Author: Cin Dee

Roam Free Nation co-founders, Jaedin Medicine Elk, and yours truly, Stephany Seay, ventured out on patrol in the Gardiner Basin. We had originally made plans to head to West Yellowstone after a family group migrated out of Yellowstone and into danger. As we were beginning to make our plans, the buffalo vanished. They had not been seen for days, and we got word of twelve buffalo (on two separate occasions) being killed by ‘hunters’ in Gardiner. We suspected more were on their way, so we changed our plans and headed to Gardiner, wishing we could be in both Basins at once.  

Of course, as we were just about to reach Livingston, less than an hour away from Gardiner, sure enough we got a call from our Horse Butte boots on the ground that the family group had shown back up and they were under attack. Treaty hunters from the Nez Perce tribe had found them. That family group had started out twenty strong. But by the time the Nez Perce killers were done, only four were left standing. A celebration for the killers, a mourning loss for us and the buffalo. 

These buffalo are from the imperiled Central herd. Descendants of the 23 buffalo who saved themselves from extinction so long ago. For many years now, Yellowstone National Park has cautioned against any killing in West Yellowstone’s Hebgen Basin. The Central herd buffalo migrate into both the Gardiner Basin and the Hebgen Basin, so they are doubly impacted by mismanagement activities. Being that they are the only herd to migrate into the Hebgen Basin, ‘hunters’ know they are taking from this at-risk population. Why, if you say you want more buffalo on a larger landscape, and you say they are your relatives, would you gun nearly every single one down? There is such a lack of reciprocity, such a lack of respect and care. They are facilitating the destruction of the Central herd. Just because you have a right to do it, it doesn’t make it right. 

Horse Butte is the Central herd’s favored calving grounds. Calving season will begin in just a few short weeks, but the Nez Perce hunt doesn’t even end until mid-April. No doubt, there will be buffalo calves who will never be born. No doubt many of those calves will be found in their mother’s gut piles. Horse Butte is also part of the Central herd’s hard-won year-round habitat. But, instead of getting to express themselves on the landscape and begin to re-establish themselves, they are constantly met with gunfire. 

Meanwhile, it turned out it was a good thing we did go to Gardiner. At first, outside of the quarantine pens, there weren’t any buffalo to be found in the Gardiner Basin. So we ventured south, into the Park, expecting to see scores of buffalo. There weren’t many to be found, but there was sign everywhere. We ventured back north and headed up towards Mammoth Hot Springs where we finally ran into a few family groups. That gave us cause for worry because it meant they could head north and into danger at any time. We hung out with them for a while, Jaedin got some footage and I got some photos. And we just basked in their presence, breathing in their scent, listening to them breathe as they gently grazed along. As we made our way down the steep and windy road back to the entrance, we spotted a few more family groups. Our worry increased as these guys were definitely starting to head north. But we held on to hope because it has been such a dangerously mild winter there has been nearly no snow, so no major drive to migrate to lower elevations. 

The following morning we headed out and did a recon in the Gardiner Basin. No buffalo. So we took the opportunity to head back into the park and go check out the Blacktail Plateau and Lamar Valley. On this day we started seeing lots of buffalo in all the places we had expected to see them the day before. But it was so strange. There was zero snow and it was already greening-up. Much too soon for this time of year, but in the short term it’s keeping the buffalo safe. 

We came across a pretty big group west of Buffalo Plateau. Among them were pronghorn, creatures you usually don’t see that deep in the park this time of year. Again, the mild winter is changing everyone’s behavior. 

On our way back home we started seeing more and more buffalo south of Mammoth Hot Springs, poised for a north-bound migration, into danger. To the north, just a few miles away, lies Yellowstone’s Stephens Creek buffalo trap, where buffalo are lured or hazed to be captured for slaughter or quarantine (domestication). And beyond that, just a mile further north, they are met with a wall of rifles. 

The following morning we met up with our friend Joe DeMare. Many of you may be familiar with Joe. He produces the podcast, For A Green Future, and he has interviewed me many times over many years. Joe flew in from Ohio to spend some time with us in the field. 

