U.S. District Court to Hear Arguments for Preliminary Injunction to Halt Yellowstone Bison Cull

For immediate release

Contact:

media@aldf.org

Casper, WY – Journalist Chris Ketcham and bison advocate Stephany Seay will have their first day in court on Friday, February 5, when the United States District Court in Casper, Wyoming hears arguments for a preliminary injunction to halt the planned Yellowstone National Park bison cull. The capture and kill operation is scheduled to start February 15.

Ketcham and Seay are seeking access to the controversial bison trapping operations that lead to the slaughter of hundreds of bison.  During the capture and kill operation, the Park Service closes parts of the park to public access.  The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, argues that the First Amendment guarantees citizens and journalists reasonable, non-disruptive access to the publicly funded national park. The court will decide their First Amendment claims separately.

“This court order is necessary to protect Stephany’s and Chris’s constitutional rights while the case is pending or until full and reasonable access to observe the cull can be granted,” said Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) attorney Stefanie Wilson. “Given accounts of brutality during past culls, it is the public’s right to know what is happening to the cherished Yellowstone bison.”

Ketcham and Seay are represented by the ALDF, University of Denver constitutional law professors, and Jamie M. Woolsey of the private Wyoming law firm Fuller, Sandefer & Associates, L.L.C.

Copies of the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction and the brief in support are available upon request.