1996_05 Insight May 1996

              In Focus
PWDATuMttWiNWILD
■ Animal Damage
Control battles
possible predators
Coyotes don'l sneak around Joe
Rocha's ranch anymore.
Years ago. Rocha was having problems with a family of coyotes lhat had
made their home in the hills outside
of his cattle ranch in Sanger, a farming community about 15 miles east
of Fresno.
It look some time but with a rifle
and an eagle eye. Rocha no longer
worries about hungry coyotes damaging his livestock and his livelihood.
-."'They just come in and chase the
cows, and 1 shoot "em and dial's ii."
Rocha said.
The Sanger rancher's dilemma isn't
unique. Predators like coyotes and
limits, killing livestock, destroying
properly and threatening human
safety. Federal agriculture statistics
show that more than half of I'.S. farmers lose money from w ildlife damage
annually.
Caitle producers and ranchers like
Rocha lost S41.5 million to predators
in 1991. In total, the annual loss to
U.S. agriculture from wildlife exceeds
S5IX) million.
For centuries, the battle has quietly
swept over the nation's farms, forests
and public lands; a battle fought with
ritles. steel-jawed traps and poisons.
Humans versus wildlife. A
rancher's livelihood versus hungry
Surrounded by the gray hills of
eastern Fresno County, a rancher
grabs a rifle and sits atop a roof, waiting patiently for the coyote that, ihe
dav before, ate an infant call while il
was still in the cow.
A woman jogging along a scenic
trail near her home, east of Sacramento, is attacked and killed by a
In Colorado, more than 100 lambs
are slaughtered by mountain lions
during a live-night period.
But for many environmental groups
and wildlife protection organizations,
the killing of predators is seen as a
crude, outdated form of wildlife man-
Changing of viewpionts
Ranchers, hunters and slate and
federal agencies are killing off a natural, ecologically valuable resource in
TEAM
REPORT
Manny Fernandez
Draeger Martinez
David Mirhadi
Tyler A. Takeda
immimmm
predators, slated Tom Skeele. director of Predator Project, .i Montana
based wildlile organization.
"One reason lhal Predator Project
exists is to change the American
culture's view of predators from vermin to vital." Skeele said. "We be-
liev e in lhc inherent rieht lor all things
to live, whelher they are labeled
good' or 'useful' or not."    ***
The Animal Damage Control
(ADC), a federal agency designed to
help ranchers and oihers prevent
predator attacks, is at the forefront of
this struggle between environmental
groups, ranchers and wildlile.
ADC responds to requests from
public agencies and farmers across
the country when coyotes, foxes,
bears and mountain lions damage
livestock and properly or threaten
Sometimes. ADC agents w ill oftei
technical advice on how ranchers can
prevent attacks, such as removing
brush and trees that are used as escape cover by predators.
At aalher times, agents will set up
an electric fence lo keep coyotes oui
ol sheep pastures. Bul frequently, the
federally funded agency uses lethal
techniques to solve human/wildlife
conflicts.
In fiscal year 1995. 65 black bears
and 84 mountain lions were killed by
ADC in California.
Predator control
A varieiy of lethal methods arc-
used. A device thai imitates a coyote's
howl lures the animal into open land
where they are shot. Steel leg holds
and padded-jaw traps are bailed w ith
an attractive scent catch a predator
lhat is laler shot
Denning is also used, which is described in a 1990 federal report as
tracking aduli coyotes to iheir dens,
"shinning Ihe adulis and throwing a
fumigant cartridge into the den lo destroy the pups."
Average
Annual
Comparison between ADC kills
and Hunting & Trapping kills
ADC    H&T
Kit Fox o o
^J   R
-r,
Coyote 7,660       6,435
WM Bobcat 41 8,673
Black Bear 27 1,179
Mtn. Lion 20
Insight photo by David Mirhadi
In a battle against farmland predators, Shawn Stevenson heads tbe Fresno County Farm Bureau,
while also raising cattle and growing orchard fruit.
In fiscal year 1988, an ADC report
slated lhal 572 coyotes were killed
using denning
Il is ihese lethal tactics lhat have
drawn healed opposition from environmental groups, some of whom
advocate ihe abolishment of the
agency
lor many of ihese groups, every
ADC kill is one more nail in thc
biodiversity coffin, and one more slab
al lhc wildlife they are dedicated lo
protecting.
"Predator control is the best example ol human's need
aboil
itsidei
-I his i
whatev.
."Skee
"We want to change to living in har-
mony w ith, noi in control of. ihe natural world."
ADC officials say ihai lethal techniques are used only as a last resort,
alter other rrtrthtidi. such as scare
dev ices and electric fences, hav e been
attempted.
ADC's tactics comply with all en-
vironnienial regulations and care is
taken lo assure that humane methods
are used. John Sieuber. California's
assistant ADC director, said.
