Scoutmasterís devotion
deserves a public salute
After 23 years at the helm, Steve Miller is stepping down as scoutmaster of Troop 349 in Spencer. And he will be missed ó sorely. No doubt he will be mortified to see his name in print. Most definitely not his style.
However, he is a man of immense integrity who has led generations of boys into men of integrity. Imagine volunteering for 23 years to work with teenage boys and surrendering your own time, your comfort and, yes, your money for their benefit. All with a generous heart. And always, staying in the background ó allowing these boys to learn leadership, teamwork, and respect.
On behalf of all those who have had their lives improved by your devotion, thank you and God bless.
ó Jack Ernst
Spencer
Buffalo controversy
News accounts across the country are revealing horrific plans by the USDA-Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service to sterilize members of America’s last wild buffalo population, the beloved herds of Yellowstone country.
Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) promotes the livestock industry. Now this federal livestock overseer intends to conduct population control experiments upon Americaís last wild free roaming buffalo.
APHIS intends to use a chemical birth control vaccine and conduct invasive hysterectomies on wild buffalo taken from Yellowstone. Wild bison are ecologically extinct throughout their native habitat. Already, 53 young wild buffalo have been taken from their habitat and from the public for APHISí experiments, due to a back-room deal made between Yellowstone National Park and APHIS. APHIS plans to capture and remove up to 108 buffalo, many of which will be killed at the end of their experiment. APHIS has already made its decision to move forward without conducting an environmental impact statement and public review. APHIS states it will be conducting an environmental analysis, which under federal law it is required to do, but it has already sequestered wild buffalo with full intention of carrying out its nefarious plans regardless of public opinion or justification for the harmful study.
APHISí intentions hold no benefit for wild American buffalo. The goal and purpose of this federal agency is to serve the livestock industry, and not wild buffalo.
In truth, the wild bison of Yellowstone are the last wild population left in America. They number fewer than 3,700 individuals and are badly mismanaged under a state-federal plan that aims to serve the interests of Montanaís cattle producers.
Wild bison need habitat to recover their population, not birth control by a taxpayer funded agency acting on behalf of the livestock industry.
ó Beverly Noonan
Salisbury
Editorís note: In an Associated Press article published earlier this year, federal officials said the proposed bison project was aimed at stopping the spread of brucellosis, a disease that causes animals to prematurely abort their young. ěAnimals that test positive for disease exposure after the end of the seven-year study could be slaughtered,î the article stated. ěThose that test negative would be transferred to bison restoration programs outside of Yellowstone.î