Welcome to Eco-mmunity. This website aims to connect people to all the green resources in the world. One of those resources is environmental events and important environmental locations. Creating event and location markers in Eco-mmunity is a great way to create awareness about ways to lessen damage to the environment, and also to protect special areas of wildlife, so that the ecologic system of our planet can continue to exist.

Step One(Can be skipped if you already have an account with Sundance Channel) – Create a membership with Sundance Channel. Once you have logged in to your membership, click “My Profile” (in the upper right corner of the screen) whenever you want to access your membership, subscribe to newsletters, or add/edit map markers on Eco-mmunity Map.

Step Two – Create your first map marker for your event. This map marker will allow people to learn about your event, discover when the event will take place, and also a place for people to get contact info about the event. If you are making a location, like “Yellowstone National Park,” then you would be helping society remember the value and importance of these parks. On your “My Profile” page click the link called “View/Add Green Map Markers.” The first question you are asked is what type of marker you should make. Select “Event Map Marker.”

Step Three – Filling in data about your event or location.

- Title

This is the most important piece of data in the marker, as it is the first thing people will see when they open your marker. The name of the event is a great place to start but you may want to add a dash and use one to three words that describe the purpose of your event. Examples might be, “Picking Up The Trash Day 2009,” “Green Groceries – Sustainable Shopping Workshop” or “Solar Power and Coffee – Power your notebook with Solar Energy.”

- Marker Address

This is the location on the Google Map where your marker will exist. It should represent the location of your event so that your marker is in the correct location on the map. If you are making a location, like the Grand Canyon, then just pick a close city in Kansas, you can always drag the map marker over the map manually later on.

- Display Address

This is the public address that you can put so that people will know where the event or location is.

- Contact Information

Email and/or Telephone information for the event can be listed if there is any.

- Website

This crucial piece of information allows people on Eco-mmunity to navigate to your website, which should be directly related to your event if at all possible, most locations of environmental importance do have some type of website, you might be able to find it if you decide to make a map marker for something like the “Florida Wetlands,” which is a threatened ecosystem in the great gator state.

- Date and Time of Event

Self-explanatory.

- Event Description

This is your first spot to write a well-written and hopefully enticing description of why your company is great. Try to keep this section direct, assertive and short, about three to five sentences. Make your event sound awesome but do not get overly wordy, you only have a few words to make an impression before people get bored.

- Marker Keywords

It is utterly crucial that you enter a few keywords into this field, as they will help people find your event or location when they search Eco-mmunity Map. Separate them with commas. Try selecting words that relate to your event’s main purpose or general objectives. For locations, put as many keywords as you can think of that relate to that location, it could be the type of animals that live in that location, there could be water there, there could be an old mining site there, it could be a superfund site, the list is long. If you pick a handful of keywords it will help people to find your marker.

- [b]Select An Icon For Your Marker[b]

Pick a picture for your marker and click “Update Marker.”

Congratulations, you have listed a new resource on Eco-mmunity and people will now be able to learn more about how they can be an integral part of preserving our beautiful planet.

WASHINGTON, DC, September 15, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration’s authorization of increased snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park violates the fundamental legal responsibility of the National Park Service to protect the clean air, wildlife, and natural quiet of national parks for the benefit of all visitors, a federal court ruled today.

The administration authorized increased snowmobile use despite scientific conclusions by the National Park Service that the decision would multiply noise and unhealthy exhaust, which disrupt the experiences of visitors, and traffic that harms Yellowstone’s wildlife, including bison.

Judge Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today invalidated the Bush decision in a case brought by six conservation groups that together represent more than two million members.

A snowmobile tour at Yellowstone National Park
(Photo courtesy National Park Service)

The groups sued the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, National Park Service Director Mary Bomar and Mike Snyder, director of the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service over their new Winter Use Plan that allows 540 recreational snowmobiles and 83 snowcoaches to enter Yellowstone every day.

The plaintiff groups claimed the Bush adminstration’s decision violated numerous laws, including the National Park Service Organic Act.

In his ruling, Judge Sullivan wrote, “The Organic Act clearly states…that the fundamental purpose of the national park system is to conserve park resources and values.”

“NPS fails to explain how increasing snowmobile usage over current conditions, where adaptive management thresholds are already being exceeded, complies with the conservation mandate of the Organic Act,” the judge wrote, adding that, “NPS also fails to provide a rational explanation for the source of the 540 snowmobile limit.”

