On June 8th, 1998, the government finally announced its much-delayed proposal for dealing with the buffalo "problem." The proposal would limit the total number of buffalo to 2,400 animals and would restrict their movements. Those that move outside of the park will be corralled and tested for brucellosis. The ones that test positive will be killed and slaughtered and those that don't will remain captive in quarantine for more than a year. Those that survive this will be taken away from their homes and given to tribes to add to their herds. The cost for building the quarantine facility will be more that one million dollars, and it will cost another $400,000 dollars a year to operate it.
An alternative plan, know as "Plan B" - The Buffalo's Alternative - has been developed by wildlife biologists and veterinarians. This plan addresses the welfare and future of the Yellowstone buffalo herds and those of the cattle industry, and is based upon scientific minimal risk philosophy and cost-effective planning and usage.
The plan would not allow the killing or confining of the buffalo, but would instead allow them to live as they have, with a few restrictions. Instead of protecting the cattle that now graze on lands paid for by the taxpayer, it would protect the very animals that the land was originally bought for them to live on. It is important to remember that the cattle are the trespassers and not the buffalo. The land they share with the cattle during the winter season is part of their traditional winter grazing pasture and has been for years. Natural instinct leads them to these areas to find the food that they need to survive the harsh Montana winters.
The reality of this entire issue is a power struggle between the State of Montana, the cattle industry, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (an agency of the federal government). The APHIS is responsible for the declaration of Montana as a brucellosis-free state, and has the power to convince states that might not want to accept the importation of these cattle that the risk is minimal enough to be safe.
The loss of the buffalo in Yellowstone not only affects you, the taxpayer, but it is a great cultural and spiritual loss to the Native American. Many Native Americans believe that if the buffalo were to disappear, they too would disappear. The spiritual connection between them and the buffalo is deep, and one cannot survive without the other. It is a tragedy that we fail to learn from our past experiences, and that the future of the wild buffalo lies in the hands of special-interest groups and politicians. Once the buffalo are gone from Yellowstone, what will be the next species of wildlife that gets in the way of progress? Will we then choose to eliminate them, in the name of the almighty dollar?
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