| WASHINGTON
- September 15 - Who:
Fred DuBray, past-president of Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC)
Mike Fox, current president ITBC
Bob Ferris, director Species Conservation, DOW
What:
Comment on Yellowstone bison management plan
When:
Thursday, Sept. 17
Noon -- 1:30 p.m.
Where:
Defenders of Wildlife
1101 14th Street, N.W., No. 1400
Washington, D.C.
Why:
To comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Interagency Bison
Management Plan for Montana and Yellowstone National Park and the proposed Citizens'
Alternative
On Thursday, Sept. 17 from noon to 1:30 p.m., Fred DuBray and Mike Fox from the ITBC, Bob
Ferris from Defenders of Wildlife, and other bison experts will be available for press
interviews to discuss the draft management plan for Yellowstone bison, the proposed
Citizens' Plan, the fact and fiction of brucellosis, and the on-going efforts to protect
and preserve descendants of the nation's last free-roaming bison herd. B-roll of recent
bison slaughters -- exclusive to Defenders of Wildlife -- is also available, as are color
prints of bison in the park and in holding pens.
Officials from the National Park Service, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
and Montana will be soliciting comments from the general public this Thursday, September
17, on the draft long-term management plan for Yellowstone National Park bison at the
Sumner School Museum and Archives at 1201 17th Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C.
The state and federal government draft plan outlines an intrusive and costly approach to
managing Yellowstone's bison. Defenders of Wildlife and 15 other organizations have
drafted their own alternative plan -- known as the Citizens' Plan to Save Yellowstone
Buffalo -- that manages buffalo as wild animals, minimizes human intervention,
accommodates buffalo that leave the park in winter, and makes reasonable efforts to
protect private property and livestock
The Citizens' Plan, which is supported by Native American tribes, ranchers,
conservationists, sportsmen, scientists, and regional businesses, seeks to ease the
continued slaughter of Yellowstone bison by government officials allegedly to prevent the
spread of the disease brucellosis to cattle (even though there has never been a single
confirmed case of transmission of the disease from wild buffalo to cattle). Combined with
harsh winters, the recent slaughters have reduced the Yellowstone bison population by more
than 1,900 animals in the last four winters.
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TO SCHEDULE AN INTERVIEW EITHER IN PERSON OR BY PHONE OR TO OBTAIN B-ROLL OR PRINTS,
PLEASE CALL KEN GOLDMAN AT DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE AT 202-682-9400, ext. 221.
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