According to the National Park Service’s own data, the Winter Use Plan “will increase air pollution, exceed the use levels recommended by NPS biologists to protect wildlife, and cause major adverse impacts to the natural soundscapes in Yellowstone. Despite this, NPS found that the plan’s impacts are wholly ‘acceptable,’ and utterly fails to explain this incongruous conclusion,” Judge Sullivan concluded.

The judge directed that the National Park Service must substitute a plan that ensures all visitors can safely experience the park, and uphold laws that require stronger protection of Yellowstone’s air quality, wildlife, and natural sounds.

“Beyond Yellowstone, the court’s ruling reaffirms that a cornerstone purpose of our national parks is to provide opportunities to enjoy nature and these opportunities must not be compromised, particularly when protective alternatives are readily available,” said Bob Rosenbaum, attorney with Arnold & Porter, a law firm that represented the plaintiffs in Washington, DC.

“I’m thrilled that this ruling will restore Yellowstone’s profound winter quiet,” said Tom Murphy of Livingston, Montana, a Yellowstone guide and photographer since 1979 and author of three books about the Park.

“Yellowstone’s values have been diminished by snowmobiles,” said Murphy. “There’s no excuse for it when visitors are increasingly choosing modern snowcoaches that are less expensive and much less disruptive of the park and other visitors’ enjoyment.”

A group of snowmobilers in Yellowstone
(Photo by DaSmart)

“This is an important victory for Yellowstone and all of America’s national parks,” said Sean Helle, an attorney in Bozeman, Montana with Earthjustice who represented the plaintiff groups. “Yellowstone is an embodiment of one of America’s great ideas – that our cherished lands must be conserved and protected. The court’s opinion reaffirms this principle.”

The plaintiff groups are: the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and the Winter Wildlands Alliance.

They cited research conducted by the National Park Service showing that even with an average of 263 snowmobiles per day during the past five winters, snowmobile impacts have exceeded Yellowstone’s noise thresholds.

“This ruling reaffirms the idea at the heart of our National Park System – that the duty of Yellowstone’s managers is to preserve the park for the sake of all visitors, and to place the highest value on protection of Yellowstone’s unique natural treasures,” said Tim Stevens, senior Yellowstone Program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Park service research showed that the 540 snowmobiles a day authorized by the administration would double the current snowmobile use and triple the area in Yellowstone where visitors would hear motorized noise for half or more of the visiting day.

More snowmobiles would degrade Yellowstone’s air quality with snowmobile exhaust, which contains carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particulates, benzene and formaldehyde, park service researchers found.

And the park service found that more animals would be pushed out of their preferred habitat, impacting their health and increasing mortality.

Visitors travelling by snowcoach watch
wolves in Yellowstone National Park.
(Photo by Jon Catton courtesy Greater
Yellowstone Coalition)

“This ruling will ensure that visitors are not disappointed by air and noise pollution when they make the one winter trip to Yellowstone of their lives,” said Amy McNamara, National Parks Program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

“We take our hats off to the tour businesses that didn’t wait for this ruling,” she said. “Their increasing investments in modern snowcoaches are already making it possible for winter visitors to access and enjoy Yellowstone while protecting it.”

The 670 member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees today welcomed Judge Sullivan’s ruling. “This decision reaffirms the most essential value of our national parks – that these are among the most special places in our country where Americans are supposed to be able to enjoy the nation’s cleanest air, undisturbed sounds and quiet of nature, and wildlife living as free as possible from the pressures of our modern society,” said Bill Wade, executive council chair of the coalition.

He said, “The court’s ruling strongly echoes the caution submitted to this administration by every living former director of the National Park Service – that Yellowstone’s managers have a fundamental responsibility to provide stewardship on behalf of all visitors and future generations, rather than catering to special interests in a manner that damages Yellowstone’s resources and erodes the unique values and qualities of our oldest national park.”

To read Judge Sullivan’s ruling, click here [news.greateryellowstone.org].

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WASHINGTON, DC, April 11, 2008 (ENS) – Bison advocates and environmental groups filed an emergency petition Thursday with the U.S. Interior Department urging the agency to stop the slaughter of wild bison migrating out of the Yellowstone National Park. Nearly a third of the Yellowstone bison herd has been killed by state and federal authorities since last fall under a controversial livestock disease management plan that few stakeholders believe is working.

Critics contend it is high time the plan was scrapped, arguing that it is threatening the viability of the nation’s last wild and free-roaming bison population.

“The Park Service’s current course is to slaughter bison without concern as to the damage being done to the genetic diversity of the distinct bison populations in Yellowstone,” said D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute.

