Last Thursday, the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) hazed more than 100 buffalo off the cattle-free Horse Butte peninsula in Montana to protect nonexistent cows.  (For more on this senseless hazing, see here, here, here, and here.)

Ann Stovall is a Horse Butte resident, who, like many of her neighbors, wants Horse Butte to be a year-round safe haven for buffalo migrating west from Yellowstone National Park.  She also wants the DOL to stop hazing buffalo on Horse Butte, which infringes upon property rights and disrupts wildlife and human lives in the area.  (Ann also appears in an excellent Patagonia video on buffalo and Horse Butte, which I wrote about here.)  Here are two photos Ann snapped during the hazing madness on Thursday:

When I saw these photos -- the big open landscape, few bison, no cattle -- my only thought was:  why?  

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While the above photos document the hazing, an article published over the weekend describes a Horse Butte landowner's frustration with it.  

The story features an interview with Rob Galanis, who, with his wife, Janae, bought 800 acres on Horse Butte in 2007 with conservation the impetus for the purchase.  They protected most of the property with a conservation easement and halted cattle grazing on the property, which made Horse Butte cattle-free year-round.

Here is what Rob had to say about hazing bison on Horse Butte:

It's just frustrating . . . .  I wish someone could tell me why they're hazing bison off the butte when there are no cattle there. . . .  The whole thing doesn't make any sense to me . . . .  We thought we took the controversy out by taking the cattle off.  But they're ignoring that fact and going with the status quo policy.  I don't know the politics behind it all . . . .  I just know it doesn't make sense.

Again, why?