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“Cyanide Bombs” Banned on 245 Million Acres of Public Lands by U.S. Department of the Interior
Ban will protect people, pets and wildlife from indiscriminate M-44 devices used for predator control on BLM lands
EUGENE, OR – Predator Defense is pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of the Interior has banned the use of M-44 devices, commonly known as ‘‘cyanide bombs,’’ on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This includes over 245 million acres, roughly a tenth of the nation’s land mass. M-44s are spring-loaded ejectors armed with cyanide powder long used by government agents for predator control. They have injured many people to date, and inhumanely killed thousands of animals every year, including endangered species and pets.
“I am immensely relieved that countless people and animals will now be spared death and poisoning on a huge portion of the American landscape,” said Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense, a national wildlife advocacy group. “Working with victims of M-44 tragedies for over 30 years, I’ve seen what these indiscriminate devices do to families who have lost beloved pets, been poisoned themselves, or potentially lost a child. I commend the Interior Department for making BLM lands immeasurably safer.”
BLM is the only agency within the Interior Department that uses M-44s to target predators like coyotes. They are not used on lands administered by the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the Bureau of Reclamation. However, M-44 use continues on U.S Forest Service lands, which are managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and span 193,000,000 acres. They are also placed on private property by owner request.
Most M-44s are placed by agents of Wildlife Services, the USDA’s animal-killing program. According to Wildlife Services’ data, in 2022 the program poisoned approximately 6,000 animals with M-44s in 10 states: Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming. State agencies in South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and Texas are also authorized to use M-44s.
The public repeatedly expresses surprise that these dangerous devices continue to be used, especially after a well-known tragedy in 2017 in Pocatello, Idaho. Canyon Mansfield was 14 years old when he inadvertently triggered an M-44 device, thinking it was a sprinkler head. The M-44 had been illegally set on BLM land on a hill behind his home. It killed Canyon’s dog, Kasey, and injured him. Canyon was believed to have been spared from death because of the wind’s direction. The Mansfield family is thrilled by the BLM ban on M-44 use, but continues to push for a comprehensive ban.
“We are so happy to finally see one federal government department banning another’s reckless and indiscriminate actions, telling Wildlife Services their use of these barbaric and antiquated devices must stop,” said Dr. Mark Mansfield, Canyon’s father. “We celebrate this critical move forward–ridding BLM lands of cyanide bombs. But there is more to do. Congress must enact ‘Canyon’s Law’ as a final act to ban M-44s on all public lands in America.”
The current version of Canyon’s Law, which originated in 2019 in response to the Mansfield family’s tragedy, would ban M-44s on all public lands–federal, state and local. It was reintroduced in both houses of Congress in June 2023.
Today’s BLM ban came about in response to a formal letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, sent in October 2022 by U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and former Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) at the urging of Predator Defense. In it the Congressmen noted that the Interior Department had expressed openness to banning M-44s in their testimony to a Congressional subcommittee. The Congressmen urged they take immediate action to prevent future tragedies. Rep. Huffman followed up on this letter in 2023 after receiving status queries from Predator Defense, as the letter had appeared to languish. This month the Interior Department finally formalized their decision. Initial notice from Interior Department | Rep. Huffman’s press release
Boosting work at the federal level, public demand for a ban has increased over time and is largely attributed to major media coverage of M-44 tragedies and popular statewide bans on the West Coast. Concurrent pressure has been applied by conservation organizations, e.g., the 2023 APA petition jointly filed by Predator Defense and the Center for Biodiversity and signed by over 70 conservation groups.
“We are deeply grateful to Representative Huffman for pushing the BLM ban over the finish line,” said Fahy. “And since the Interior Department sees the wisdom of banning cyanide bombs, surely the USDA can, too. It’s high time our government steps up and stops putting people’s and animals’ lives at risk. They could save a lot of time, money and suffering by banning all M-44 use immediately.”
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COP28: UN climate talks take aim at planet-warming food
Virginia beef producers discuss impact of U.N.’s call for reduced meat consumption
by: Anna McDougall
Posted: Nov 30, 2023 / 04:35 PM EST
Updated: Nov 30, 2023 / 04:35 PM EST
BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) — The United Nations is expected to call on Americans to drastically reduce their meat-eating habits. It says the overall goal is to reduce climate impacts caused by emissions from meat and dairy companies.
Johnny and Melody Divers produce grass-fed beef products from their farm, Chapel Creek, in Bedford County, and say it may not be as simple as just reducing meat intake– and it could hurt the farmers.
“But going after a meat market isn’t going to just affect a cattle producer, it’ll be a big ripple effect, it’s not just going to affect cattle farmers it’s going to affect farmers across the nation,” said Divers.