In addition to the management culling,
hunters are permitted to kill Yellowstone
bison. (Photo courtesy
Buffalo Field Campaign)

The petition, filed by more than a dozen environmental groups and bison advocates, calls on the Interior Department to suspend enforcement of the Interagency Bison Management Plan, agreed to in 2000 by federal and state officials.

The plan permits the capture and slaughter of bison that roam outside of the park due to the potential that the animals could transmit the abortive disease brucellosis to cattle.

The National Park Service estimated the bison population in the park was some 4,700, a figure that is now closer to 3,100. In the past six months, federal and state officials have captured and slaughtered at least 1,341 bison that have roamed beyond park boundaries in search of food. An additional 339 bison are currently being held in facilities outside the park.

“The petition raises a red flag that unprecedented, large scale slaughtering of wild bison is jeopardizing their long term survival,” said Schubert, lead author of the petition.

There is ample evidence that the Yellowstone bison consist of two distinct herds, according to the petition, and each of these herds needs to have a population of at least 2,000 bison in order to remain viable and healthy.

The Buffalo Field Campaign, which keeps observers in the field, says, “The death toll is rising at an alarming rate. Family groups are being obliterated, genetic lines lost forever, orphaned calves being imprisoned for government studies, and all to appease the unwarranted fears and economic interests of the Montana cattle industry.”

The petitioners have asked the National Park Service, which is under the authority of the Interior Department, to immediately cease its role in the slaughter of the Yellowstone bison and warn that they will consider filing a lawsuit if the agency fails to comply.

Yellowstone bison and the snowmobiles used to corral
them. (Photo courtesy Buffalo Field Campaign)

“The act of corralling and sending animals to slaughter within Yellowstone is completely contrary to the basic idea of a national park – particularly as buffalo are the iconic logo of the U.S. Park Service,” said Glenn Hockett of the Gallatin Wildlife Association.

The petition comes in the wake of additional evidence that the Yellowstone bison plan is stumbling. A report released last month by the Government Accountability Office, GAO, criticized implementation of the plan, saying that federal and state agencies are making less progress than anticipated.

The report criticized the failure to expand areas outside the park where the bison can safely roam. It noted that decisionmaking by federal and state officials lacks accountability and transparency and “more often resembles trial and error than adaptive management.”

Bison advocates have long held that the plan fails to consider the special value of the Yellowstone bison population, descendants of the few wild bison that remained after their mass eradication in the 19th century.

There is dispute over the threat posed to cattle by brucellosis-infected bison – there has never been a documented case of transmission by wild bison to cattle.

There appears little risk of bison and cattle intermingling in any case, as fewer than 2,000 cattle graze on the winter grounds outside the park where the bison typically migrate.

Livestock interests and Montana officials, however, caution that even one case of brucellosis in cattle could prove devastating to the state’s cattle industry.

Yellowstone bison calves at play. Spring 2007.
(Photo courtesy Buffalo Field Campaign)

The presence of the disease, which can cause stillbirth and spontaneous abortion, could put at risk the Montana’s brucellosis-free status, potentially costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

But there appears to be a double standard at play. Elk, which can carry the disease, far outnumber bison and are permitted to range beyond the park.

There are documented cases of transmission from elk to cattle, and elk were responsible for both Idaho and Wyoming losing their brucellosis-free status in recent years.

“What we’re actually seeing in Montana is a 21st century range war instituted by ranchers against wild, free-roaming bison,” said Robert Hoskins of Gravelbar, a Wyoming-based conservation organization.

Bison advocates worry that more bison will be captured and killed in coming weeks, as some migrate to their traditional calving grounds on Horse Butte, west of the park.

A trio of groups who signed the petition have also urged state and federal officials to recognize the changing landscape – there are no longer any cattle grazing on Horse Butte. They are seeking an immediate moratorium on harassing and capturing bison in this area in order to help the bison population recover.

“There is a way out of this senseless slaughter,” said Louisa Willcox, senior wildlife advocate for the National Resources Defense Council. “I think everyone recognizes that a change is needed here – but the same issues of conflict with cattle and property rights issues always short circuit public debate. Those issues do not apply at Horse Butte. This proposal gives the buffalo a chance to recover while the state and federal authorities get time to look at the criticism from community groups and the GAO report.”

Karrie Taggart, president of Horse Butte Neighbors of Buffalo, one of the petitioning groups, says, “My only wish would be that even the most hardened of hearts and minds could experience living amongst the bison, if only for a day. It changes everything. You learn that the voice of their wisdom is silent, except to the open mind. That the bison have allowed me in their world has been the greatest honor ever granted me.”

