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Dear Guardian,
One victory, one action at a time, WildEarth Guardians is reining in the worst of the depraved killing methods and liberties taken by Wildlife Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rogue wildlife killing program. Guardians’ goal is to end the social license and false “legal” authority that this program has used to wantonly kill and slaughter wildlife across the American West, for decades.
And we are succeeding. On May 14, Guardians finalized a settlement agreement in our lawsuit against Wildlife Services, severely curtailing Wildlife Services’ reckless slaughter of native wildlife and use of cruel tools like snares, traps, and poisons across MILLIONS of acres of public lands. The settlement requires a new environmental analysis of the effects and risks of its wildlife-killing program in Montana and, meanwhile, requires the following protections:
- No killing in Montana’s specially protected areas such as Wilderness, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, and Wild & Scenic River corridors;
- No killing of cougars and black bears on any federal lands;
- No more M-44s (sodium cyanide bombs) on any public lands, or private lands in 41 of 56 counties;
- No more lethal gas cartridges can be used to destroy denning wildlife like coyotes, fox, or prairie dogs on public lands;
- Increased public transparency;
- And more.
Over the last five years, Guardians’ litigation against Wildlife Services has resulted in settlement agreements in Idaho, Wyoming, and California, and legal victories in Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, all curbing the program’s slaughter of native wildlife and making the program accountable for its activities. And we are not stopping now. Guardians has active litigation against Wildlife Services in Colorado and Idaho, and we are continuing to monitor Wildlife Services’ activities across the West, ready to take on the program to protect vulnerable wildlife wherever action is needed.
Your actions, and your financial support, help make wins like this possible. Guardians pledges to continue this fight until we achieve the future, and vision, we want for wildlife and wildness across the west. Thank you.
Stay tuned for future opportunities where you can help ensure Wildlife Services is forced to shift to non-lethal management and protects the rights of all native wildlife to exist.
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