The National Park Service is culling bison in the Stephens
Creek area of Yellowstone National Park, and it has blocked off a seven-mile
radius around its culling activities, denying access to the public. Members of
the Buffalo Field Campaign and a freelance investigative journalist concerned
about the welfare of bison have repeatedly requested permission to view the
culling activities, only to be met with the assertion that the seven-mile
distance constitutes “access.” Although the Park Service allowed the media to
observe the culling activities from within a naked-eye view in the past, for
the last few years they have shut off public scrutiny of their activities.
This lack of access is troubling, given that the
bison-culling activities are being performed on public land, by federal and
state agents, with federal funds. The First Amendment of the Constitution
guarantees the public and the media a qualified right of access to government
activities, and this right should apply to the bison-culling activities in
Yellowstone. Not only does the media have this constitutional right, but U.S.
Forest Service agents in a different area of the park currently allow the media
to view similar bison-culling activities, calling into question the Park
Service’s motivations for denying access to Stephens Creek.
While the Interagency Bison Management Plan authorizes the
management of Yellowstone’s bison population, including certain herding and
culling activities, the public has a right to know how those activities are
being carried out. Yellowstone’s bison
are the last pure-bred group of free-range bison left in the country, and it is
important to ensure that they are being treated humanely.
The ACLU of Wyoming, in conjunction with the law firm DuaneMorris LLP, has made a formal request to the Park Service to permit the media
to observe the bison-culling activities. If the Park Service continues to
refuse to provide access, the ACLU and Duane Morris will pursue legal remedies
to secure the media their First Amendment rights.
Meredith E.
Carpenter
Duane Morris
LLP
