Buffer Zone

<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/07/04/news/state/45-buffer.txt" >Officials discuss brucellosis buffer</a><br />n<br />n<blockquote>Creating a brucellosis buffer zone around Yellowstone National Park is a possibility as state and federal officials look for ways to keep the disease from recurring in Montana.<br />n<br />nTeresa Howes, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said she and the federal agency's top veterinarian discussed the idea with <a href="http://governor.mt.gov/governor/govbio.asp">Gov. Brian Schweitzer</a> last month.<br />n<br />n"We were encouraged, all of us, by the thought that that could be a way for Montana to go," she said Monday.<br />n<br />nSchweitzer has pushed the idea of a brucellosis buffer zone for more than two years, and the idea is gaining ground after the disease, which causes pregnant cows to abort their calves, was found in May in a Bridger cattle herd. It was the first Montana outbreak since 1985.</blockquote><br />n<br />nI have never been very keen on the idea of a "buffer zone" around the park but I see it appears to be gaining traction. As usual, I am missing something here though. <br />n<br />nThe discovery of seven cows with <a href="http://nowherethoughts.net/sarpysam/archives/2634-Seven-Montana-Cows-from-One-Herd-Have-Tested-Positive-for-Brucellosis.html">Brucellosis in the Bridger area</a> is what led to this talk between APHIS and <a href="http://governor.mt.gov/governor/govbio.asp">Gov. Brian Schweitzer</a> about the buffer zone. Now while there is a connection between the Bridger ranch where the Brucellosis was found and a ranch in the proposed buffer zone, the Bridger ranch would not have fallen in the buffer zone being proposed. Therefore this buffer zone would not have helped one bit with the Brucellosis problem Montana finds itself in. In fact, if the buffer zone where in place, <u>it would still be Brucellosis free, while the state of Montana would still be under the threat of losing its Brucellosis free status</u> at any moment.<br />n<br />nHOW IN TARNATION DOES THAT HELP US IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM? There is no proof that the Brucellosis started from any cattle that would be in the buffer zone so why are we using this scapegoat to set up a buffer zone? Why don't we discuss with APHIS the cleaning up of Brucellosis in the Park instead of looking at a Band-Aid idea that isn't going to solve anything and just diverts us from discussing the real problem, Brucellosis in Yellowstone National Park? Where did I miss the memo that decided this stupid course of action?<br />n<br />nThis whole buffer zone idea just diverts us from the real problem of Brucellosis in Yellowstone National Park. Why not have discussions about that instead of the buffer zone with APHIS? Too logical I guess. Diverting attention from the real problem does not solve the problem, it just extends the problem out so it never gets fixed. This just shows how the officials involved don't want to fix the problem, they just want to cover it up.<br />n<br />n<strong>Any fool knows that bravado is always a cover-up for insecurity. That's the truth. Bobby Darin</strong>