We checked the Gardiner Basin and showed Joe around. We took a walk through the killing fields of Beattie Gulch. It was quite depressing. The whole landscape was littered with bleached buffalo bones – a testament to the massacres that take place almost every winter. We saw no buffalo in the Basin, so we headed back into the Park. There were even more buffalo than the day before. We were even treated to a couple of coyotes dining on a carcass. We went all the way into the Lamar again, which was teeming with buffalo. Spending the better part of our day in the park, we headed back out to check the Basin. Our hearts sank as we came north towards the gate to see a good sized family group near the entrance gate, and a group of bulls heading north through the Roosevelt Arch. This was not good. Making our way north through the Basin, we came across a family group of 18 barely a quarter mile away from the trap. It was late in the day, and the buffalo were bedded down, so we headed to our rooms. 

The next morning — the day Jaedin and I had to leave — we checked on the group by the trap and they were just a little bit closer to it. Hating to leave, we were at least relieved that there were no hunters or game wardens around. And Joe would be staying another night so would be able to check on them later and on the following day. After we got home, Joe texted me at work to say the group by the trap was no longer there, they had moved deeper into the park, and the group of bulls had started heading a bit south, towards safety. 

It’s hard always wishing the buffalo would turn around from the direction they want to go, in order to get to safer ground. And as Jaedin said, “We really want them to go north, just with more rights and protection.”

WILD IS THE WAY ~ ROAM FREE! 

~ Stephany

After my time in West Yellowstone, I headed up to Gardiner, Montana and the northern entrance to Yellowstone. They had no snow on the ground lower down, and only bits of snow up higher. The mild weather (and of course, the continuous killing of past years) means that the buffalo have stayed safely well inside the park boundaries.

Hunters from at least two of the treaty hunting tribes were out scoping the area, and while I was there they killed one cow elk in the area above the town up Jardine Road. Beyond that, all was peaceful, with both the hunters and the killing machine at the Stephens Creek Capture Facility skunked for now.

From up high I could see various groups far away – both inside the park and in the backcountry. Heading in the park I saw a small group between Mammoth and the park entrance – close enough to make us nervous, but not in danger, and seemingly in no hurry.

A drive into the park finally led me to some large herds I could spend time with. They looked healthy and fed, and some of the mamas looked very very pregnant. The young bulls sparred, the yearlings enjoyed their last time as “babies” before the new generation arrives, and the big bulls were regal, as always.

On my second day I visited the imprisoned buffalo in the various quarantine facilities. The main capture facility has been nearly emptied – it seems there was a large transfer of 219 captive buffalo to Fort Peck, headed for more quarantine and a life behind fences, “managed” by humans.

This article says it all about the mindset of those behind quarantine, calling the transfer, “a touchstone of success after decades of litigation and bootstrapping to demonstrate that defining bison as ‘livestock’ or ‘wildlife’ doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.”

We say yes, yes they DO have to be mutually exclusive. These mighty creatures they treat as livestock have been ripped from their homes and relations, poked and prodded and caged, in an attempt to take the wildness right out of them.

The large trap, Stephens Creek Capture Facility inside Yellowstone, seemed to be the one that has mostly been emptied – I only counted 59 buffalo there. Certainly the park is hoping to fill it back up again with their wild relatives. The two other quarantine pens, Slip’n’Slide and Corwin Springs, each held between 15-25 buffalo. They stood listlessly feeding on hay in an otherwise barren field. It shouldn’t be this way.

I traveled again into the park, and this time saw a huge herd, over three hundred strong, heading north from Blacktail Pond. It’s incredible to see a group this size moving as one, and Blacktail Pond is still a long way from the northern boundary, but it is always nerve-wracking to see such movement, as we worry they could decide to leave the safety of the park en mass.

As I left the park that day, due to return home the following morning, a smaller group marched north through Mammoth, heading for Gardiner. Thankfully I did not see them on my way out of town the next morning, and our allies in the area say they are still safe.

We certainly hope for a quiet year. Even though it means less time with the buffalo, even though it means they are not following their migratory instincts, even though it means their numbers are low and the weather is unseasonably mild. I have since left for home, but our co-founders will be back in the field soon, standing with the buffalo and telling their story.

Unfortunately, just as we prepare to post this report, we heard that the killing has started in Gardiner. We will get more information and report back to you all soon.

