US Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins on 12 October urged state governments to review their wolf management policies, talk more with livestock producers and work with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on wolf attacks on cattle and other stock. The department said the appeal follows Executive Order 14425, "Supporting America's Ranchers", signed by President Trump.
Rollins said ranchers had for too long seen wolves kill their livestock and threaten family operations. "As ranchers await federal clarity on this issue, I am urging states to listen to their producers, review state-specific wolf protections, and work with USDA wherever possible to protect livestock," she said, including "through lethal removal when requested by the appropriate authorities and authorized by law".
Under the current arrangements, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services helps with wolf damage only when a state agency or the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) asks for it. A request for lethal removal must come from those authorities and be backed by the required agreements, environmental analyses and compliance with state and federal law. APHIS supports state and federal partners through more than 40 such agreements, the department said.
USDA is also asking states to tell ranchers how to report suspected predation to the state wildlife agency or the USFWS.
Losses to wolves raise producers' costs through dead stock, management expenses and lighter animals at sale. The department said that under the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, its Farm Service Agency raised Livestock Indemnity Program payment rates for qualifying predation losses to 100 percent of the determined market value. Producers who lose animals to qualifying wolf attacks are told to contact their local Farm Service Agency office about eligibility.
Representative Hageman, quoted in the release, said ranchers had dealt with predators "for far too long" although the protected species had exceeded their recovery goals, and that producers deserved fair compensation for losses from grey and Mexican wolves. The release does not say what federal decision ranchers are waiting for beyond "federal clarity" on the issue.
Photo: Tracy Brooks / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Source: USDA
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