News Release, February 6, 2001
Contact:
David Gaillard at Predator Conservation Alliance (406) 587-3389
Gary Macfarlane at Friends of the Clearwater (208) 882-9755
Idaho Wages Killing Campaign in Clearwater
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is launching a killing campaign in the Clearwater National Forest, and will receive federal help in its efforts.
In a case of, "shoot first, ask questions later," the state agency is prepared to kill off approximately 75 black bears and 10 mountain lions this year in an attempt to boost elk numbers, despite wide public support for all wildlife.
Friends of the Clearwater and Predator Conservation Alliance oppose this so-called study, and their members are outraged at the use of federal funds to support it.
"The majority of Americans nationwide who support wildlife and wild country are increasingly fed up with Idaho's audacious, arrogant and uniformed bias against its native predator species, and will not stand for a federally-funded agency to be its operatives," said David Gaillard, a program associate with Predator Conservation Alliance.
The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Wildlife Services division will carry out the killings in conjunction with Idaho Fish and Game, using federal dollars to kill public wildlife on public lands.
The slaughter of approximately half the black bear and mountain lion populations within the study area is aimed at assessing what factors are responsible for a decline in elk calf survival.
"A killing program aimed at black bears and cougars doesn't make any sense in the Clearwater," said Gary Macfarlane, of Friends of the Clearwater. "Professors at the University of Idaho agree that it doesn't make any sense. Black bear, cougars and elk have coexisted for millennia. Elk populations in this part of the world are in a natural downswing."
Idaho Fish and Game admit other factors, such as the availability of suitable habitat, may be responsible for the decline in elk numbers. But the so-called study calls for killing bears and mountain lions first, and looking at other factors later. Besides loss of habitat, other factors could be at play. Off-road vehicle use, for example, has been shown to impact elk and elk habitat security, yet the study proposal does not address this or other potential factors.
The study calls for shooting bears, or trapping them in leg or neck snares. Mountain lions will be shot "opportunistically" when they are found in the study area. Both bears and lions will also be baited, and hunted with tracking hounds. There is no estimate to the number of black bear cubs that will be orphaned as a result of the study. The cubs will be as young as two months old when the study is set to begin this April, unable to survive without their mothers.
This Idaho study proposal reflects a larger trend of individual states resorting to outdated biases against predators in their management of public wildlife on public lands. Similar predator killing "studies" are currently proposed in Oregon (the effect of mountain lions on elk and mule deer populations), Colorado (the effect of coyotes on mule deer populations) and Utah (a "survey" to determine coyote numbers through killing and bounty hunts).
The USDA will be accepting public comment on this proposal through Feb. 15. An Environmental Assessment of this proposal will be developed by mid-March, which will be subject to 30-day public review. The study is scheduled to commence in late April.
|