Thank you, as always, for your support – we wouldn’t be here without you.

From the field, for wild buffalo,
Cindy

After hearing of more hunting in West Yellowstone in early February, where at least two bulls, a yearling, and another buffalo were killed on Valentine’s Day weekend, I made plans to get out into the field the very next week.

When I arrived in West Yellowstone Friday the 20th, all was quiet, and it seemed the rest of the group that was with those killed the week before had made their way back to the relative safety of the park. I spent the next four days skiing around and looking for buffalo.

The weather in West (and in much of Montana) has been weirdly warm and weirdly not snowy. Finally a couple weeks ago they got snow, and the area got busy with skiers and snowmobilers. My first day, on Saturday, another couple inches fell, making a ski into the park beautiful, but an effort of breaking new trail. I went about a mile and a half in, and saw no new signs of buffalo.

On Sunday, it warmed up enough to make skiing difficult, so I stuck to a hardened snowmobile trail on the south side of the Madison River – looking for signs of the herd that was hit the week before, but again, no buffalo to be found.

Monday it was back into the park along the bluffs looking over the Madison River, further this time, to still see no buffalo. Eagles and ravens above, ducks and geese in the water, and tracks of elk and moose, but no buffalo. This time, though, with the snow melted on some of the sunny slopes, I could see the tracks of the last group to pass, heading further into the park, no doubt fleeing the violence that befell some of their family.

Finally, on Tuesday, the day I was leaving to head up to Gardiner on the north side of the park, I took one last ski led by a friend, probably three miles or more, far enough to leave the sounds of the freeway and the roaring snowmobiles behind. Beneath bald eagles, through willows and across snow covered ponds, past beaver chewed trees and their snow capped lodge – to find a peaceful group of beautiful bulls, bedded down and browsing in the snow. It was so very good to be in their presence again – and even better knowing they were well inside a zone of safety.

My time in West Yellowstone was quiet, but worthwhile. The few hunters I saw just drove and snowmobiled around looking for the buffalo that were not there, that had been scared back into the park by the shots fired anytime they cross the boundary. I was also able to speak to some steadfast buffalo allies on Horse Butte – residents tired of seeing the aggression and the disrespect of the current slaughter.

With spring seemingly around the corner, and with most of the hunt seasons – state and tribal – being extended, I don’t doubt that the buffalo won’t be safe for long. But we’ll keep sharing their stories, being there to witness, and joining with others to stop the slaughter.

Thank you for your support that allows us to be here in the field. Next stop is Gardiner, where I will document the buffalo imprisoned in the capture facility, and will hopefully find the free wild buffalo also safe and at peace.

From the field, for wild buffalo,
Cindy

One final note to leave you with, listen to co-founder Stephany Seay’s latest interview on For a Green Future with Joe DeMare.

Dear Friends, 

It has been a relatively quiet winter so far, at least in the Gardiner Basin, but buffalo from Yellowstone’s imperiled Central herd in the Hebgen Basin have taken a pretty big hit by both Montana and Tribal ‘hunters’. It is unclear as to the exact numbers, but there have been at least 38 killed in the last month, but possibly quite a bit more. We have eyes and ears on the ground, but sometimes things get so chaotic that it’s hard to confirm how many have been killed. We hear reports of hunters cruising residential areas; leaving wasted animal parts scattered across the landscape; and running through traffic, guns out, trying to shoot at buffalo in the road.

Wild Buffalo Can’t Get a Break

It’s so sad that these buffalo never get a break. They gained year-round habitat in 2015, which allows them to access Horse Butte and lands north, but most of that land is Gallatin National Forest land, which is all open to hunting. The only time they are safe when they’re out of the park is if they make it to the buffalo-friendly residential lands of Yellowstone Village. Even when buffalo make it into the neighborhoods, it doesn’t stop hunters from walking around with loaded rifles or posting up just waiting for buffalo to move into areas where they can be killed. The Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes have just announced they will extend their hunt season through March 1st – it would normally end January 31st. Considering they take the buffalo that are shipped to slaughter as well – the greed is astonishing.