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WEST YELLOWSTONE, Montana, March 4, 2008 (ENS) – Bison advocates and local landowners today asked federal and state officials to stop capturing and slaughtering Yellowstone bison in a cattle-free zone outside the western boundary of Yellowstone National Park, until a review is conducted of changes in land ownership in the Horse Butte area.

“The government has been killing our nation’s last remaining wild bison, claiming it is necessary to prevent the spread of brucellosis to cattle on the Horse Butte Peninsula,” said Michael Mease, campaign coordinator for the Buffalo Field Campaign. “There are no more cattle on Horse Butte, so that excuse rings hollow. It’s about time the people in charge get behind the locals who support wild bison being on Horse Butte without harassment by the government.”

Horse Butte is a 24,000 acre peninsula consisting of federal and private land that extends westward from the west boundary of Yellowstone National Park into Hebgen Lake. The peninsula is surrounded on its north, west, and south sides by the lake.

Bison are hazed back into Yellowstone
National Park. (Photos courtesy
Buffalo Field Campaign)

Yellowstone bison typically migrate to the area in late winter and spring seeking forage only to be met by state and federal officials operating a bison trap that has already been used this winter to ship 30 wild bison to slaughter.

Recent land management changes have eliminated cattle grazing from the Horse Butte peninsula. A court order ended grazing on a National Forest grazing allotment on Horse Butte in 2002.

Last year, new owners purchased the sole remaining cattle grazing operation on the peninsula, removed the cattle and declared their property open to Yellowstone bison.

Those purchasers, Rob and Janae Galanis, are among 39 Horse Butte landowners who joined the Buffalo Field Campaign in calling for a halt to the capture and slaughter of bison on Horse Butte given the complete absence of cattle from the area year-round.

“When we purchased the Munns Ranch, one of our goals for the property was to willingly remove the last cattle from the Butte. However, yearly cattle grazing on the ranch has kept the grasses down, which has helped deter potential grass fires on both the ranch and the Butte and has also kept down the spreading of noxious weeds,” said Rob Galanis.

“For these reasons, we believe the ranch must continue to have a grazing component, which we hope to achieve naturally by allowing the bison to continue migrating out of Yellowstone National Park and on the ranch, as they have historically always migrated. To help achieve this goal we renamed the ranch The Yellowstone Ranch Preserve, the YRP, and posted the YRP as a ‘Bison Safe Zone’ to create a sanctuary for bison activity. In order to achieve this goal the hazing and slaughter of bison by the Department of Livestock on the Butte must cease,” he said.

The bison advocates submitted their request to federal and state officials in the form of a letter written on their behalf by the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice. The letter asks the officials to stop capturing and killing Yellowstone’s bison and to initiate a new environmental impact study to assess changes to an Interagency Bison Management Plan in light of the changed circumstances on Horse Butte.

“The government promised the public an adaptive management plan for bison; now it is time for them to adapt their management,” said Earthjustice lawyer Tim Preso. “The government’s bison plan was created at a time when cattle grazed across much of Horse Butte every summer. Now that the cattle are gone the plan needs to be changed to become more tolerant of Yellowstone’s iconic bison.”

The bison advocates wrote that, in addition to its “unnecessarily brutal treatment of bison,” the government’s continued implementation of aggressive bison management is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

A Yellowstone bison is killed
and removed from the range.

State and local governments spend more than $2 million each year to haze, capture and slaughter Yellowstone bison in the interest of an ever smaller group of livestock operations outside park boundaries, the advocates say.

Agents use helicopters, snowmobiles, off-road vehicles, and motorcycles to haze bison that leave the western Park boundary. Agents capture those bison that do not flee from this hazing and test them for exposure to brucellosis; those testing positive are shipped to slaughter.

During winters, such as the current winter, when the Yellowstone bison population exceeds 3,000 animals, agents are authorized to capture and ship to slaughter all bison leaving the west park boundary, without testing any for exposure to brucellosis. Agents shoot bison that cannot be hazed or captured.

“The government is spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to protect cattle that aren’t even here,” said Mease. “It doesn’t make sense and it is no way to manage some of our nation’s most revered wildlife. The bison slaughter on Horse Butte should stop.”

Horse Butte is prime calving habitat for the Yellowstone buffalo, as the peninsula has south-facing slopes that green up early in the spring. Hebgen Lake and riparian wetlands along the Madison River provide habitat for trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes, bald and golden eagles, and moose. Grizzly bear, grey wolf, elk, black bear and coyote all inhabit Horse Butte.

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