Rick -
I want you to know about Yellowstone National Park's current proposal to remotely vaccinate the park's bison by using compressed-air rifles.
GYC doesn't think it's a great idea to deliver a dissolvable "bio-bullet" containing a vaccine against brucellosis because chasing bison across Yellowstone with air rifles is not only inappropriately intrusive management of the park's wildlife, but the vaccine and delivery system are neither safe nor effective.
Please read the background information below and submit your comments today on behalf of Yellowstone bison!
Image courtesy of Diane Hargreaves
Take Action right now by clicking on the button above or by visiting the National Park Service's website. | Sample Letter:
I oppose implementation of a remote vaccination program for Yellowstone bison. The proposed vaccination program does not meet the basic requirements for safety and effectiveness of either the vaccine or the remote delivery system at this time.
The vaccine intended for use does not provide levels of added protection against infection and abortions in bison substantial enough to justify the intrusive management envisioned by a 30-year remote vaccination program. The remote delivery system seems unlikely to be effective at delivering the vaccine successfully to enough target animals over the 30-year length of the envisioned program to meet the program's goals of reducing brucellosis seroprevalance in the Yellowstone bison herd. The EIS does not explain in detail what are the benefits to Yellowstone bison in terms of increased tolerance for more bison on more habitat for longer time periods outside the national park. Yellowstone and the IBMP partners are likely to obtain greater protection from brucellosis for Montana's statewide cattle herds by focusing on voluntary projects to eliminate the handful of cattle remaining in close proximity to Yellowstone National Park. |
You can also mail your comments by mail to:
Bison Ecology and
Management Office
Center for
Resources
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone
National Park, WY 82190
I have provided some additional background and information below to help you customize your letter. Please, take action today and lend your voice to protect bison in Yellowstone National Park!
Sincerely,
Mark Pearson
National Parks Program Director
Background:
Ten years ago, Yellowstone National Park agreed to evaluate a program to remotely vaccinate bison against brucellosis. Brucellosis is a contagious disease caused by a non-native bacteria that may cause abortions in livestock and wildlife. When cattle herds are infected, the entire herd is typically slaughtered and trade restrictions may be imposed. Hence the livestock industry argues for aggressive action against bison that carry the Brucella abortus bacteria, even if there is little or no chance that bison and cattle will come into contact. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the last reservoir of brucellosis in the United States, and free-ranging elk and bison herds are both carriers of the disease (which they caught from cattle in the early 1900s).
Yellowstone agreed under the 2000 Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) to evaluate remote vaccination once a safe and effective vaccine, and a safe and effective remote delivery system, were available. We do not believe that either of these conditions have been met, and thus consideration of remote vaccination of bison in Yellowstone is not warranted at this time.
Vaccine effectiveness and safety:
The RB51 vaccine proposed for use has modest effectiveness at best, reducing abortions in bison by perhaps 50% and reducing the rate of infection by only 10-15%. In addition, the use of an imperfect vaccine could lead to an even more virulent mutated bacteria which calls into question the project's overall safety.
Remote delivery effectiveness and safety:
The remote delivery mechanism proposed entails shooting bio-absorbable bullets at close range with a compressed-air rifle. Shooters must be within 30 yards and hit bison in the thigh or shoulder to deliver the vaccine. The bison would be marked with paint. The vaccination program requires vaccinating hundreds of bison annually for 20 to 30 years before any effective reduction in brucellosis infection rates is observed. It seems unlikely that an individual or a team of Park Service employees will be able to approach and successfully administer vaccines to a high percentage of calves, yearlings, and other vaccine-eligible bison at that distance year after year.
Compliance with national park management policies: The National Park Service is charged with "minimizing human impacts on native plants, animals, populations, communities, and ecosystems, and the processes that sustain them." Vaccinating Yellowstone bison is intrusive and of questionable merit at this time and cannot be justified.
Increased tolerance for bison outside of Yellowstone not explicit:One inherent purpose for the remote vaccination program is to increase social tolerance for bison roaming outside of Yellowstone National Park. Yet the EIS is not explicit about the parameters of this expected increase in management tolerance by the other IBMP partners. It does not, for example, state that bison would be allowed outside the park for longer periods in spring, or that more lands would be available to untested bison migrating outside the park if the vaccination proceeds.
Removing cattle from potential conflict zones:The most significant increases in tolerance for bison have come from eliminating conflicting cattle herds from proximity to Yellowstone's bison. GYC has assisted in removing cattle from the Taylor Fork grazing allotments in the Gallatin National Forest, and removing cattle from the Royal Teton Ranch outside Gardiner, both under voluntary agreements. The $300,000 annual cost for remote vaccination can be more effectively applied to additional voluntary cattle buyouts or fencing the few remaining cattle operations in the range of Yellowstone's bison.
Yellowstone is home to the largest free-roaming bison herd (3,000+ animals) in the United States, descendants of the 30 to 60 million bison that once roamed this country. Bison symbolize the natural heritage that Yellowstone, the world's first national park, has preserved for us to be passed down to future generations. Given how few wild bison remain, it is imperative that the National Park Service do everything possible to manage our remaining bison as wildlife. The remote vaccination program is contrary to this fundamental purpose.
For more about bison in Yellowstone National Park, visit our website. |
 |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment