FR Doc. E6-8839-Predator Damage Managem. ...

PDM(at)fs.fed.us


...in wilderness areas for a public comment period.


Forest Service, USDA
Attn: Director, Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Resources
Washington, DC 20250


Dear Madam or Sir of the Forest Service,

Thank you very much for accepting the public comments regarding new directives for Predator Damage Management in Wilderness Areas. Please register my firm opposition to the government-sanctioned slaughter of wolves, bears, coyotes, cougars, bobcats and mountain lions in regions preserved under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.

In the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) draft, predators who come in contact with livestock grazing on Wilderness and other federally assigned Wild and Scenic areas may be poisoned, trapped, or gunned down from all-terrain vehicles and aircraft. I do not want my tax dollars spent on fatal toxins, snares, leghold traps and aerial shooting programs. Grazing sheep, cows, or other livestock do not belong in Wilderness or Wild and Scenic zones in the first place.

The public objects to the arbitrary extermination of wildlife on national forest land. Animals are supposed to exist without human endangerment in these protected territories. The private livestock industry poses a threat to wild animals if the best "solution" is to kill them. Ranchers ought to relocate outside designated Wilderness or Wild and Scenic areas. At the very least, they need to responsibly employ nonlethal barriers such as guard animals, fencing, carcass removal, non-lethal repellents or scare devices. These methods, in conjunction with animal husbandry techniques, have proven more capable than kill tactics in decreasing livestock damages.

Predators, a critical part of any ecosystem, balance wildlife populations and inhibit an overabundance of herbivores and habitat degradation. In addition, extensive killing may have a reverse effect. Predators offset the decline by reproducing more swiftly and soon rebound to pre-slaughter or higher numbers.

Please uphold the intent of the Wilderness Act of 1964 to conserve pristine regions and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to sustain biodiversity in riparian habitats. The tax-subsidized killing of wildlife is a national disgrace. I strongly encourage the USFS to defend public lands and retract its proposal.

With kind regards,