BISON'S FRIENDS GATHER
Protesters set up camp near where another pen is be built
By JOE KOLMAN
Gazette Bozeman Bureau
WEST YELLOWSTONE - Tuesday morning, after sitting almost all of 24 hours on a platform held 30 feet in the air by three poles, Kelly Needs had two priorities. One, she was accomplishing: blocking a Forest Service road so that when the state Department of Livestock wants to build a bison pen in the area they will have to take at least a few minutes to get her down.

With no state agents in sight, the second priority took a greater urgency.

"How do you guys feel about me peeing from up here?" asked Needs, an 18-year-old Buffalo Nations volunteer from Idaho.

Other members of the group that have vowed to make it as difficult as possible for the state to capture or kill bison had no problem with Needs' request. In fact, Molly Karp offered specific advice on techniques to relieve oneself while protesting from a tripod.

The group is entrenched on the road leading to the spot northwest of town where the DOL plans to build a capture facility to test for brucellosis in bison that wander out of Yellowstone National Park.

Bison testing negative for exposure to the disease will be released, while those testing positive will be shipped to slaughter. Members of the group and others oppose killing of the bison and are calling for the state to relax its standards. State officials say positive bison must be killed to prevent any chance of the disease, which causes cows to abort their calves, spreading to cattle and hurting the livestock industry.

Gazette photo by Joe Kolman
Jesse Haag of the group Buffalo Nations raises himself into a tripod. Members of the group plan to sit in the two tripods until they are removed by law officers.

After setting up two of the tripods, hanging signs protesting the state's stance on migrating bison, stringing up two tarps, building a fire and making blockades of trees and snow, members of the group waited for the confrontation that is bound to come.

State Veterinarian Arnold Gertonson said the Forest Service permit required before building the pen is expected this week, and construction probably will begin next week. At that time, Gertonson said, the agency will confer with law enforcement officers about how best to remove the protesters.

Earlier this month, a member of the group was arrested for disorderly conduct for sitting in a tripod on a county road and blocking access to the state's other bison pen near here.

Frank Boyd, a law enforcement officer with the Forest Service, said he inspected the protest site Tuesday and informed members of the group that there is no overnight camping in the area. He did not ask them to leave.

Members of the group said even if they stayed there all night, they would not be camping because they stay awake. And they are not just sitting idly by, says Needs. They will continue to erect barriers to hinder access by state agents.

"We're not going to just sit here," Needs said. "We have innovative minds."