[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13641]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 13641]]

                    NONLETHAL WILDLIFE SERVICES BILL

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 10, 2000

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, as I have traveled the roads in 
my district talking and spending time with my constituents--small 
ranchers, sheep growers, farmers, conservationists, environmentalists 
and others--I have learned to understand and appreciate their different 
concerns over the issue of predators. This has been an important 
listening and learning experience for me. What I learned from all of 
this was the need for a balanced approach. On one hand 
environmentalists insist that out on the range, where no one can see, 
many predators are killed unnecessarily. The traditional small 
ranchers, sheep growers and farmers on the other hand, point out the 
need to find solutions for protecting the domestic resources that 
provide them with a living. Conservationists are concerned about 
predator impacts on both game animals and protected species.
  My legislation is an effort to bring common sense thinking to these 
sensitive issues. In the rural Hispanic and Native American communities 
of my district, I have seen the need for finding ways to control 
predators that will allow them to preserve a way of life that is more 
than four centuries old while not putting the surrounding ecosystem 
under unnecessary stress. My legislation would provide grants through 
the Wildlife Services Agency, to assist with implementing nonlethal 
predator control in areas like my district. Funds would also be made 
available for providing training and technical assistance to 
traditional small ranchers, sheep growers and farmers regarding the use 
of nonlethal predator control in their operations. Emphasis would be 
placed on methods such as using burros, llamas, night penning and guard 
dogs for predator control.
  Matching the funding to the small subsistence operators is important 
if the assistance is to get to those who need it to protect their 
livelihood. I am also recommending that the Secretary of Agriculture 
add to our knowledge base concerning these methods by conducting 
research directly or through grants to determine the extent of damage 
to livestock operations, throughout the western states, where different 
methods of predator control are used. Only then can we intelligently 
learn to find the balance that successfully protects traditional ways 
of living and our need for vital, thriving ecosystems.

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