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Weekly Update from the Field December 23, 2010

Home> Updates from the Field > Updates from the Field 2010/2011

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* Tune in Tonight! BFC on Headline News, 7pm EST

* Update from the Field
* Just in Time for the New Year: Wild Bison 2011 Calendars
* Last Words - Fantastic Letter to the Editor
* By the Numbers
* Helpful Links
* Tune in Tonight! BFC on CNN Headline News, 7pm EST

TUNE YOUR TV to HEADLINE NEWS TONIGHT at 7pm EST (6CST, 5MST, 4PST).
This evening, Buffalo Field Campaign's co-founder Mike Mease will be on "ISSUES With Jane Velez-Mitchell" to
talk about America's last wild buffalo and BFC's work to protect them. "ISSUES with Jane Valez-Mitchell" is an
hour-long program covering many important topics and BFC could appear at any time during the show, so please stay
tuned for the duration! Tune in to HEADLINE NEWS TONIGHT at 7pm EST and click here to connect with the
show. If you miss it live, you can view the broadcast later on the web site. Have a Headline News party/gathering, or
if you're planning to be at a public place with a TV, encourage the proprietor to tune in to Headline News at 7pm
EST Tonight.

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* Update from the Field

The strong family nature of buffalo is a wonderful thing. Their deep ties to one another manifest in many ways
familiar to humans. This buffalo cow, already dedicated to her own calf, has taken on another buffalo to watch over, a
responsibility that she accepted when the mother of the second calf was shot by hunters just outside of Yellowstone
National Park. BFC file photo by Stephany.

Three years ago, BFC volunteers gathered outside to watch the lunar eclipse, standing awestruck in the cold of the
night, gazing at the moon as she turned a darkly lit blood red, a portend of what would become the sorrowful season
of the largest-scale wild buffalo slaughter since the 1800's. The other night, on the Winter Solstice, another lunar
eclipse came to the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere. This one, too, was supposed to shine blood red. In this
heavy winter that has already seen twenty-eight of America's last wild buffalo killed, the significance was not lost on
us. However, the moon over the land of the last wild buffalo did not turn red this time; only a shadow fell across her
face. A shadow that gave way to light, and to hope, again. Hope is manifest in the buffalo that remain, and in the
millions and millions of acres of habitat that, though now closed to wild buffalo, are there for the taking under the
combined strength of our determination, and the buffalo's never-ending will to live and migrate wild and free.

Unlike every other wildlife species, America's last wild buffalo have no access to year-round habitat, making them
ecologically extinct throughout most of their native range. Buffalo are only allowed into a tiny fraction of southwest
Montana in order to be hunted. The tiny hunt zones serve as veritable squeeze chutes into certain demise. With
America's only continuously wild population numbering fewer than 3,900 wild buffalo, this hunt that will continue
deep into March represents a significant loss, especially since it will be compounded by the looming threat of
government hazing, capture, and slaughter. If buffalo are not being hunted, their migration is being rudely disrupted
by Yellowstone National Park and Montana Department of Livestock agents, who chase the buffalo off of their
chosen ground. These harmful activities - commonly referred to as "hazing" - have been taking place on the northern
portions of Yellowstone, near Gardiner, Montana. A bull group and also a few family groups, some with late-born
calves still donning their baby-red coats, have been caught up in these government efforts to thwart the buffalo's
natural migrations for the appeasement of livestock interests.

Unlike the recent eclipse, when we knew the sun's light would return on its own to illuminate the moon, the shadow
that hangs over the buffalo won't lift without our hard work and determined efforts. With your continued support the
efforts of our volunteers are making the difference, as more people learn about the buffalo's plight and get involved in
the movement for their protection. We are able to stand with the buffalo because you are willing to stand with and
behind us and we are eternally grateful for your help.

Will this wild buffalo calf grow to help its kind reach their evolutionary potential, refilling the plains with the rightful
roamers of North America? With your help it will be so. BFC file photo by Stephany.

ROAM FREE!!!

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* Just in Time for the New Year: Wild Bison 2011 Calendars

Celebrate wild bison 365 days a year with BFC's first-ever Wild Bison Calendar. This calendar is loaded with
powerful photos, inspiring writing, and amazing facts about America's last wild population of buffalo. Contributions
to the calendar come from BFC volunteers and supporters, offering very unique perspectives about these gentle
giants. Proceeds from the calendar go directly to BFC's front lines and legal work in defense of the buffalo.

Order your Wild Bison 2011 Calendar TODAY!

Special Offer! Make a $50 donation or purchase to BFC and receive a Wild Bison 2011 calendar FREE!

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* Last Words - Fantastic Letter to the Editor

New to our family this season, BFC volunteer Tony Reed has spent thrilling and peaceful time in the company of wild
buffalo and experienced the hardships they go through. After attending his first Interagency Bison Management Plan
meeting and seeing first-hand how these decisions play out in the field, in the form of hunt and haze, Tony eloquently
and powerfully expressed his opinion to Montana papers with this Letter to the Editor:

Bison Management Agencies Ineffective

You, too, can help the buffalo. Send in a Letter to the Editor to your favorite paper, or suggested media. As a gift to
you, when when your buffalo-friendly letter is printed, just send us a copy via mail or email, along with your t-shirt
size, and we'll send you a FREE BFC T-SHIRT! Write on for the buffalo! Contact bfc-media@wildrockies.org for
more information.

Do you have submissions for Last Words? Send them to bfc-media@wildrockies.org. Thank you all for the poems,
songs and stories you have been sending; you'll see them here!

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* By the Numbers

AMERICAN BUFFALO ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.

2010-2011 Total: 28

2010-2011 Government Slaughter: 0

2010-2011 State & Treaty Hunts: 28
2010-2011 Quarantine: 0
2010-2011 Shot by Agents: 0
2010-2011 Highway Mortality: 0

2009-2010 Total: 7
2008-2009 Total: 22
2007-2008 Total: 1,631
Total Since 2000: 3,737*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts, highway mortality