All this killing ignores the warnings from over the years that have come from both Yellowstone National Park and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Both agencies have urged that there be no lethal action taken against the buffalo in the Hebgen Basin (West Yellowstone) because only Central herd buffalo migrate there. The Central herd population has been in decline for many years. Because they migrate both into the Hebgen and Gardiner Basins, they are doubly impacted by mismanagement. Their numbers continue to drop. 

Yes, There Are Two Yellowstone Herds

And, yes, there are two distinct herds. The Central herd, who are the descendants of the 23 who saved themselves from extinction, and the Northern herd. Both herds are behaviorally unique. They have different migratory paths and different rutting grounds. As mentioned, the Central herd migrates both west and north, into the Hebgen and Gardiner Basis, while the Northern herd migrates into the Gardiner Basin. They may be genetically similar, but they are definitely two distinct herds. 

Support Wild Bison in Court

Our allies at Yellowstone Voices / Neighbors Against Bison Slaughter, are requesting that folks show up and support free-roaming wild bison! The Forest Service (and other federal, tribal, and state agencies) stops them from migrating onto public lands into Montana. Since 2019, Neighbors Against Bison Slaughter have been asking the federal court to force the Forest Service to analyze the killing that happens on Forest Service land. Judge Morris will consider whether Neighbors can show that 75 new circumstances require the Forest Service to complete an environmental impact statement: Feb. 17 (note date change), 2:30pm, Missouri River Federal Courthouse, 125 Central Ave. W., Great Falls, MT 59404. Your community support will make a difference for bison!

Montana Really Hates Wild Buffalo and Re-wilding Efforts

The American Prairie Foundation is an organization that, for the past twenty years, has been making a huge effort to re-wild prairie ecosystems in North Eastern Montana. They have bought numerous ranches from willing sellers and have received numerous grazing permits from the Bureau of Land Management. They get rid of invasive livestock, take down barbed wire fences, and restore buffalo to the landscape. Their vision is big, and it eventually connects to Yellowstone. While American Prairie’s buffalo are not wild and are managed as alternative livestock, this is a rewinding effort and they are doing the right thing. Unfortunately, Montana livestock interests have been having hissy fits about this effort for as long as it’s been in place. Montana recently sued the Bureau of Land Management for granting grazing permits to American Prairie, stating that the permits for using our public land are only to be granted to those with “production livestock”. The BLM just revoked the grazing permits from American Prairie. This is a huge hit but this fight is not over. 

Will the buffalo ever win? No matter what challenges arise, we will be by their side fighting on their behalf for as long as it takes. 

We will also be heading into the field soon to document, advocate, and tell their story. Please keep an eye out for our emails, share our social media posts, invite others to our email list, and spread the word. Thanks for your support!

Wild is the Way ~ Roam Free! 

Dear Friends,  

On October 28th we suffered through a two-hour Interagency Bison Management Plan meeting. The meeting was Zoom only, but it did allow some of you to listen in and even comment, which was really great. We asked the IBMP to continue offering the zoom option, but to please also continue in-person meetings. Apparently, the reason the last two meetings have been Zoom only is because the state of Montana requested it due to their lawsuit against Yellowstone. No one from APHIS attended the meeting at all, likely because of the government shutdown, though it seems business as usual continues at the buffalo prison inside Yellowstone.

Provided below are some of the major “lowlights” from the meeting:

Tribes Build New Slaughter Facility

The Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, who hold a slaughter agreement with Yellowstone, are nearing completion of their new slaughter facility that will be mainly used for buffalo stolen from Yellowstone. This unfortunate construction will be completed by spring, but it will not be used until next year. As we’ve mentioned before, the Tribes *sell* the meat from slaughtered Yellowstone buffalo to tribal members. The facility will be located in Ronan, MT, which means captured buffalo are forced to travel nearly 350 miles in metal coffins on wheels. The Montana Department of livestock mentioned how happy they were about the new slaughter facility. Shameless.

The Buffalo “Hunts”

Montana’s state buffalo hunt begins on November 15, though there is a backcountry hunt that began in September. Montana issues five tags for the backcountry hunt. Four buffalo have already been killed. Many of the tribes’ hunts are already open, though there are no buffalo currently in Montana. Only half of the Treaty “hunting” tribes were represented at the meeting, including the Nez Perce. They took issue with Yellowstone’s slaughter plans, but only because they want to kill the buffalo themselves. The Nez Perce take more buffalo than any other tribe during each “hunt”. 

