To: Secretary of the Department of Interior, Sally Jewell, On November 13, 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a five-year permit allowing an annual private competitive killing contest, sponsored by the misleadingly named Idaho for Wildlife, on public lands surrounding Salmon, Idaho. In 2013, and again in 2014, the U.S. Forest Service declined to require any permit or public review process for these events to take place on Forest Service-managed public lands in the same area. Both of your agencies have regulations and policies that prohibit commercial, competitive events on national forests and other public lands without special permits. However, both of your agencies are allowing the killing contest participants to hunt on federal public lands without complying with these regulations and policies, or other federal laws. The BLMs hurried National Environmental Policy Act analysis failed to adequately consider the public safety risks posed by these killing contests. It also failed to consider the potential impacts to local and regional native carnivore populations through the rapid massacre of scores of individuals and resulting significant social disruptions. BLM neglected to fully evaluate the displacement of other users of public lands and shortchanged consideration of less destructive alternatives to killing contests. BLM also disregarded wolves status as a sensitive species deserving extra protection from the agency. The Forest Service, in failing to require or review any permit application, considered absolutely no impacts to public lands, safety, or wildlife. Secretary Jewell hold authority over the BLM and Forest Service, respectively, on behalf of all Americans. Stop letting the BLM and Forest Service sit idly by while a minority of anti-wildlife extremists proceed with their planned slaughter. I want you to respect the 100,000-plus people that submitted comments opposing cruel killing contests on our public lands. Correct the course your agencies have taken by having them conduct full analyses and develop Environmental Impact Statements considering all potential impacts and alternatives to these killing contests. You are likely aware that a coalition of conservation organizations sued the BLM and Forest Service for abdicating their responsibilities to manage our shared public lands and wildlife based on science and the best interest of all Americans. It is not too late to avoid litigation by standing up for the law, for science-based management, for compassion, and for vitally important wildlife. Your agencies need to set an example by respecting the important role the species these competitive slaughters target--especially wolves and coyotes--play in healthy ecosystems. Killing contests are not sound management tools; science shows that apex carnivores, like wolves, provide significant ecological benefits if permitted to exist at ecologically viable, naturally robust, and socially stable populations. Coyotes, like wolves, serve a valuable ecological function helping to maintain prey and other species health, integrity and diversity. Both targeted species suffer disproportionately and cause greater ecosystem disruption when they are hunted indiscriminately. Killing contests, by disregarding the ecological importance of native carnivores and disrupting their social structures, actually undermine one of Idaho for Wildlifes stated goals of fostering wise and sustainable resource management practices. Secretary Jewell, youve previously said one of your priorities is to get Americas youth back outdoors into nature. Presumably, you hope this will develop a greater sense of awe and admiration for our shared natural legacy. If these events proceed as planned, children as young as ten will be encouraged to participate in the mindless bloodshed. Teaching children that the way to participate in natures majesty is to scatter traps, snares, and bullets across the landscape with no regard for the intrinsic or ecosystem value of target animals is morally reprehensible. Please note that since 2011 when Congress stripped Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves in Idaho, the state has allowed nearly half of Idahos wolf population to be hunted and trapped each year. Since 2011, over 1,200 wolves died at the hands of state-sponsored and private hunters and trappers in Idaho. It is up to federal agencies, like the BLM and Forest Service, to safeguard the gains made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act in restoring species, like the gray wolf, on behalf of all Americans. It is clear that the proponents of these killing contests are disguising their animosity towards wolves and coyotes as family fun and stewardship. Do not allow these extremists to abuse public lands and wildlife to fund their antiquated private organization and spread their bankrupt ideology. There is simply no rational justification for killing contests. They are ethically and ecologically reckless, demean the immense intrinsic and economic value of native carnivores, and teach children to trivialize the lives of animals. Secretary Sally Jewel at U.S. Department of the Interior Please tell your agencies to reverse course, follow their own rules, and prohibit anti-wildlife extremists from engaging in the unlimited slaughter of wolves and coyotes on federal lands.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 23:07:25 +0000
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