After a cyanide tramp killed a dog in Pocatello and sickened a child,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program
announced Monday would stop using M-44 cyanide bombs in Idaho, at least
temporarily. The decision came after a petition was filed by 19 conservation and wildlife organizations two weeks ago. The cyanide bombs were being used to kill predators and pests. In a letter
sent to conservation groups today, the USDA’s Wildlife Services
announced it has ceased the use of M-44 cyanide bombs on all private,
state and federal lands in Idaho, and has removed all M-44s that were
deployed in the state. M-44 devices are spring-loaded and tipped
with deadly sodium cyanide. The device blasts poison on any animal or
person that triggers them. Environmental and animal-welfare groups filed
a lawsuit April 4, claiming the U.S. government was violating the
Endangered Species Act by allowing the use of two predator-killing
poisons, according to the Associated Press. “This is an important
victory, at least a temporary one, for both wildlife and for public
safety across Idaho,” said Erik Molvar, executive director with Western
Watersheds Project in a news release. “We thank Wildlife Services for
doing the right thing by removing these deadly and indiscriminate
killing devices, and urge them to make the moratorium permanent.” The petition to stop using M-44s was filed in response to the Pocatello incident, in which a 14-year-old boy was sprayed with cyanide and his dog was killed. Despite
the sweeping nature of the moratorium and the removal of M-44s
throughout the state, it might not amount to a permanent ban. In its
letter, Wildlife Services informed the groups that “WS will notify you
30 days prior to placing any new M-44s in Idaho” according to a news
release from the Western Watersheds Project...more
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Monday, April 10, 2017
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