a bipartisan delegation from Fort Collins that includes Reps. Randy Fischer and John Kefalas, both Democrats, and Sen. Bob Bacon, a Democrat, and Republican Sen. Steve Johnson, passed the House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee on an 11-2 vote. The next step is the House Appropriations Committee. If passed, the bill will go to the full House for a second vote.

Many residents in the region have been concerned about Powertech Mining Corp.'s plan to mine uranium in Weld County via an in-situ mining process, in which pressurized water is injected into an aquifer to remove uranium.

Current state law does little to compel public oversight or water quality protection.

The legislation does not prevent uranium mining, but it does add some sensible controls. For example, uranium mining companies would have to prove their methods would either return groundwater to pre-mining condition or to levels outlined by existing state regulations. A third-party contractor would be required to test the water to ensure adherence to the law. Powertech has previously indicated that its processes would return the affected water to its previous condition.

The bill also lifts an existing confidentiality clause to require companies to disclose mine projects that are in an exploratory phase. This is an important change to allow the public more information about mining activity before full operation is achieved.

HB 1161 balances the needs of the public by increasing information and requiring long-term accountability for water quality. It deserves to be passed.

Civil Society Institute * Sierra Club * Public Citizen

Feb. 21, 2008

Burning the Future

What Is the Energy Future of the U.S.?

AUSTIN, Texas – In an effort to draw more attention to global warming as a national issue that presidential candidates should address, three public interest organizations today held a screening of “Burning the Future,” a new documentary on coal mining.

The screening, held on the University of Texas campus in Austin, came on the same day as a national debate held at the university for Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The screening was arranged by the Civil Society Institute, the Sierra Club and Public Citizen as part of a “coal block” campaign designed to halt the construction of coal-plants in the U.S.

“Burning the Future” tells the stories of Appalachian families whose lives have been ruined by mountaintop coal mining. The film, directed by David Novack, exposes the dangerous aspects of our continued reliance on coal. It premieres Feb. 29 in New York City and March 7 in Los Angeles.

“Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain have promised to reduce global warming, but they haven’t recognized the enormous cultural and ecological destruction caused by mountaintop removal coal mining,” said Vivian Stockman, project coordinator for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. Stockman attended Thursday’s screening.

“In Texas we’ve suffered the air quality, global warming and toxic mercury impacts of 19 existing coal plants and have been ground zero for proposals for over a dozen new coal plants.  We need strong leadership that will stop new coal plants and bring us into a carbon-free future,” says Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club.

The groups are calling for a moratorium on mountaintop removal and the suspension of permitting of new coal-fired electricity generating plants.

“We should be putting our resources into developing energy efficient generation methods, such as wind and solar,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office. “It is sheer folly for us to continue to open new coal plants when the greenhouse gases they emit are destroying our planet.”

EDITORIAL: Nevada quake

But these reassurances ring hollow -- it's mostly a "trust us" scenario, leaving us at the whim of educated guesses.

In fact, Yucca Mountain is an area of relatively high seismic activity, and seismologists admit that they don't know exactly what would occur were an 8.0 quake to strike very near the proposed nuke dump.

And as Thursday's seismic activity near Wells highlights, it's likely a matter of when, not if