Bison Protesters Arrested

On the morning of March 26th, Albright Visitor Center staff reported that two women had secured themselves to a structural pillar inside the VC in an apparent act of protest.  After responding rangers evacuated and closed the visitor center, they determined that the women were bison activists protesting the park’s participation in the interagency bison management plan (IBMP).  The stated intent of the act was to secure the superintendent’s acquiescence to a list of demands that included withdrawing from the IBMP.  After the women were extricated from the metal pipe apparatus that encased their hands and forearms and from its associated locking mechanisms, they were arrested and booked into the park jail. Charges of criminal interference and disorderly conduct have been filed by the assistant US Attorney. The women were released on a recognizance bond and the case has been continued. The incident, covered by local and national media, caused a three-hour closure of the visitor center and the lockdown of several administrative buildings.