Please help... DU this petition!!!

[2naSalit]

Last edited Tue Dec 24, 2013, 01:18 AM - Edit history (1)

Conservationists Sue to Stop Wolf and Coyote Killing Contest on Public Lands

(Please) Sign the petition:

https://www.change.org/petitions/2-day-holiday-idaho-killing-derby-targets-wolves-coyotes-federal-agencies-ignore-laws-re-killing-contests-on-federal-lands


Groups Challenge Federal Agency’s Failure to Regulate Highly Controversial Contest

Pocatello, ID – Today a coalition of conservation organizations sued the U.S. Forest Service for failure to require permits and environmental impacts analysis for the advertised “Coyote and Wolf Derby” in Salmon, Idaho, December 28 and 29. The lawsuit seeks an order requiring the agency inform the killing contest sponsors and participants that shooting wolves and coyotes on public lands as part of the contest is illegal without the required environmental analyses and permits.

“Killing contests that perpetuate false stereotypes about key species like wolves and coyotes that play essential roles in healthy ecosystems have no place on public lands.” Said Bethany Cotton, wildlife program director at WildEarth Guardians. “The Forest Service is abdicating its responsibilities as steward of our public lands. We are asking the agency to comply with the law: require a permit application and do the necessary environmental analysis, including providing a public comment process, to ensure our public lands and wildlife are protected.”

The killing contest is charging an entry fee, advertising prizes for the largest wolf and the most coyote carcasses, among other award categories, and specifically offering opportunities for children as young as 10 to kill for prizes. Commercial activities like the killing contest are prohibited on public lands without a special use permit. An application for a special use permit triggers application of the National Environmental Policy Act. Highly controversial activities are exempted from fast track permitting. In contrast to the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) informed the killing contest sponsors that a special use permit is required. To date, BLM has not received an application. Hunting on BLM administered public lands as part of the killing contest is therefore illegal

SNIP.....

“Such killing contests reveal a larger flaw in our nation’s wildlife management strategies where predators continue to be treated as vermin, including by those very state agencies responsible for their management,” explains DJ Schubert, wildlife biologist at the Animal Welfare Institute. “The scientific reality is that predators are immensely important members of any healthy ecosystem and their ecological role should be celebrated, not condemned.”

Much more info here: http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2013/12/23/conservationists-sue-to-stop-wolf-and-coyote-killing-contest-on-public-lands/#comment-299497


Edited to add some context on the killing rate so far:

2013-2014 Wolf Slaughter
Idaho Hunting 143
Idaho Trapping 30
Idaho Illegal 8
Idaho Control-IDFG 7
Idaho Control-WS 73
Idaho IDFG-authorized 3
Idaho Legal take 3
Idaho Unknown 5
Idaho Vehicle 3
Montana Hunting 109
Montana Trapping 12
Montana "other" 93
Wyoming Hunting 59
Wyoming "other" 25
Wisconsin 251
Minnesota 199
Michigan 20
TOTAL 1043

View spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Uve8oQMRoAaTBLbjhfQzk1NWc/edit?usp=sharing

Source: http://www.thewildlifenews.com/ (Left column of page)


Thank you for helping.

[LiberalElite]

1. Done. and kicked

[2naSalit]

6. Thank you. n/t

[DesertFlower]

2. signed.

[2naSalit]

7. Thank you n/t

[RGinNJ]

3. Done.

[2naSalit]

8. Thank you. n/t

[badtoworse]

4. Since when is hunting not allowed on BLM lands?

The BLM allows hunting and fishing on public lands subject to each state's fish and game regulations. Wolf and coyote hunting is legal in Idaho, but there are rules.

This business about a special use permit and NEPA being triggered sounds like wishful thinking to me.

[PDJane]

5. Signed. And gladly

[2naSalit]

9. Thank you n/t