The wildlife killers

BLUF:  Wildlife Services is an Orwellian agency monicker if ever we heard one.  Generally speaking, it appears that Wildlife Services is to "serving" wildlife, as Pol Pot or Adolph Hitler were to "serving" humanity.

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There was a bit of dust-up amongst the "elite" birders in our home town recently on the subject of "predator control," and about the division of the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service known as Wildlife Services.

The hub-bub all started with an article written by Rob Davis in the "Voice of San Diego." (The Voice of San Diego says it is a "member-based nonprofit investigative news organization that gives concerned citizens the tools they need to engage in important conversations about their community.") 

A number of highly-esteemed local birders have stepped up to defend Wildlife Services.  The fact is, however, that Mr. Davis is by no means alone in expressing concerns about this very active, but little-known federal agency. 

The Sacramento Bee earlier this year published a three-part report by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Knudson.  And the SacBee also doesn’t paint a pretty picture of a benign federal agency staffed exclusively by conscientious wildlife managers.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, while recognizing that much of the work of Wildlife Services does benefit the public, has also come out strongly in favor of reforming the Wildlife Service predator control program. 

Oregon Public Radio's "Thinking Out Loud" has also just done an interesting show on the subject with representatives from Predator Defense and the ranching industry.

Finally, two U.S congressmen – one a Republican, the other a Democrat (to preclude those shrill cries of partisanship) – are calling for a congressional investigation of the federal government's wildlife damage control program.  "We have an agency that appears to be wasting federal dollars and actually causing harm while doing it, but yet perhaps covering up what they are doing and why.  That's something Congress should investigate," Rep. John Campbell (R-Irvine) has said. 

The SacBee series, along with numerous other editorials and features, can be accessed at the Predator Defense website.  And yes, we here at SDVO get it ... Predator Defense is itself biased in its views.  But that doesn't automatically discredit the views of these dedicated professionals.  Moreover, it appears that these folks have actually spent some time studying this troubling subject.