Reuters – The U.S. Forest Service can proceed with a plan to shoot dozens of feral cattle from helicopters in New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness after a federal judge refused a request by ranchers for an emergency order to stop the cull.
Cattle ranchers and local business owners told U.S. District Judge James Browning at a hearing in Albuquerque that the four-day hunt of about 150 stray or unbranded cows would violate federal laws and Forest Service regulations and likely kill cows they own.
In denying the plaintiffs’ bid for the emergency order, Browning said they were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their case and that of the approximately 300 cattle removed or killed over the last several decades “only one has been branded, and it was removed rather than killed.”
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Jessica Blome, an attorney for the ranchers, said they are “deeply disappointed that the court green lit” the plan.
The Forest Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Forest Service announced the hunt last week, the second in as many years, saying feral cows are damaging habitats and menacing hikers who visit the vast southwestern national monument known for its mountain ranges and plunging, rock-walled canyons.
U.S. Department of Justice attorney Andrew Smith, representing the Forest Service, argued that blocking the cull would allow feral cow populations to “rebound, and last year’s efforts would be wasted.”
