FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 31, 1997
CONTACT:
D.J. Schubert, 202-588-5206, djschubert@aol.com
Andrea Lococo, 307-859-8840, alococo@wyoming.com
JACKSON, Wyoming -- Today, in a letter sent to Agriculture Secretary Daniel Glickman, The Fund for Animals blasted the Station Review conducted by a team of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) officials of Wyoming's compliance with the National Brucellosis Eradication Program. The Station Review required Wyoming to amend its brucellosis control program or potentially lose its brucellosis free status or face sanctions on its cattle imposed by other states.
In addition to the technical inaccuracies and lack of any valid evidence to substantiate the Station Review findings and recommendations, The Fund asserts that the Station Review is in violation of a number of federal laws and regulations, including APHIS's own brucellosis regulations, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. Indeed, The Fund claims that the entire Station Review is invalid because APHIS has exceeded its legal authority by basing its requirement for increased cattle surveillance on the presence of Brucella abortus in wildlife. APHIS does not have authority over wildlife. In addition, The Fund believes that the mandatory nature of the Station Review recommendations invalidates public participation in the State's current rulemaking process, in violation of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.
"The Station Review from beginning to end is a factually flawed and unsubstantiated product produced by incompetent officials of a rogue federal agency in violation of federal law," says Andrea Lococo, Rocky Mountain Coordinator for The Fund for Animals. "Wyoming should be contesting the Station Review in court, not conceding to its demands by promulgating new regulations," adds Lococo, from The Fund's office in Jackson, Wyoming.
The Fund for Animals is a national animal protection organization based in New York City. It has been actively involved in protesting the slaughter of bison in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem since 1985.
Click here to view a copy of the 15-page letter sent today.