The Population Status and Yellowstone’s Slaughter Plans

The park’s lead bison biologist, Chris Geremia, informed us that post-calving, the population stands at 5,300 individuals. Before calving (and after last year’s slaughter and “hunting”) the population was only 4,324 individuals. He told us that the population has continued to decrease since 2022, which we know. He also said that the Northern herd continues to increase, while the Central herd (only 900 counted in the Hayden Valley this summer!) continues to decrease. This we already knew as well, and it’s because the Central herd migrates into both the Gardiner and Hebgen Basins, meaning they are doubly impacted by “hunting” and capture for quarantine and slaughter. The Park now claims that the two herds are no longer genetically distinct, but instead are one big “metapopulation”. If this is the case (and that is a big “IF”) then it is the fault of decades of devastating mismanagement.

This winter, Yellowstone aims to remove 700-1325 animals this winter, or 25% of the population. Their target population (due to pressure from Montana livestock interests) is 3,500-6,000. Geremia said they want to “manage for a decreasing population”. Clearly. The buffalo captured for slaughter will be shipped to the slaughterhouse by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, as mentioned above. The slaughter now has a green wash name: Tribal Food Transfer Program”. How pretty. Yellowstone is caving to the cattle industry and going against their own science.

In late August Geremia was one of the authors of a published scientific paper talking about how wonderful wild, migratory buffalo – specifically the Yellowstone herds – are for the earth. Another one of those “duh” moments, but you can read articles about that paper here: Scientists spent 6 years tracking Yellowstone’s great bison migration. What they found is remarkable and in the New York Times – In Yellowstone, Migratory Bison Reawaken a Landscape.

Public Comment Period

The meeting closed with another farce of a public comment period, where only five people commented. Co-founder Stephany Seay and board member Cindy Rosin represented Roam Free Nation in speaking their anger over the slaughter of buffalo, and our friend Joseph DeMare of For a Green Future also gave impassioned comments. Gallatin Wildlife Association joined as well in speaking out for wild bison.

No other groups spoke for the buffalo at the meeting. A representative from the National Parks Conservation Association also commented, but just to thank all of the federal workers for showing up, not to speak on the issue. Amusingly, both NPS representatives, Chris Geremia and Tim Reid, felt the need to get a last word in after the few public comments to defend their defenseless positions.

Unfortunately, our screen recording of the meeting cut off halfway through, but you can see the first part of the meeting (including Geremia’s population status report) on our YouTube, and see our very detailed notes (coming soon). Also, if you want to listen to the full meeting, check the IBMP site for their meeting recording. 

Stand with Roam Free Nation and Wild Buffalo this Winter

Depending on the severity of the winter, it could be another really bad season for the last wild buffalo. Please stay with us, keep supporting us, and keep defending these buffalo! Thank you for all you do! 

WILD IS THE WAY ~ ROAM FREE! 

This is a long time coming. I have had the words written down since August, but I’ve struggled with putting this post up. Perhaps putting the words out there, to our supporters, to the public – maybe it makes it too official. But here it is.

Roam Free Nation mourns the loss of our dear friend, our treasurer, and a stalwart buffalo warrior, “Geddy” Lee Fulton. At just fifty years old, he passed away unexpectedly in August after suffering a medical emergency while traveling. His Roam Free Nation Family is in shock at this sudden loss.

“Geddy” Lee was a staunch advocate for the buffalo for the last eight years. He had been a field volunteer, a bookkeeper, a grant writer, and our treasurer in service to wild buffalo. He guided our organization, and his own life, with an infallible sense of ethics and detailed organization.

“Geddy” Lee reinvented himself time and time again – he had lived more in his fifty years than most of us will in seventy or eighty. He had been a salesman, a private investigator, a naval officer, a library archives manager, a bookkeeper, a Glacier National Park shuttle driver, a boat operator, a Yellowstone winter guide and a bus driver. He was intending to return to school for GIS and digital content management – reinventing himself once again. 

We are lucky, and the buffalo are lucky, that one of his incarnations brought him to us, to Montana, and to the fight for wild buffalo. He will be forever missed.