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However, they are confident this proposal won’t have a drastic impact on their local business.
“At this point, I think people have decided already, what their diet journey looks like,” said Melody.
Johnny adds that if there is a slowdown in the beef industry it could also negatively impact business in other sectors like equipment and seed distribution.
Environmentalists say that food system emissions comprise about 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions and about 40% of methane emissions.
Laura Henry-Stone is an associate professor of environmental studies and sustainability at the University of Lynchburg, she says these greenhouse gases are contributing to environmental concerns.
“That methane is one of the most significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions that are causing anthropogenic climate change,” said Henry-Stone.
She says although tackling climate change is going to take a lot more than just changing people’s diets, it can make a difference.
“Eating less red meat can have a pretty significant contribution on greenhouse gas emissions,” said Henry-Stone.
Henry-Stone adds that transportation in the food and agricultural sector can also have a serious effect on greenhouse gas emissions. She says while individuals can do their part to reduce their carbon footprint, she believes there will need to be systemic changes in order to see a significant impact.
However, federal data shows that only 1.4% of global emissions come from the American agriculture sector. The American Farm Bureau Federation also says emissions have declined in pork and beef production.
Allow wolves to keep on roaming
- By Bryan Bird and Michael Dax
- Nov 25, 2023
- https://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/my_view/allow-wolves-to-keep-on-roaming/article_22b44968-898f-11ee-8932-93fbffb12388.html
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The wandering Mexican gray wolf, nicknamed Asha, has been celebrated on the pages of The New Mexican and beyond.
The wolf is likely looking for a mate or fresh territory as her wandering is an innate behavior that reduces the likelihood of breeding with pack mates. In fact, this type of movement could help wildlife managers solve the problem of inbreeding that threatens the small population of Mexican gray wolves and should be supported not hindered by misinformation and myth.
A recent guest commentary in by Jeff Young, however, is an example of the continued fallacy and fearmongering used to argue against allowing wolves to roam beyond the experimental population area in New Mexico and Arizona (“Keep wolves within historic range,” My View, Nov. 18).
Some rely on an outdated and politically motivated interpretation of “historical wolf range” to justify keeping wolves out of the very places that biologists say are essential to recovery.
The best science indicates Northern New Mexico and southern Colorado are (and historically have been) suitable habitat for Mexican gray wolves — as evidenced by Asha’s repeated northward movement.
Young makes claims about the effects on elk and deer hunting due to the presence of this native carnivore on the landscape. The actual numbers bear out the opposite story.
Data from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and Arizona Game and Fish Department show that deer and elk hunting improved with the growing presence of wolves. Defenders of Wildlife analyzed hunter success rates and harvest numbers in the Experimental Population Area from 2007 to 2019.
In both states, elk and deer hunting success rates improved or remained steady at the same time the wolf population more than tripled (from 52 to 163). Overall, hunting increased 22% for elk and 12% for deer. (Similar increases have been recorded in the Northern Rockies in relation to gray wolves.)
In New Mexico, the percentage of successful hunts remained stable at 36% for elk and between 22% and 24% for deer.
The data shows wolves do not negatively affect hunter take.
Although wolves have not impacted hunting opportunities, wolves do influence the behavior of their prey. Wolves keep elk and deer populations in check, which can prevent overgrazing and maintain intact river systems. Also, because wolves tend to hunt older, sicker animals that are not typically targeted by hunters, they may also slow the spread of deadly infectious diseases, like chronic wasting disease, among prey animals.
For millennia, wolves and elk coexisted in North America until European settlers nearly killed off both species.
Today’s populations of wolves and Rocky Mountain elk are a prime example of the result of federal and state reintroduction efforts. An example we should strive to emulate in other areas.
Allowing Mexican gray wolves to return to historical landscape and resume their important ecological role would benefit the wolves, the elk and their habitat.
With this in mind, New Mexico and Colorado need to recommit to wolves in the Southern Rockies as this mixing zone could guard against the loss of the Mexican subspecies in Southern New Mexico and northern Mexico.
It is simply the right thing to do.
Wolves once roamed from Canada to Mexico and the Mexican subspecies bred with other subspecies, preventing inbreeding and associated negative health effects. It is not illegal for the Mexican gray wolves to roam north of Interstate 40. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state Department of Game and Fish do have the authority to remove wolves outside the Experimental Population Area, but they have a protocol to make that decision based on the behavior of the animal.
Northern New Mexico is not complete without the howl of the lobo, and for an animal like Asha who seems committed to wandering, it is our duty to give her that freedom.
