Earth haters hope to corral public sentiment to stop invasive cattle removal in Gila

The Gila National Forest near the New Mexico-Arizona border has had a problem with feral cattle for decades after a grazing permittee went bankrupt then left his herd and the country in the 1970s. 

Because of pollution from cattle grazing American Rivers named the Gila the nation’s most endangered waterway in 2019. Then in 2020, former Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced Senate Bill 3670, the MH Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act. It protects 450 miles and 23 segments of the Gila River and its tributaries in New Mexico under the 1968 National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. 

If passed the bill would also transfer 440 acres from the Gila National Forest within the US Department of Agriculture to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument within the US Park Service and the Department of Interior. The bill was reintroduced by Democratic New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich in 2021 and it passed out of committee despite howls from the livestock industry. 

Also in 2020 the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump Organization's Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and its local representatives saying the agencies are allowing cattle in restricted areas along the river. 

So, earlier this year contractors with the US Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service or APHIS shot 65 unvaccinated feral cattle from helicopters on the Gila. Managers with the GNF believe there are some 150 of the critters still infesting the Gila so managers are taking comments on another round of lethal removals. But, it's hardly an easy alliance between preservationists and an agency like APHIS that killed 1.75 million creatures in 2021 including 400,000 native species like wolves, cougars, bears and bobcats.

Officials are compelled by the Clean Water Act to protect the watershed where some livestock owners have permits to graze and last week the Grant County Commission passed a resolution supporting the Forest Service but Earth haters are crusading to stop the lethal removal. There have been at least nine tries to wrangle some 800 animals from the Forest even though half of those varmints died during roundups and the rest went to butcher.

Yes, Republican welfare ranchers are apoplectic about shooting destructive invasive cattle from helicopters on public lands but they’re more than excited to slaughter wolves from aircraft.

“Our association still stands in opposition of that program,” said N.M. Cattle Growers President Loren Patterson. “We don’t believe that’s a humane or ethical way to do it. It’s not a long-term solution to the problem of feral cattle in the wilderness, and unless you’re going to address a long-term solution, we think that’s just an inhumane and unethical way to control the population.” Center for Biological Diversity co-founder Todd Schulke has been involved with the removal of cattle from riparian areas for years, and as a canoeist, he said he has seen the extreme amount of damage caused by these cattle. Comments must be received or postmarked by Jan. 9, 2023, and can be delivered in person or by mail to the Gila National Forest at 3005 E. Camino del Bosque, Silver City, NM 88061. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Comments can also be sent via email to comments-southwestern-gila@usda.gov. [Forest seeks input on more feral cattle removal]

Cattle trespasses have created problems on the Valles Caldera National Preserve, too as the Santa Fe National Forest begins seasonal pile burning nearby in the Jemez Mountains.

Learn more at the Gila National Forest website.