The Briefing Room
General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: mystery-ak on February 17, 2023, 08:59:22 pm
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Feral cows to be shot dead from helicopter in U.S. national forest: "A difficult decision"
February 17, 2023 / 8:57 AM / CBS/AP
A helicopter with a shooter will fly over a portion of the vast Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico next week, searching for feral cows to kill.
U.S. Forest Service managers approved the plan Thursday to protect sensitive spots in the nation's first designated wilderness area. The move sets the stage for legal challenges over how to handle unbranded livestock and other stray cows as drought deepens in the West.
The Gila National Forest issued the decision amid pressure from environmental groups who raised concerns about nearly 150 cattle whose hooves and mouths are damaging streams and rivers. Ranchers, meanwhile, have criticized the plan to shoot cows from a helicopter as animal cruelty. They said the action violates federal regulations and will be problematic when carcasses are left to rot.
(https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2023/02/17/b2cc3f2d-f47b-42e5-9f74-8c400bd26504/thumbnail/1240x826/bc9ae9a37f2853639948f7425a4576b3/ap23048002141006.jpg)
In this photo provided by Robin Silver, a feral bull is seen along the Gila River in the Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico, on July 25, 2020. Robin Silver/AP
A section of the Gila Wilderness will be closed to the public starting Monday. A helicopter will launch Thursday, with shooters spending four days looking for feral cattle in rugged areas that include the Gila River.
Forest Supervisor Camille Howes said it was "a difficult decision" but necessary.
more
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/feral-cows-to-be-killed-helicopters-gila-national-forest-new-mexico/
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Insanity.
Cows have no more impact than any other large ungulate. Especially in the wild.
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Insanity.
Cows have no more impact than any other large ungulate. Especially in the wild.
So it's finally happened, the government has gotten bored driving the public out of public lands and are now going after animals because 'environmental groups' are bitching. So there were probably lots of hooved animals traversing streams and munching on plants long before man came around. I think we would all be better off 'eliminating' environmental wankers than, let's just call them wild OK? Feral has such a negative connotation even if it is accurate, animals.
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So it's finally happened, the government has gotten bored driving the public out of public lands and are now going after animals because 'environmental groups' are bitching. So there were probably lots of hooved animals traversing streams and munching on plants long before man came around. I think we would all be better off 'eliminating' environmental wankers than, let's just call them wild OK? Feral has such a negative connotation even if it is accurate, animals.
It's accurate that they are feral I suppose, but they are nearly native - All over the southwest particularly, cowboys have been making their fortune on wild cattle since before the cattle drives - I will admit they were brought in, but that goes way, way back to the Spaniards.
And if you think cattle are hard on things, have another think. You should see what a big herd of elk do to a creek crossing... Or what a couple moose do to a swamp. And let's not forget buffalo, which should go without saying.
But what they won't tell you is the singular blessing of cow patties especially. Even among ungulates, there is no better fertilizer. Especially in such a sandy place, what them cows are dropping out their butts is pure ecological gold.
Don't believe me... Go look at restorative farming, where folks are taking land so abused that the topsoil is all but gone... They mow it first, to keep the brambles down, and may run chickens and pigs through to stir up the natural seed and till the land, but invariably, the soil builder is cattle.
One guy I watch all the time on youtube has brought back 150 acres with no chemicals... just mowing and cows. And the top soil went from 1/2" to nearing 4" in half a decade.
These folks don't have a single clue what they are talking about.
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Whatever happened to old-fashioned cattle roundups?
Leaving bovine carcasses to rot could lead to disease and other unforseen consequences.
The Great Plains were so fertile due to centuries of use by bison.
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They rounded up wild horses, didn't they? Surely they could do the same here.