Thank you also to his friends, family, colleagues and community who have contributed to our cause in his honor. As the buffalo carry on, facing into the storm, we will carry on in our mission in his memory.

His obituary is available here.

Roam free, Geddy Lee, we miss you.

Dear Friends, 

I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from us. Things have been relatively quiet, so there hasn’t really been much to report. 

That being said, on Tuesday, October 28, the Interagency Bison Management Plan cohorts will hold their fall meeting. The meeting will be via Zoom only. We do appreciate the Zoom aspect, as it allows more people the opportunity to participate, but we really hope they don’t end in-person meetings, but instead, add Zoom options to them. 

Information about the meeting can be found HERE. 

The link to join Zoom is on the agenda, which can be found HERE.

There wasn’t any information provided about registering for public comments, but we’re sure there will be an opportunity. It will be a big mistake on their part if there isn’t! 

We will be there to represent and we hope you’ll be able to join in as well. 

Wild is the Way ~ Roam Free!! 

~ Stephany, RFN Co-founder

The spring Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) meeting was on May 14th this year. Surprisingly, just a week or so before the meeting, they announced that it would be held on Zoom only, and would be just three hours long! You had to register a day ahead of time to be allowed to participate in the public comment period, and that, along with the technology required, really impacted the ability of the public to participate in this meeting.

The day began appropriately, with the facilitator asking if any of the tribal partners would like to offer a prayer to open the meeting. This was met with awkward silence, as no one offered, after which the meeting began.

The meeting was a total sham. It was poorly attended, even by the partner agencies, and they rushed through it in an hour and a half – and that included the brief comment period. The ITBC (The Intertribal Buffalo Council) did not show up to the meeting, despite being a IBMP partner, and most of the treaty hunting tribes – the Blackfeet, Crow, Umatilla, Yakima – also did not show. The Shoshone Bannock sent their representative, and he was relegated to speaking during the public comment period. This abbreviated meeting just seems to be part of a trend of the agencies, especially the National Park Service, withholding information from the public.

Should you want to witness the bogus meeting in full, you can see (a poor quality) recording on our YouTube channel. There are also incredibly detailed notes available.

What little information we gathered from the meeting.

Most of the numbers are the same as they reported in late April – because, in continuing the trend of withholding information, we are not getting full hunt numbers at all. The IBMP report just says to contact the tribes individually. We’ll certainly try to do that, but have no real hope of them providing accurate information. The Park is truly full of it, though; they absolutely have those numbers – as they use them as the base of their management decisions – so they are deliberately hiding the truth from the public. We are working on a FOIA request.

The sickening numbers:

• More than 900 of the last wild buffalo were killed or removed from the population this year.
• 768 were shipped to slaughter – including 329 adult females, who all most certainly carried a near-term calf in their wombs. The Park operated the trap well into April.
• 1 calf was killed in the trap.
• 97 buffalo were sentenced to a life of domestication in the quarantine program.
• 5 were killed by state hunters – 1 in West Yellowstone and 4 in Gardiner (including in the backcountry).
• 33 were killed by the Nez Perce (the only tribe to report numbers at the meeting) – 5 on the north side and 28 on the west side – this includes 12 adult females, most certainly pregnant.
• The Park estimates the pre-calving population to be around 4,300 – they will complete a summer census later this year.
• The quarantine numbers were a little unclear, but it sounds like Yellowstone has 165 bison in the quarantine facility, and expects 145-150 to be ready for transfer this year. APHIS seemed to report their quarantine numbers separately, and said that they added 17 new animals to their quarantine program this spring, and they expect 37 cow-calf pairs to be ready for transfer in 2026.

Additional information of note:

• The CSKT are building their own slaughter facility for all the buffalo they’re killing – they expect it to be ready in early 2026.
• The DOL and APHIS brought up concerns of tuberculosis in wild buffalo – the issue was raised when the quarantine program transferred bison to the Mosquito First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. They did testing for TB on the slaughtered bison this spring and found no evidence of the disease.
• Only the Forest Service representative, Mike Jedra (who is Mary Erickson’s replacement) mentioned the challenges, uncertainties, lost staffing and lost budgets facing federal agencies at this time. It was interesting that it was brought up at all, considering how fearful the Park Service is acting these days.
• The Forest Service mentioned “projects” (i.e. logging) in the Hebgen Lake District as well as the Gardiner District. The Bear Palmer Vegetation Management Project in the Jardine area of Gardiner will soon be looking for public comment. We’ll let you know when there is an opportunity to speak out against destruction of this important habitat.
• The USDA completed delisting of Brucellosis from the select agent list – this removes regulatory restrictions on research and creates opportunities for future research.

