Obama Asked to Cut Funding of Predation Control

Several groups of conservationalists asked Obama to stop the funding of the USDA's Wildlife Services Dept. This request was countered by both the sheep and beef industry. In 2007, $117 million was spent on killing problem animals. Of the 121,524 animals killed, a little over 90,000 were coyotes. Only 340 gray wolves and 511 black bears were killed. My real problem with the spending of taxpayer money on this program is that hunters would gladly pay for the right to hunt these animals. Let hunters pay a nominal fee to hunt problem animals and save taxpayer dollars.

The conservationalists are being completely hypocritical on the issue. They do not want taxpayer dollars spent killing problem animals, and they do not want hunters to be allowed to pay to hunt them. It really comes down to the fact that the conservationalist groups do not want any killing of wildlife to occur, at least by human hands. To them, it is perfectly acceptable for cougars to decimate mule deer herds in Nevada and for wolves to wipe out populations of elk in Idaho.