WildEarth Guardians has filed a petition to request a national framework for conflict management between livestock and predators on National Forest System lands. The group wants a designated rule to be incorporated into forest plans, allotment management plans and grazing permits and leases.
WildEarth Guardians says mandating carnivore coexistence measures in the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) grazing program will save wolves, bears and other carnivores “from slaughter.”
“Retaliatory killing of carnivores in response to livestock conflicts—including the mere presence of a carnivore in the vicinity of livestock—is a leading cause of death for species including wolves, grizzly bears, and coyotes,” the group wrote in a press release.
In the petition, the group said a framework that ensures coexistence between carnivores and livestock is essential if the USDA and USFS are to fully contribute to the Biden administration’s 30×30 plan. The petition urges USDA to adopt grazing management regulations that use science-backed measures to reduce conflicts, specifically nonlethal measures.
The group writes that the USFS’ management of livestock grazing is negatively impacting predators and, therefore, the biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems. The petition says domestic livestock on USFS lands is a “recipe for conflict,” especially because USFS managers are “reluctant to assert the agency’s legal authority to manage federally permitted grazing to protect these wildlife populations.”
The group cites USDA data that shows livestock losses are primarily related to health, old age and the weather, “yet the government has sponsored and funded carnivore killing for alleged depredations and perceived threats to livestock on behalf of livestock producers since the early 20th century.” The petition goes on to say that despite scientific advances in the understanding of the importance of carnivores, they are “regularly killed on (National Forest System) lands at the request of federal grazing permittees.”
The petition claims that scientific research shows nonlethal carnivore-livestock conflict deterrents and animal husbandry practices more effectively reduce predation on livestock. The group recommends human presence as a deterrent.
“Since poor livestock surveillance is strongly associated with livestock losses, experts recommend maintaining regular and frequent human presence to detect and reduce carnivore-livestock conflict on the range,” the petition reads. “Trained individuals can closely monitor livestock and carnivore behavior, detect sick or dead livestock so that they can be promptly removed or properly managed, and keep herds or flocks together in defensible spaces.”
Other recommendations include creating a minimum one-mile buffer zone between livestock and livestock attractants and known wolf dens, prohibiting the turnout of young lambs and calves, and limiting grazing to open, defensible spaces.
WildEarth Guardians contends that the USFS’ predator management program costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars every year, and public lands subsidization means “the real cost borne by the public is much higher.” The group also claims the cost of grazing on public lands costs as much as $500 million to $1 billion annually, yet grazing on the lands contributes only 2-3% of national meat production, “making minor contributions to regional economies.”
The petition also writes that public values toward wildlife are shifting, and the public prefers nonlethal methods to address wildlife-livestock conflicts. “Today, a majority of the American public view wildlife as part of an extended social network, deserving of protection, consideration, and care, and as having an intrinsic right to exist,” the petition reads. “People holding a mutualist value orientation have less tolerance for lethal control of predators.”
The group specifically points to the Colville National Forest in Washington as an example of the USFS’ “failure to manage livestock grazing.” The petition claims the agency’s grazing in the forest is seriously undermining wolf conservation in Washington and is impeding wolf recovery. The group said more than 90% of wolf killings between 2012-21 were related to predations of federally permitted cattle grazing in the forest.
“The Forest Service has not changed the acreage available for livestock grazing since the gray wolf began reclaiming its historic habitat in Washington, nor has the Forest Service changed anything else to manage livestock grazing to accommodate returning gray wolves,” the petition read.
The group also points to Yellowstone National Park and the Gila National Forests as additional lands where the USFS has “failed” in its grazing management.
The petition concludes with the group asking for the USFS to create a “proactive, nationally coordinated, grazing management framework to mitigate conflicts between native carnivores and federally permitted commercial livestock.” The framework would require permitted livestock grazing on USFS lands to incorporate science-backed, nonlethal conflict mitigation measures and livestock husbandry practices. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