"ADC is a professional organi/a-
uon. well-trained, and there is nobody
else qualified lo do the work thai we
do." Sieuber said from his office in
"With the potential economic-
losses to wildlile. we feel there is a
great need for this agency."
Despite ADC's insistence on its
Smee it's inception in 1931, ADC
has been fighting two opposing
bailies: to protect humans from wildlife and to find ways humans can live
wiih wildlile.
Margaret Schedler isn't bothered
by the coyotes thai scamper through
her I-acre farm in the foothills north
of Reedlev
Fresno.
Schedler vividly remembered the
day she had lo kill a coyote lhal crept
into her yard. Her young daughier.
Carrie, was playing in ihe yard, and
Schedler didn't hesitate.
"I was luckv I got it." remembered
Schedler. who said lhal was the only
coyote she shot alter 20 years of tanning. "It was a stray, and you have to
be careful with strays."
Wildlife conflicts like the one faced
by Schedler are becoming more common as the rural population increases.
ADC officials said. When cities expand into the countryside, humans
and w ildlife step on each other's prop-
"Vfc"
■olllsl
with
humans and wildlife." said Stuart
McDonald, public affairs specialist
for ADC. "The conflict has been there
since we started to walk upright. It's
humankind against the w ildlife. ADC
is pui in the middle of it."
ADC. which is pan of the IS
Depanment of Agriculture's Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service,
works in conjunction with Other federal and slale agencies.
Wiih fewer than 800 employees
nationwide and a budget of about S30
million. ADC is a fairly small federal
agency.
The program operates strictly on a
request basis. ADC agents respond to
wildlife conflicts at airports, on private propertv and on slate and federally owned lands.
Ofthe 5S counties in California. 38
cooperate with ADC in conjunction
with their own local wildlife management programs. Fresno is the only
county with a strictly locally-funded
program.
Dave McFadden handles Fresno's
wildlife management at the county
Department of Agriculture. The 22-
year veteran spends his days in the
hills of Fresno County, looking for
bears, coyotes and bobcats.
Recently, he spent a day near Friani
trailing coyotes lor an anonymous
cattle rancher. He set carcass traps and
stalked ihe predator.
McFadden handles all requests for
sen ices from the farmer's cattle in the
mountains near Madera County to ihe
sheep herder in Coalinga
"I work year round, and I love it."
said McFadden. the only full-time
trapper for Fresno County. "I can't
think of anything better to do."
The predators thai least on
California's agricultural future need
to be controlled, he added.
"Predators don'l discern between a
deer, a law nor anything else.** he said.
"A predator is designed to kill."
Shawn Sievenson. a Clov is farmer
and president of the Fresno Countv
Farm Bureau, agreed with McFadden
"Predation costs livestock producers real dollars when their livestock
is threatened." said Stevenson, who
"ICoyoi
IS pro!
ADC takes its public relations se-
Since passage of the Animal Damage Control Act of 1931 that created
the agency. ADC has suffered from a
undeserved, bad reputation. ADC's
McDonald said.
To combat critics and help the public learn more about predator control.
ADC has launched a promotional and
educational campaign called "Liv ine
With Wildlife.**
Videotapes and fact sheets show
whal ADC agents do on the job. and
illustrate the agency's focus on non-
lethal techniques, such as the development of the Denver Wildlife Research Center, w hich researches w ildlife behavior and manacement.
But. McDonald sighed, critics of
the program see ADC smelly as coy -
ote killers.
coyotes are noi lisied as ., protected
or endangered species. Coyotes are
responsible for more Wildlife damage
than all other predators combined.
according lo ADC reports.
"ADC does not have a license lo t
kill;" said McDonald, who added that
hunters and trappers kill far more-
predators than ihe agency "ADCdocs
not go anywhere wiihoul being invited   Il's a program lhal has been
Predator Project
One Of the environmental groups
ihai has vehement!) assailed ADC is
Predator Project.' which refers to
ADC i
otiheii
"All
the Dead Critters "
"Predator Project is-seeking any reform'up to, and including ihe abolishment of ADC." Skeele said
The group, established in 1991.
promotes non-lethal methods to protect various predators, including forest carnivores like the lynx and con-
sen anon of the prairie dog/grasslands
ecosystem.
Predator Project lakes ADC to task
for mismanagement in a 1994 report.
By adding"" together killed animal
tables from each ADC Mate office lor
fiscal year 1994. the group arrived at
a kill total of 784.398animals —813
more than the ADC's national tally for
total animals killed
ADC officials maintain that u accurately counts kills in every state,
every species, intentional or unintentional kills.
In fiscal year 1991. ADC killed or
destroyed 95.892 coyotes, according
to ADC statistics Of these numbers".
