The Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) fired cracker rounds from a helicopter today to haze fourteen bull bison along the Madison river. The helicopter proceeded to haze the bison inside of Yellowstone National Park and flew as low as 20 feet over the wildlife rich area. Later, the helicopter hazed seven bulls in the Duck Creek area, six of which were already inside of the Park. The DOL helicopter was assisted by nine agents on snowmobiles and seven law enforcement agents from Gallatin County, Montana Highway Patrol, and the National Park Service.

BFC volunteer Megan Fishback said of today's operation, "There is absolutely no reason to haze bison in this area as it is never used for cattle grazing and is prime wildlife habitat. By flying a helicopter at low altitudes over the Park, they have severely threatened wildlife's chances of surviving the winter." Buffalo Field Campaign is opposed to the repeated and unnecessary hazing of these animals, and remains adamant that bison be granted the same rights as other wildlife. BFC volunteers have observed that bison hazed back to the park during past DOL operations quickly return to the same area.

Each hazing action further depletes the bison's winter energy reserves.

DOL contends that cattle permitted to graze on public lands during summer months are at risk of contracting the disease brucellosis and thus causing the state to lose its brucellosis-free status. However, Montana's position is neither supported by science nor endorsed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the federal body responsible for maintaining the state's brucellosis-free status. The summer grazing on Horse Butte amounts to 172 cow/calf pairs. This grazing allotment brings in less than $800 to the U.S. Treasury.

"This is a typical example of DOL wasting taxpayer dollars for no reason. These bison pose absolutely no threat to anyone, yet they are willing to spend thousands of dollars in a futile attempt to keep them inside of Yellowstone," said BFC spokesperson Peter Leusch

BFC, Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers, and the Ecology Center Inc. have filed a lawsuit claiming that DOL's Annual Operating Plan is illegal because it violates the requirements for pre-monitoring of bald eagles. The Annual Operating Plan must minimize harm to bald eagles nesting and foraging along the Madison, Hebgen Lake, and Horse Butte.

Since pre-monitoring was not done, the agencies have no baseline data to determine the impacts of their actions on the bald eagle population. According to Peter Leusch, "Operations like today's are highly stressful on eagles, and can cause reproductive failure. DOL and the other agencies involved obviously have no regard for an endangered national symbol."

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