When Can a Bird Get a Break Around Here?
Opinion
An interesting thing happened in Wyoming (of all places) the other day. A member of the state’s Sage Grouse Implementation Team asked whether sage-grouse hunting in that state makes sense anymore. He noted that sage-grouse hunters killed nearly 900 sage-grouse hens the year before.
Sage-grouse have suffered a well-known, well-documented long-term decline in numbers across its range. Over the past 10 years, western states voluntarily put together conservation plans to help the bird. Their efforts were successful in that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decided in 2015 that sage-grouse did not require listing under the Endangered Species Act.
Guardians and allies launch Silver State Wildlife coalition
Efforts to protect Nevada wildlife are ramping up just as the Nevada Department of Wildlife penalizes Good Samaritans who freed a trapped fox.
We’re in a bit of a mood today…
First, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of a new coalition in Nevada that will end gruesome wildlife-killing contests and cruel trapping on public lands. Silver State Wildlife will harness the power of regional and Nevada-based groups and activists to drag wildlife policies into the 21st century with a healthy dose of science, ethics, and common sense. Please read on and find out how you can help!
Nevada should jettison irrelevant wildlife management boards
One universal truth the virus has brought to every Nevadan: We need to reprioritize what is and what is not important in life.
When evaluating the worth of government bodies such as the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners (NVBWC) and the 17 county advisory boards set up to manage wildlife, the rational mind can only conclude they deserve to die a quick, bureaucratic death. During their underwhelming August meetings, they again clearly demonstrated that they cannot be reformed into something constructive. Their foundations are rife with backwardness and abject bias against wildlife’s best interests, a statutory obligation under NRS 501.100(2). In short, they are ineffective and pointless.
What is the worth of a bear’s life? By Don Molde
In 2018, the nation’s fish and wildlife agencies in conjunction with their own polling agency and a couple of universities conducted a national survey of public attitudes regarding a variety of wildlife management issues and values. Nearly 44,000 citizens were queried as to their preferences.
The respondents were grouped into four categories: Traditionalist, Mutualist, Pluralist and Indifferent. Traditionalists regard wildlife as a commodity or product to be “harvested”; Mutualists advocate treating wildlife with respect and tolerance; Pluralists are a combination of those two categories; Indifferents had little interest in the topic.
The carnage of coyote-killing contests
“We are all interconnected,” said Norm Cavanaugh, a member of the Western Band of the Shoshone Tribe in Nevada and a hunter. “When elders pray, they pray for all our relations as the deer, the coyote, all living beings on mother earth because we are all interconnected. So in that sense the coyote is considered a relation of the native people… No animals are killed just for sport, the elders said.”
“What is driving me is (that) the unnecessary killing shows disrespect for the animal,” said Don Molde. “The wildlife commission is stacked in favor of hunters although only about 4% of Nevadans hunt. The commission has seven hunters amongst its nine members.”
Nevada’s Predator Killing Program subject of new lawsuit
A lawsuit filed June 1, 2018 takes aim (literally) at a 15-year long, multi-million dollar program that has led to the unnecessary deaths of thousands of coyotes and ravens and dozens of mountain lions under the guise of predator management.
Originally touted as a way to “bring back Nevada’s deer herds” when passed by the Nevada Legislature in 2001, it has utterly failed to live up to its prediction. Nevada mule deer numbers have been relatively flat for 15 years with little fluctuation.
Project 36
Project 36: Nevada has about 1400 mountain lions widely distributed across the state. The animal is classified as a big game species. Hunters pay guides several thousand dollars to help them pursue and kill it as a trophy. Wildlife Services, the “government trappers” kill a couple dozen a year in valiant defense of the livestock industry and for more dubious reasons.
In the past 15 years or so, combined (all causes) mortality for the animal exceeds 11-14 % of the base population about half the time. According to current science, that is probably not a sustainable level and the lion population in Nevada may be taking an undeserved “hit”.
Read More Here!
Judge Says We Can Sue The Wildlife Commission
On November 3, 2016, District Lynne Simons issued a decision which affirmed our right to sue the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners over trapping excesses. This is a win for wildlife. It confirms that ordinary citizens who simply enjoy wildlife for its intrinsic values (without killing anything) have a right to challenge management decisions made by those in charge. There is no need to “pay to play” with respect to these issues. The State will have to decide whether to appeal this decision. Otherwise, it’s on to a settlement or a trial.
The Secret Life of Mountain Lions
The Secret Life of Mountain Lions provides a rare glimpse into the family and social bonds of mountain lions. It affirms their rightful place in nature and the importance of protecting them for generations to come. Narrated by Chris Morgan (PBS, BBC, National Geographic), this video contains extraordinary footage captured with motion-triggered cameras from Panthera’s Teton Cougar Project.
Watch this rare Mt. Lion footage here!
Steel-jaw traps can inflict serious injuries to wildlife
A bald eagle, America’s national bird, is caught in a steel-jaw trap along a hiking trail near Juneau, Alaska, in December 2014. It later was euthanized.
“Even lab rats have to be treated more humanely than animals that are subject to trapping in many of the states,” said Vickers, a vet with the UCDavis Wildlife Health Center. Read Tom Knudson’s article here
Wildlife Services Slaughtered 2.7 Million Animals in 2014 in the Name of Coexistence
Wildlife Services Slaughtered 2.7 Million Animals in 2014 in the Name of Coexistence
WildEarthGuardians 9th Circuit Court of Appeals win against Wildlife Services
WildEarthGuardians 9th Circuit Court of Appeals win against Wildlife Services
Are Wild Horses & Burros “TRASHING” Nevada’s Wildlife: No!!!!
Recently, a friend sent me your above-referenced 4-page article which I’d not seen before. Though there is no date or authorship designated, it appears that the piece was probably issued within the past 3-4 years.
Read More…
Our Amended Complaint against the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners
Our Amended Complaint against the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners
Read More…
Make A Difference
Some contact information in case you want to write our government and let them know we don’t think this is ok!!
Contact Emails & Phone Numbers
From The Blog
Far from fair game: Why hunting must end
When we think about how humans treat their fellow animals, few issues seem to polarise opinion as much as hunting. From fox hunts in the UK to trophy hunting of Africa’s “big five” (lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, and buffalo), people...
Free Event! Silent Shadows: Celebrating America’s Mountain Lion ~ 10/18 @ 5:00 PM
Date and time Friday, October 18 · 5:30 - 8pm PDT. Doors at 5:15pm Location Nevada Museum of Art160 West Liberty Street Reno, NV 89501 Mountain lions are among the most charismatic, magnificent and misunderstood of all the animals who live...
Nevadans to present officials with polling that shows overwhelming support for a ban on wildlife killing contests
Nearly two-thirds of Nevadans polled want the Board of Wildlife Commissioners to ban the brutal competitions. Wildlife killing contests have now been banned in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, California, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York.LAS VEGAS—This Thursday, concerned...
Trapping has to go….
After decades of uncertainty, researchers have established population estimates for wolverines in two boreal forest areas in Alberta and Ontario. The results reveal that the carnivore’s populations are denser in Alberta than Ontario, though trapping was a major conservation concern...Recent Galleries
