When hunters, trappers, Wildlife Services (government trappers) and others kill wildlife, the public loses an asset that can be priced, but never is.  Sportsmen and government trappers may tout the money spent to kill the animal as an economic boost to the community, but they don’t subtract the economic value of the animal’s life which is lost to the Public Trust.

Here is a little exercise to show you how pricing the value of an animal’s life can work.

Click for WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A BEAR

Local resident and two non-profits sue the Nevada Department of Wildlife and three of these personnel for defamation and other acts,  Damages of $5,000,000 plus punitive damages sought.   See the complete complaint here:  Smith MESF NWA v NDOW Lackey Robb Wakeling FILED 13Jul17.

Clink for Herrero black bear garbage dump paper

This paper by Stephen Herrero from the 70’s details his observations of 34 bears in over 700 encounters with humans and other bears at a garbage dump in Jasper.  It’s worth a read because Herrero is an expert on adverse bear/human encounters.  And it’s a bit of faded history since garbage dumps are no longer available to bears as they were in this paper, in Yellowstone during the same era and elsewhere.

Myth of Trophy Hunting as Conservation

Keep Cecil the Lion in mind as you have a look at this.

Click here Sage-grouse Hunting in Nevada

Here is how the Nevada Department of Wildlife defends sage grouse hunting.  It claims that those few thousand birds killed each years by hunters would have died anyway or have left things better for those that remain. (Compensatory mortality).  Yet, if one raven takes one sage grouse egg from a nest, it’s like a butterfly flapping its wings in Japan and starting a hurricane of destruction in the Atlantic.(Additive Mortality)  Makes no sense.  Time to stop sage grouse hunting in Nevada.  It’s the right thing to do.

NPS Photo – Watson – 1951 – Public domain image.

Battle Born Public lands Extremism report

NPS Photo – Watson – 1951 – Public domain image.

Battle Born Public lands Extremism report

Non-Target Trapping Data 2002-2013

Trapping season starts again in October.  More non-target species will be caught, including domestic pets.  The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners has done nothing to recognize or remedy these numbers.  And these numbers are from only a handful of Nevada trappers.  Imagine what they would look like if all the trappers contributed.

Coyotes and mountain lions have been killed in Nevada for many years in a forlorn hope that their deaths will “create” more mule deer for sportsmen to kill. Many sportsmen  believe, erroneously, that predators determine prey numbers instead of the other way round.  In the past dozen years, the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners has spent over $5 million to kill these animals (and poison ravens to “create” sage grouse).  Here are numbers reflecting the total annual kill of coyotes and mountain lions, statewide, from all causes for each year alongside NDOW’s official estimate of the mule deer population in this state.  You can decide whether sportsmen are “out to lunch” on this issue.

Click NDOW Coyotes Lions Killed vs Mule Deer Numbers 2000 – 2013

Cougar

Harley Shaw, well-known retired Arizona Fish and Game biologist, mountain lion expert and a bit of a philosopher (if I say so myself) had this interesting piece in Wild Felid Monitor recently. It should sound familiar to some of you since the very same conditions now exist in Nevada.