And a bit of GOOD news!

The Forest Service Hebgen Lake District Ranger in West Yellowstone, Wendi Urie, spoke of plans to replace the Cougar Creek bridges – both the highway and the snowmobile bridge – and said that there will be a wildlife underpass included in the design! Safe passage infrastructure is sorely needed outside West Yellowstone – that stretch of Highway 191 claims buffalo lives (and countess other animals) every year. Apparently they’ve been talking about this project for a long time, but at the meeting they said construction should start summer of 2026. Take a look at the DOT project page for more information and to submit a comment supporting safe passage for wildlife!

Roam Free Nation Speaks Up

The public comment period was an embarrassment. Only six people spoke. We can only assume that the format of the meeting and the technology required to comment kept people from participating. Kudos to the Gallatin Wildlife Association and the Idaho Conservation League – the ONLY environmental groups aside from Roam Free Nation to advocate for buffalo at the meeting. Thomas Wadsworth of the Shoshone Bannock Fish and Game Enforcement at least spoke up both for more bison on the landscape and to criticize the impact the trapping is having on bison migration. He also expressed disappointment in the rushed online-only meeting.

Roam Free Nation co-founder Jaedin Medicine Elk kept his comments brief, but impactful.

And board member Cindy Rosin expressed her anger and disgust in her comments.

We never expect the IBMP meetings, where the partners at the table are all enemies of wild buffalo, to be impactful or important, and we certainly don’t expect them to actually take public comments made there into account – but we DO expect to at least get full and accurate information on their buffalo mis-management operations. If that isn’t going to happen at these meetings either, it’s no wonder the public couldn’t be bothered to attend.

We know that wins for the buffalo won’t happen around those tables (virtual or otherwise) – they’ll happen when an informed and impassioned public demands change en masse. Please pass on our reports, link to our webpage, share our social media posts, and keep speaking up for wild buffalo.

FOR WILD BUFFALO – ROAM FREE

I wrapped up my field time in Montana earlier this week, and I wanted to send a final report, some action ideas, and a message of gratitude.

A Few Final Days in Gardiner

After the killing of the second bull on the 13th, my last few days in Gardiner were quiet. The park trapped more buffalo on Friday the 14th, and more trailer loads left for the slaughterhouse. On Saturday the 15th it was excellent to be joined in the field by our co-founders, Stephany and Jaedin, as well as our amazing local allies. On Sunday I sat with the mixed herd of buffalo as they came to the very border of the kill zone, drank at the creek and scratched on the trees there, and then turned around towards safety. I left Gardiner then, knowing the field monitoring was in capable hands, and feeling good that the buffalo had turned away from the killing fields. Unfortunately, as you read in the last report by Stephany Seay, that safety didn’t last, and at least eight of those buffalo were killed.

But the much bigger toll taken on wild buffalo this year hides in Yellowstone behind a giant public closure and a successful greenwashing campaign. Yellowstone and their Interagency Bison Management Plan cronies have captured over 500 of the last wild bison in their trap at Stephens Creek, and they continue to capture now, according to allies in the area. Most years, Yellowstone has ceased capture operations in early March, because of the proximity to calving season. This year, they only started their dirty deeds at that time. To capture pregnant mama buffalo now, just a month away from calving season, and sending them to the slaughterhouse is a crime against wildlife. So far, two trailers of bison have been sent to their death every weekday since March 10th. Twelve days, twenty-four trailer loads – probably 300 or more sent to the slaughterhouse. As they do not tend to capture adult bulls, this is 275 yearlings, immature buffalo, and pregnant females with the unborn calves in their bellies. We do not have more accurate numbers because Yellowstone and the IBMP partners still remain silent about their operations.

