Update: nineteen cattle put down so far this round.
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Update: "After listening to arguments that stretched throughout the day, Judge James Browning denied the request, saying the ranchers failed to make their case. He also said the U.S. Forest Service is charged with managing the wilderness for the benefit of the public, and the operation would further that aim." [Albuquerque Journal]
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Update: the Gila National Forest will proceed with aerial shooting of feral cattle beginning 23 February. The animals aren’t estray because nobody has claimed ownership — yet.
Todd Schulke is the Center for Biological Diversity's co-founder.
While legislators referred to the cattle in the Gila as “estray,” Schulke pointed to a 1994 opinion by then-New Mexico Attorney General Tom Udall that suggests the cattle at issue would not meet that definition. That opinion regarded wild horses on the White Sands Missile Range, and noted that state’s livestock code defines “estray” as livestock found running at large on public or private lands whose owner is not known, and “livestock” as domesticated animals used or raised on a farm or ranch. “It is clear that the statutory term ‘estray’ is limited to animals that come within the code’s definition of ‘livestock,’” Udall wrote. If the cattle were to be designated as estray rather than feral, that would put them under the ownership of the New Mexico Livestock Board. [Forest Service to resume aerial cattle shooting in wilderness]The Colorado Legislature dropped a bill that would have made it a crime to slaughter horses and burros for human consumption for one that would tighten restrictions on the transportation of those animals. The New Mexico Senate Conservation Committee sent SB 301 to the Judiciary Committee on a 7-0 vote on Thursday. "SB 301 builds upon existing law that allows fertility control measures or roundups followed by adoption of the wild horses or relocation."
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So, to better protect wilderness contractors with the US Department of Agriculture's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service or APHIS shot 65 unvaccinated invasive cattle in 2022 from helicopters on the Gila National Forest. Managers with the GNF believe there are still some 150 of the critters infesting the Gila so officials took 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.
In retaliation, livestock special interests in the Republican super-majority Wyoming Legislature want the federal government to amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and allow horses wrangled from public lands to be diverted to meat processing domestically for shipment abroad.
That cattle have been allowed onto national forests and other public ground for pennies a head is a crime that needs to end. But, in Montana, Republican welfare ranchers find great joy in slaughtering wolves from aircraft and the feds are killing feral goats in the Wyoming Tetons.
Now, because of the 2022 Black Fire 325,000 acres of the forage base for elk have been erased so removing rampaging cattle is an imperative.
The U.S. Forest Service has issued a Notice of Intent to Impound Unauthorized Livestock in portions of the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. The notice said unauthorized livestock may be impounded by the USFS on or after Feb. 15, which could indicate the USFS will reach a final decision to shoot estray cattle in the area. New Mexico is a fence out state, meaning the removal of the cattle falls to the landowner, in this case, the USFS. However, the New Mexico Livestock Board ultimately owns estray cattle by statute. According to statute, once the NMLB takes possession and is unable to determine ownership, they may sell the cattle and use the proceeds to cover the expenses associated with gathering the cattle. [USFS issues an intent to impound unauthorized livestock in the Gila]As of October, 2022 the US Bureau of Land Management has removed over 19,000 horses and burros from public land and holds over 64,000 in confinement although the data clearly show domestic and feral cattle or hogs are far more destructive.
In Colorado, BLM officials are spending some $625,000 and planning to engage its wildland firefighters and volunteers to bait then dart horses with fertility vaccine in the Sand Wash area because the population of mustangs has exceeded its desired range again. The BLM has four horse herd management areas in the state and uses helicopters during "drive-trap" gathers of a hundred or more. Meanwhile, the Wild Animal Sanctuary has acquired 22,450 acres near Craig in northwest Colorado for one of the largest private wild horse reserves in the nation.
Naturalist George Wuerthner has penned an op-ed that urges the removal of feral horses from Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota even as that state's Republican governor lobbies the Park Service to maintain them.
ip photo: Our Lady of the Arroyo and her man are considering the adoption of at least four BLM horses then releasing them with those already roaming here and reducing fine, flashy fuels on our unfenced property.
To enhance existing protections for adopted wild horses and burros, we've just announced new changes to the Adoption Incentive Program. These changes are part of the BLM's efforts to place animals into good homes.
— BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program (@BLMWHB) February 2, 2022
Read our latest blog for more info: https://t.co/3bQrEcgPvs pic.twitter.com/RU5vv75wA6
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