18 of the covotes were non-target
kills, madve'rtently destroyed by
methods meant for other animals.
ADC also killed or destroyed 214
black bears. 961 bobcats and 205
mountain lions that vear Ten o! the
black bears were non-target kills and
76 bobcais and live mountain lions
were also non-iarcet
Members of Defenders of Wildlife,
a national wildlife group critical of
ADC's target and non-targei kills,
have testified before the Congressional Subcommittee on Agnculture
Appropriations.
John Perrine of Defenders oi ,
Wildlife asked Congress for seven
taken
lard
ing ADC
From 1983 to 1993. livestock losses
to predaiors rose despite a 30 percent
increase in the number of covotes
killed annually. Perrine told the subcommittee ofthe IS House of Representatives in April
"We don't want to get rid of
|ADC|." Pemne said "But we do
want to see some reforms. ADC is
very good at entrenching itself and
defending itself from attack.**
American justice
Defenders ofWildlife dUo plans to
use leeal action to change w hat it sees
as ADC's misguided tactics
See PREDATORS, page 8
Losses of
Cattle and
Calves from /)iKestiv
All Causes,1
U.S. 1991
Predators 2.4
Weather
Losses of
Cattle and
Calves from
Predators,
U.S. 1991
Poison, theft, and other causes.
Mtn. Lions. Bobcats 5.9
Rocha, from page 1
that I was nearby. I asked her to put
my flier back up, which she did. and
I left for lunch. When I returned 15
minutes later, my flier was down
again."
Brattain produced a letter outlining
the events, signed by himself, SHPE
Vice President Carlos Villarcal Jr. and
Macaela Garcia, another witness. The
Election Authority listened-ib Rocha
and her witness. Erica Wise, before
moving to closed session for about 30
minutes'.
"We had a harder time determining Ana's punishment than whether
she was guilty." said Election Authority Chair Derek Boughner after the
hearing. "Taking a poster down from
the front of that booth was deemed
defacement. Although I argued for a
lesser punishment, such as a reprimand, the committee voted to disqualify."
Fifing an appeal
After the finding and punishment
had been announced, Boughner urged
Rocha to appeal the decision to Dean
Sakaki.
"I'd advise any student in that situation to appeal — that's a right that
you have, so why not use it?"
Boughner said.
Sakaki's memo mentions a meeting she held on April 25 with Rocha.
Garcia. Villarcal Jr. and Celeste Cox.
campaign coordinator for the Student
Empowerment Alliance (SEA) party.
At this meeting, Sakaki received
"corrected" letters from Garcia and
Villareal Jr. The two also said that
their signatures on Brattain's letter
were "not true statement ofthe events
they i
sed."
In Garcia** •"corrected" tetter, she-
wrote that "[Rocha] momentarily
took off the flier. I then mentioned to
Ana that he (the Reality candidate)
was next to her. Ana introduced herself to the candidate and then asked
the members of SHPE if they wanted
a poster on iheir booth.
"General comments were exchanged among the members, and a
general decision of "just leave it' was
reached. She then put it back up on
the booth, and both Ana and the candidate walked away from the booth.
The poster was there when both
Brattain and Rocha left the booth.
Rocha did not come back throughout
the rest of the day."
As for Villareal Jr.. he wrote that
"Ron Brattain approached me and
asked permission to post his flyer announcing his candidacy... I gave him
permission to do so. and he then
posted his flyer. ... After Ana Rocha
left. I decided thai as an organisation.
SHPE should not favor, nor be involved in any political candidate or
party. I therefore instructed a SHPE
member to remove the flier from the
booth."
Back In the thick of things
After the appeal had been granted.
Cox said, "We're thrilled by thc prospect of Ana being back m the race and
look forward to running a clean cam
paign. She broke no rules."
"I'm pleased that justice has prevailed in such a ridiculous situation."
said Rocha. "I've learned to never
joke around about anything having to
do w ith politics."
Vaneet Brar. a member ofthe Election Authority, responded to the overturning with conviction that they had
done the right thing.
In 'rt for the students
"From what the chairman
[Boughnerl told me. |being overturned) was probably going to happen any w ay." Brar said late Friday. "I
don't know what there is to question
about it; it was pretty obvious to me
and the committee what had happened."
"1 disagree with the at
we're a kangaroo court." Brar said in
response to a commented attributed
to Cox in an April 25 Daily Collegian
article.
"But that's just part of campaigning; the point is to do or say any thing
to win." Brar said.
Cox and Rocha approached the
campaign's home stretch with a sense
of relief.
"I appreciate Reality's efforts in
running a clean campaign." Rocha
said, "bul if the party is to ever actually disqualify someone, they should
make sure they find a legitimate complaint to make."
"Win or lose, we're all in it for thc
students," said Cox. "We're just glad
to set the record straight."
I