Pictures from volunteering on Horse Butte - April 19, 2009

Submitted by Jim Macdonald on Tue, 04/21/2009 - 01:16.

Jim Macdonald of Buffalo Allies of Bozeman volunteered with Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) on April 19. Stephany and Peter from BFC took Jim up Horse Butte, where he took a lot of pictures.

For all the pictures, follow this link.

Horse Butte is a peninsula in Hebgen Lake outside of Yellowstone National Park about seven miles NNW of West Yellowstone. Despite the fact that there are no cows on Horse Butte and support from a lot of property owners (including our friends in Horse Butte Neighbors of Buffalo), buffalo are not tolerated by the state of Montana on this peninsula after May 15. They are forced back into Yellowstone after that date.

That's bad for a lot of reasons, some of which are: 1) Buffalo are wildlife and should be respected as such, as are other wild animals, especially on lands where there are no cows; 2) Buffalo are still calving after May 15, which means that newborn calves are forced back into the park; 3) the hazing is harsh to the vegetation; 4) As can be seen from the pictures, buffalo add a lot to the landscape.

Let them roam! They should not be forced to stay inside of Yellowstone National Park. What a wonderful habitat this would be and a foothold on reclaiming their native range and a place here in Montana.