This weekend, cows roaming in southwest New Mexico's Gila National Forest are being hunted from helicopters after the United States Forest Service (USFS) decided to move forward with plans to use "lethal methods" to "remove...approximately 150 head of cattle" in Gila National Forest's second chopper hunt in as many years.
Despite the federal reserve covering more than three million acres, apparently these 150 cows need to be gunned down from above "to protect public safety, threatened and endangered species habitats, water quality, and the natural character of the Gila Wilderness."
The Forest Service says the cattle set to be shot from helicopters are "feral" and "have been aggressive towards wilderness visitors, graze year-round, and trample stream banks and springs, causing erosion and sedimentation."
A notice posted to the Gila National Forest webpage explains some of the reasoning behind the decision:
" The Gila National Forest is working with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services to remove feral cattle from within the boundaries of the Gila Wilderness. Due to the terrain, their numbers are challenging to determine but the best estimate is that there are approximately 150 head of cattle. The most efficient and humane way to deal with this issue is with the responsible lethal removal of the feral cattle. "
With little dignity, the USFS says the "dispatched cattle will be left onsite to naturally decompose" but "will ensure no carcasses are adjacent to or in any waterbody or spring, designated hiking trail, or known culturally sensitive area."
But the U.S. Forest Service's description of its chopper hunt taking place between Thursday and Sunday is questioned by some cattle growers, such as the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, Humane Farming Association, and Spur Lake Cattle Company.
After an application for a temporary restraining order to prevent what R-CALF USA calls an "aerial slaughter" was denied by a federal judge, its Property Rights Committee Chair Shad Sullivan says the federal government's characterization of the situation doesn't tell the full story.
The Full Story
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbr ... o-n2619956