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Aerial sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture have killed four wolves in Montana for preying on sheep in the secretive Sheep Experiment Station.

The last four wolves of the Sage Creek Pack were gunned down this week by USDA aerial sharpshooters, after the wolves had been targeted for preying on sheep in the 100,000+ acre USDA Sheep Experiment Station (USSES) west of Yellowstone National Park.

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According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the killing of wolves in the wildlife corridor connecting Yellowstone to central Idaho is the reason the wolves’ removal from the endangered species list was reversed in court last year. The taxpayer-funded Sheep Experiment Station grazes thousands of sheep in southwestern Montana and southeastern Idaho, and its elimination would help the survival of wolves and other wildlife in this crucial habitat corridor.

Sheep experiment station avoids environmental analysis for decades

The mission of the Sheep Experiment Station, according to the USDA/ARS website, is “to develop integrated methods for increasing production efficiency of sheep and to simultaneously improve the sustainability of rangeland ecosystems.”

However, since its establishment in 1915, the USSES had sidestepped environmental analysis - even after the 1970 enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act - and had allegedly been operating outside of environmental law for decades.

By avoiding external review, the Sheep Station was able to graze thousands of sheep for over 90 years without any environmental analysis or consideration of endangered species, such as Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, lynx, gray wolves, and grizzly bears.

Thanks to a 2008 settlement brought about by a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, the taxpayer-funded USSES is now required to analyze the environmental effects of sheep grazing under the National Environmental Policy Act - and to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the impacts of the sheep grazing on threatened and endangered species.

How to take action and help wolves

The Center for Biological Diversity has set up a link for you to contact the USDA Secretary and request an end to aerial gunning of Montana-Idaho wolves and suggest closure of the archaic, taxpayer-funded Sheep Experiment Station:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1537

More information: Center for Biological Diversity

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

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