Groups sue over predator derby

The fight over a predator-killing contest scheduled to take place around Salmon, Idaho, in January isn’t over yet. On Thursday, Nov. 13, the BLM approved a five-year permit to conduct a predator derby there each winter. Almost immediately, two coalitions of conservation groups each filed a lawsuit in federal court. The groups are asking that the BLM be ordered to carry out an environmental impact study of the potential effects of the proposed contest. In making its decision, the agency relied on a less extensive, 28-page environmental assessment. The assessment concluded that there would be no significant impact from the contest warranting an EIS. The suits seek a court order stopping the contest in the meantime. One suit was filed by Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project and Project Coyote in U.S. District Court in Boise. The other was filed by the Boulder-White Clouds Council, WildEarth Guardians and Cascadia Wildlands in U.S. District Court in Pocatello, Idaho. The first group of plaintiffs claims that the EA and related documents relied on “numerous factual and legal misstatements, omissions and unwarranted assumptions to downplay potentially significant adverse impacts to wildlife populations, recreational use, [wilderness study areas], and other environmental values.” The complaint states that a full EIS should be required partly due to the precedent being set by allowing the hunting contest on BLM land and to the conflict between its action and the federal wolf reintroduction program. The plaintiffs also question the BLM’s decision not to conduct an EIS in light of the fact that during two public comment periods, it received more than 100,000 comments, virtually all of which opposed the event. (The agency reported that almost all comments were copies of nine different form letters, though 491 of the 507 unique comments received during the final comment period expressed opposition.)...more