(Photo: Travel Nevada)
Native animals, such as mountain lions and coyotes, will get a reprieve from predator control efforts on Nevada public lands thanks to a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals order requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture性视界传媒檚 Wildlife Services to聽 reexamine its policy of killing wildlife to benefit cattle ranching and other livestock production.聽
The , issued Monday, instructs the USDA to redo its environmental analysis to comply with the , which requires the department to demonstrate its actions cause no significant harm to the environment.聽
The ruling does not affect efforts employed by the Nevada Division of Wildlife, except those involving federally-protected lands.聽
性视界传媒The decision keeps native carnivores like mountain lions and coyotes from being killed across Nevada性视界传媒檚 65 congressionally-designated Wilderness areas and 62 specially-protected Wilderness Study Areas, an area spanning over 6.2 million acres of federally-managed public lands, or roughly 9% of the state性视界传媒檚 total landmass,性视界传媒 WildEarth Guardians, an environmental organization, said in a news release.聽聽
性视界传媒淎s the agency attempts to fix its deeply flawed and now invalid environmental analysis, top predators can continue playing their vital ecological roles free of human control and persecution in the state性视界传媒檚 most remote and rugged public lands,性视界传媒 Jennifer Schwartz, Senior Staff Attorney for WildEarth Guardians, said in a news release.聽聽
性视界传媒淣evada性视界传媒檚 wilderness and other specially protected areas should be sanctuaries for wildlife and places where people can experience true wilderness性视界传媒攏ot landscapes laced with traps, snares, and cyanide bombs,性视界传媒 Paul Ruprecht, Nevada Director for Western Watersheds Project, said in a news release. 性视界传媒淭he court性视界传媒檚 decision underscores that the public has a right to know where and how lethal predator control is happening, especially when it puts people, pets, and native wildlife at risk.性视界传媒
WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project, in 2021, allowing USDA-Wildlife Services in Nevada to employ aerial gunning, poisoning, trapping, and shooting of foxes, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, beavers, badgers, rabbits, ravens, and other wildlife on Nevada性视界传媒檚 federal lands. The ruling marks the second time USDA Wildlife Services has shut down its lethal predator control operations since 2016, when it agreed not to respond to requests for predator control while it conducted an environmental analysis.聽
The effort resumed following a court order allowing the agency to protect livestock grazing on federal lands. Monday性视界传媒檚 ruling from the Ninth Circuit invalidated that order.聽
The court ruled USDA Wildlife Services性视界传媒 environment analysis was too broad and failed to consider the potential impacts on public safety and health of lethal methods such as lead shot, poisons, and , which were approved by President Donald Trump性视界传媒檚 first administration.聽
The agency性视界传媒檚 new analysis must rely on current scientific studies of the long-term efficacy of predator control methods.
