A group of conservation groups finalized a settlement with the USDA Wildlife Services (WS) to ban the use of M-44 “cyanide bombs” and snares against wolves in Idaho.
The agreement also sets strict limits on how and where a federal agency can kill wolves in the state.
The restrictions will continue until USDA completes a National Environmental Policy Act analysis on the environmental impacts of killing wolves.
“WS won’t be able to keep ignoring the science that shows that killing predators does not reduce livestock losses,” said Talasi Brooks, a staff attorney with Western Watersheds Project.
Until an environmental impact statement is prepared, WS will be unable to use lethal methods against wolves on public lands and may only use lethal methods on private land if there is a witnessed or documented wolf depredation, and cannot use cameras or other surveillance to locate wolves in Idaho’s wilderness.
The government does not comment on current litigation.
