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Subject: YOUR LETTERS NEEDED BY NOVEMBER 30, 2000
From: Wendy Keefover-Ring <[log in to unmask]>
*ACTION ALERT*ACTION ALERT*ACTION ALERT*ACTION ALERT*ACTION
ALERT*ACTION ALERT****
Alert date: October 30, 2000
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ALERT: HELP STOP THE AERIAL GUNNING OF WILDLIFE
--YOUR LETTERS NEEDED BY NOVEMBER 30, 2000
This alert contains six items:
1) What's At Stake
2) What You Can Do
3) Points to Make
4) Background
5) Sample Letter
6) Sender Information
Please forward this alert to interested parties.
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WHAT’S AT STAKE
Each year, government-hired "aerial gunners" spend your tax dollars
to shoot more than 23, 000 coyotes and other predators including
wolves. This activity is done primarily in the guise of "livestock
protection" for a few sheep and cattle ranchers and/or in a misguided
effort to increase deer and elk populations.
Not only do your tax dollars pay for this slaughter of the public’s
wildlife, but much of this activity takes place on your public lands
with little or no public oversight. Each year Animal Damage
Control/Wildlife Services (ADC) officials meet with public land
managers--in secret--to plan how they will carry out this shameful
subsidy.
These clandestine meetings are in direct violation of the spirit of
democracy and numerous federal and state laws which mandate public
participation in public lands management. According to US Council
on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations, federal agencies must to
the fullest extent possible, “Encourage and facilitate public
involvement in decisions…” (40 CFR §1500.2(d)).
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WHAT YOU CAN DO
It is with good reason that Animal Damage Control/Wildlife Services
is preventing public participation in agency planning meetings. The
simple fact is that they know that under public scrutiny this
despicable activity would quickly end.
Please write to Michael Worthen, ADC Western Regional Director, and
request that the public be allowed to participate in annual planning
meetings between ADC and public land agencies such as the U.S. Forest
Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Government wildlife
killing programs will surely end if exposed to public scrutiny!
Demand that these meetings be opened up to the public.
Please send your letters by November 30, 2000
Mail Comments to: Michael Worthen Western Regional Director
USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services 12345 W. Alameda Lakewood, CO 80228
EMAIL comments to: [log in to unmask] Note-If you comment by
email, please include your postal (“snail mail”) address so your
comments will be included in the public record.
Please also send a copy of your comments to
Wendy Keefover-Ring
Sinapu
2260 Baseline Road, Ste. 203
Boulder, CO 80302
Or EMAIL: [log in to unmask]
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POINTS TO MAKE
The public has a right and civil responsibility to be included.
These meetings regard public lands and public wildlife. According
to federal law, ADC must make a diligent effort to involve the public
in such decisions.
Federal law further demands that highly controversial actions under
go additional analysis and public scrutiny. Aerial gunning of
wildlife is highly controversial--both the politics of it and the
science. Americans strongly oppose it and little biological evidence
exists that aerial gunning of coyotes has any effect on the number of
livestock killed by predators.
As a taxpayer you have a right to be represented in these meetings
since they are deciding how to spend scarce federal funds. Public
land agencies are terribly under funded. While taxpayers are being
charged increased user fees just to visit our public lands, millions
of your tax dollars are paying to slaughter wildlife in these very
places that you have to pay to visit!
Ask for a response. One of ADC's favorite tactics is to ignore
dissent. Don't allow it! Be the squeaky wheel.
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BACKGROUND
Federal agencies are required by law to involve the public in
decisions affecting our public lands. CEQ regulations note that
agencies shall, “Make diligent efforts to involve the public in
preparing and implementing their NEPA procedures” (emphasis added, 40
CFR §1506.6(a)). Further, because its practices are highly
controversial, ADC has additional legal obligations to facilitate
meaningful public involvement in its planning processes. CEQ
regulations further define one measure of intensity (which thereby
increase the need for public involvement and additional analysis), as
“[t]he degree to which the effects on the quality of the human
environment are likely to be highly controversial” (40 C.F.R.
§1508.27 (b)(4)). Controversial projects require careful
consideration to ensure that public input is being duly and
diligently considered and that factual disputes are resolved prior to
making a decision or taking an action.
