Ninth Circuit pauses predator killing on Nevada’s federal public lands

Native animals, such as mountain lions and coyotes, will get a reprieve from predator control efforts on Nevada public lands thanks to a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals order requiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services to  reexamine its policy of killing wildlife to benefit cattle ranching and other livestock production. 

The order, issued Monday, instructs the USDA to redo its environmental analysis to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires the department to demonstrate its actions cause no significant harm to the environment. 

The ruling does not affect lethal predator control efforts employed by the Nevada Division of Wildlife, except those involving federally-protected lands. 

“The decision keeps native carnivores like mountain lions and coyotes from being killed across Nevada’s 65 congressionally-designated Wilderness areas and 62 specially-protected Wilderness Study Areas, an area spanning over 6.2 million acres of federally-managed public lands, or roughly 9% of the state’s total landmass,” WildEarth Guardians, an environmental organization, said in a news release.  READ MORE…