WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project and Wilderness Watch filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico challenging federal wildlife management practices in designated wilderness areas.
The lawsuit targets a nationwide program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services that authorizes the killing of wildlife, including wolves, bears, mountain lions and coyotes, through methods such as trapping, poisoning and aerial gunning. The organizations argue the practices occur within federally designated wilderness areas and violate protections established under the 1964 Wilderness Act.
According to the complaint, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management authorize wildlife removal activities in wilderness areas at the request of livestock operators grazing on public lands. The plaintiffs contend the Wilderness Act allows livestock grazing in certain circumstances but does not authorize predator control measures intended to protect livestock.
The lawsuit cites more than 800 federally designated wilderness areas covering nearly 112 million acres nationwide. The groups argue that predator control activities are inconsistent with the law’s goal of preserving wilderness areas in a natural state.
The case also references recent changes in administrative law following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron doctrine, which had required courts to defer to reasonable agency interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes.
The plaintiffs are seeking a court ruling that predator control activities conducted to benefit commercial grazing operations are prohibited in designated wilderness areas. They also seek to invalidate federal policies authorizing such activities and to prevent their future use in wilderness areas.