The American public has demonstrated broad support for wildlife
protection and has demonstrated its disapproval of many of the
methods used by ADC, such as denning (in which coyote pups are killed
in their dens), cyanide baiting (which also regularly kills household
pets), leg-hold trapping and aerial gunning of wildlife. Aerial
gunning, is, according to ADC’s own analysis, seen by the public as
one of the most inhumane manners in which to manage wild animals.
Moreover, ADC’s aerial gunning program has been demonstrated to be a
significant threat to the humans that participate in those
activities. Since 1989, ADC has had at least
· 17 aircraft accidents (1989 to present);
· 16 minor injuries;
· 5 serious injuries;
· 7 fatalities.
And since much of this activity occurs on public lands, where
visitation and recreational use is increasing dramatically, aerial
gunning represents and increased threat to innocent bystanders as
well.
Furthermore, studies have demonstrated that lethal control of coyotes
does not reduce livestock predation because of coyotes’ breeding
habits and adaptability. In fact, the federal government has been
killing coyotes since 1885, since which coyotes have actually
expanded their range and population numbers. ADC lethal operations,
in general, are a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Given ADC’s lethal wildlife operations, which represent attacks on
the wildlife that Americans hold dear, as well as the use of killing
tactics that have been widely critiqued by the public, it is
increasingly apparent that ADC activities are out of rhythm with
public sentiment. In addition, the threats to public safety and the
waste of taxpayer monies that ADC operations represent further the
need for public scrutiny of this agency’s operations. This discord
between what ADC does, and what the public wants, can only be
redressed if the public is included in ADC planning processes.
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SAMPLE LETTER
This letter provides an example of how comments might incorporate the
main points listed above. Remember, it is always best to write in
your own words and illustrate your argument with your own
experiences. Also, provide a little background on yourself and
describe why you think protecting wildlife, fiscal responsibility and
public involvement in public decisions are important.
Michael Worthen
Western Regional Director
USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services
12345 W. Alameda
Lakewood, CO 80228
Dear Mr. Worthen:
As a concerned American I am writing to urge you that the
public be invited to and allowed to participate in the annual
planning meetings between Animal Damage Control/Wildlife Services
(ADC) and federal land agencies. I believe that ADC and land
agencies are required by law to allow such participation.
According to Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations,
agencies must to the fullest extent possible, “Encourage and
facilitate public involvement in decisions…” (40 CFR §1500.2(d)). CEQ
regulations further note that agencies shall, “Make diligent efforts
to involve the public in preparing and implementing their NEPA
procedures” (emphasis added, 40 CFR §1506.6(a)). In addition,
because its practices are highly controversial, ADC has additional
legal obligations to facilitate meaningful public involvement in its
planning processes. CEQ regulations further define one measure of
intensity (which thereby increase the need for public involvement and
additional analysis), as “[t]he degree to which the effects on the
quality of the human environment are likely to be highly
controversial” (40 C.F.R. §1508.27 (b)(4)). Controversial projects
require careful consideration to ensure that public input is being
duly and diligently considered and that factual disputes are resolved
prior to making a decision or taking an action.
As you are no doubt aware, the aerial gunning of public
wildlife (particularly on public lands) is not only politically
controversial but scientifically as well. Studies have demonstrated
that lethal control of coyotes does not reduce livestock predation
because of coyotes’ breeding habits and adaptability. In fact, the
federal government has been killing coyotes since 1885, since which
coyotes have actually expanded their range and population numbers.
ADC lethal operations, in general, are a waste of taxpayer dollars.
As a taxpayer I find it disturbing that my hard earned money
is subsidizing the slaughter of native wildlife to benefit private
interests. It is even more troubling that much of this activity
occurs on public lands, which belong to all Americans. As federal
budgets for public lands continue to decline, and use increases, it
is tragic that tax monies go to continue this shameful subsidy while
basic needs on our public lands--such as fighting catastrophic
fires--go under funded.
For the reasons outlined above I urge you to open these
planning meetings to the public. To do otherwise is a violation of
your duty to serve the American public. Thank you for your
consideration of my concerns. I eagerly await your response.
Sincerely,
Your name and address
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SENDER
- For more information contact:
Wendy Keefover-Ring
Sinapu, 2260 Baseline Road, Ste. 203
Boulder, CO 80302
Phone: 303.447.8655
Fax: 303.447.8612
Email: [log in to unmask]
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