Stop the Removal of the Paynes Prairie Bison

As a Florida taxpayer, a constituent, a supporter of Florida State Parks, and specifically a visitor of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, I strongly urge you to intervene and stop the removal of the bison from Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. As you read this, the park is in the process of removing ALL reproducing male bison; thereby sentencing the remainder of the herd to extinction.

At the public meeting held on this issue November 30, 2010, attended by a standing room only crowd, the opposition to the plan for the removal of the bison was overwhelming. Public opinion polls conducted since that time in media outlets have shown continued overwhelming opposition to this plan. However, against public opinion and sentiment, DEP and the park have forged ahead with their plan for removal.

A component of the plan, offered as mitigation, at the public meeting and in numerous articles in various press since, is that the removed bison would live out the remainder of their lives in a state approved sanctuary. The public has been mislead however as there will be no sanctuary for these bison!

The finalized contract between DEP and Gateway Farms LLC, the vendor awarded the bid for bison removal, does not contain any provision for follow up, enforcement, or penalty to ensure the bison are relocated to sanctuary. In fact, a review of the sanctuaries provided by Gateway Farms reveals that all “sanctuaries” listed have strong ties to the beefalo industry or exotic game preserves. Two sanctuaries listed have direct web page links to the sale of bison as beef! This is a direct contradiction of the policy stated and sold to the public by DEP and the park. This must be stopped.

An additional injustice of the contract and whole process is that the Florida taxpayers will pay the bill for the removal of the bison. An expense many find totally unnecessary. It is outrageous to have the taxpayers pay for a service they overwhelmingly oppose and find totally unnecessary! In this tough economic climate and period of budget cuts and fiscal restraint there are certainly better uses for this revenue. The bison are a self sustaining herd requiring no veterinary services or feed; and as such are no burden to the taxpayer. In fact, the bison generate revenue for the State and park as they are a major attraction and draw visitors daily to the preserve.

Therefore, I strongly urge you to intervene and stop the removal of the bison from Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Sincerely,