Hunt opponents putting names in drawing for tags

Fri., Jan. 7, 2005

Associated Press

BILLINGS – Members of a group opposed to Montana’s planned hunt of bison that leave Yellowstone National Park are among those who applied for permits to kill the beasts. But they say they have no intention of taking part in the hunt.

The Buffalo Field Campaign said its members would buy the licenses if their names were drawn in a lottery for the tags, but wouldn’t try to fill them.

Instead, the Patagonia clothing company has agreed to reimburse the cost of each license for anyone who decides not to take part in the hunt, a company spokeswoman said. The tags cost $75 for Montana residents and $750 for nonresidents.

The drawing for the 10 bison licenses was set to take place today, but was postponed late Thursday afternoon. The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission agreed to delay the drawing and is expected to meet on Monday to reconsider whether this year’s monthlong hunt, which was to start next week, will go on at all.

The state wildlife agency said more than 8,000 people applied for the tags.

The Buffalo Field Campaign’s Mike Mease said 25 to 30 people in his office are among that group, and supporters of the group were encouraged to apply as well.

“Our e-mail list reaches over 10,000 people so it’s hard to judge how many people were motivated to go out and purchase it,” Mease told The Billings Gazette in a story that appeared Thursday.

Lisa Pike, director of Patagonia’s environmental programs, said the company has supported the Buffalo Field Campaign’s efforts previously and decided to put up the money to buy the licenses from anyone whose name is drawn, but decides not to take part.

She said the company has not taken a position against hunting overall but objects to the bison hunt near Yellowstone because it won’t be a “fair chase hunt or ethical,” Pike said.

“It’s not a real hunt in the true sense of the word,” she said.

Mease said his group doesn’t believe there should be a bison hunt in Montana, at least until after there is an established wild herd outside the park.