Conservation Groups Resist Expansion of Poison Trapping

Defenders of Wildlife
Friday, 18 January 2002

Defenders of Wildlife and six western regional conservation organizations urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today to deny USDA's Wildlife Services' (WS) request to expand the use of dangerous poisonous devices known as M-44s in Idaho and Utah. M-44s are spring-loaded baits that attract canines and other animals and kill them with a deadly dose of sodium cyanide.

Expanded M-44 use, if approved, would be directed at coyotes and foxes because WS claims these animals may be responsible for declines in western sage grouse populations. Sage grouse scientists disagree, stating that predation is not a major contributing factor in the bird's decline. These experts point to severe changes in sage grouse habitat caused by overgrazing, extensive burns, and other impacts resulting in the overall reduction of healthy sage brush steppe ecosystems throughout the western United States.

"Across the West, predators are becoming the popular scapegoat for wildlife problems -- despite the fact that scientists have identified habitat loss -- not predation -- as the number one issue at the root of nearly all these dramatic declines," said Robert M. Ferris, vice president of species conservation for Defenders of Wildlife.

"Why? Its easier to blame something else than it is to face the consequences of decades of abuse and misuse of our wild lands and wildlife. Sage grouse need healthy sagebrush ecosystems and always have. Take that away and the decline is unavoidable."

Conservationists from all sides see WS' proposal as a guise to expand their poisoning programs. Currently, Wildlife Services is permitted by the EPA to use M-44s in certain western states to kill predators of livestock. Tens of thousands of these devices are set on private and public lands throughout the western United States. Of the approximately 80,000 to 100,000 coyotes killed by WS each year, some 20,000 are killed with M-44s. M-44s are among the most indiscriminate lethal tools WS uses to kill predators. Non-target species include rare, threatened and endangered species including the gray wolf.

"Killing foxes and coyotes will not solve the sage grouse problem -- we have to improve their habitat," said Laird Lucas, an attorney with the LAW Fund in Boise. "Last year we stopped Wildlife Services in federal court from going forward with this nutty scheme, and they have done nothing to improve it now. We hope EPA will put a halt to it, so we don't have to go back to court again."

"Aside from the poor science issue, there is also an issue of public trust," said Caroline Kennedy, special project director for species conservation at Defenders of Wildlife. "WS is asking for permission for expanded use of a deadly poison at a time when their attention to human safety issues associated with this poison are in question."

Wildlife Services has repeatedly failed to follow the EPA's M-44 Use Restrictions for approved uses, extending the conditions under which these devices could be used would lead to a series of negative consequences to the environment as well as to human health and safety. For example, Wildlife Services has illegally placed M-44s on private property without the landowners' knowledge and often fails to post the required signs marking their presence, which is critical to reducing accidental poisoning of pets and humans. Such illegal placement has caused the deaths of family pets and livestock guarding dogs. Humans have been exposed to deadly sodium cyanide after trying to revive dogs that have triggered the devices.

"If EPA grants WS this permit, hikers, hunters, campers, and sightseers whose dogs accompany them on wild land outings will be faced with the constant concern that their canine companions will be exposed to deadly cyanide bait," said Katie Fite, Director of the Committee for Idaho's High Desert. "This action would send us back to the Dark Ages as Wildlife Services will seek to again use cyanide poison on broad areas of western public lands."

The groups signing the letter included Defenders of Wildlife, the Committee for Idaho's High Desert, the Idaho Conservation League, The Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, the Western Watershed Project, the Wolf Education and Research Center, and the Wolf Recovery Foundation.

For more information, or to contact Defenders of Wildlife, see their website at: www.defenders.org