At this rate of slaughter, one wonders if they are keeping any living bison to be imprisoned in their quarantine facilities. Not that it is necessarily any better – separation from their families, intense testing, confinement, management, and then a life as livestock far from their homes. For those “environmental” groups that support quarantine, know that this is what quarantine looks like – it looks like trailers full of wildlife rumbling on the highway to a commercial slaughterhouse. Because even if they aren’t racing to kill buffalo to appease Montana’s governor? Any bison caught for quarantine who test positive for brucellosis antibodies are sent to their deaths.

Contact Yellowstone and the Shameful Slaughterhouse

Shame on Yellowstone for caving to dirty politics and going along with this. Shame on the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes for facilitating the slaughter and for profiting from the crime. And shame on Tizer Meats in Helena for helping to wipe out wildlife in the name of livestock interests.

Contact Yellowstone and tell them to stop the slaughter of pregnant moms and calves. Enough is enough!

Call Yellowstone’s Superintendent Cam Sholly at (307) 344-2002
Email: Yell_Superintendent@nps.gov
Comment on their social media pages:

Let Tizer Meats know how disgusted you are at their participation in this slaughter.

Tizer Meats
(406) 442-3096 • (406) 422-4822

A Brief Visit to West Yellowstone

After leaving Gardiner, I traveled down to West Yellowstone for just a few days, to visit and to get a couple skis in to see if I could find any Central Herd buffalo there. Ski conditions were not great (and driving conditions were pretty terrible!) but on my last day in Montana the buffalo came my way – crowding the highway, frozen bellies telling tales of cold river crossings. With the new snow, though, there was no exposed grass on the highway sides either, and leaving the pavement meant some serious post-holing.

The herd eventually made their way up one of the forest service roads, packed hard by countless snowmobiles. Unfortunately, these endangered Central Herd buffalo followed that road towards danger, where some of their number were killed by “hunters”. Local allies report that out of the group they are only seeing two survivors.

A Bit of Media

Have a listen to my interview with the incredible Tiokasin Ghosthorse on his program First Voices Radio on Radio Kingston. It was an honor to speak with him on this Native-hosted, Native-produced weekly radio show.

Farewell to Montana for Now

It is always hard to leave Gardiner after weeks of field patrols, even if the hours and long and the work of bearing witness can be hard. As I left, I knew that Stephany and Jaedin would be in the field for the next few days, and that we, and the buffalo, have amazing allies in the area, but it is still hard to say goodbye. I hope that Roam Free Nation can continue to build our presence in Gardiner to the point that we have a continuous base there during the winter season. The buffalo need our voices and our cameras on the ground, bringing their perspective to the world.

Thank you for all of your support that enables us to get into the field. We wouldn’t be here without you. Please continue to donate, to share our updates, invite others to join our mailing list, and keep pressure on Yellowstone and other officials.

From the field, for wild buffalo,
Cindy

I bring you a short and sad update today.

He is gone.

The beautiful bull we told you about a couple days ago – defiance in the face of danger, protective of the herd. Lone bull daring to spend his time near humans, and hunters, and hazers.

Killed. After eight shots and a short-lived run for his life. Eight. Shots.

The bull had been hanging around the area of private homes for nearly a week. After his friend was killed on Tuesday, he left with the rest of the herd, but returned that very night to be where he liked, despite the danger. He spent the day in the area Wednesday, risking danger and gaining the attention of hunters. This morning, the hunters, or maybe the bull, decided they’d had enough.

Early in the morning we saw hunters throwing rocks at the bull while in the no hunt zone. Aside from angering the bull, it only chased him further away from the kill line.

But a bit later, drawn, perhaps, by the remains and memory of his friend, he walked past the imaginary line and was gunned down. After eight shots.

He died as he lived, bold, unafraid, and going where he chose.

People here are feeling his loss. The buffalo allies, the neighbors who had been living with his presence, some international visitors who happened to be in the area for both kills, and even the press covering the story – all heartbroken.

And of course this doesn’t tell the whole story – that the vast majority of the buffalo killed this year (and still to be killed this year) died away from the land they are a part of, afraid, confused, and contained, in a slaughterhouse in Helena.

But it is the danger of being on the ground with the buffalo. You get to know them, you personify them, and you feel their loss deeply.

Rest in Peace wild friend.