Activists File Suit To Stop Coyote Killing Federal Biologists Say Coyotes Are Destroying Endangered Deer In Southwestern Washington

Animal rights activists on Tuesday sued the Interior Department to stop a coyote-killing project on the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Washington.

Government biologists say the coyotes are destroying endangered Columbian white-tailed deer on the refuge near Cathlamet.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court here, contends the government ignored public comment against the coyote killings and failed to prepare an adequate environmental impact statement. It also argues that the government did not consider alternatives to killing coyotes, nor did it consider other factors affecting the deer population, including cattle grazing and harsh weather.

The suit was filed by Friends of Animals, an international animal rights group based in Darien, Conn., and Oregon’s Predator Defense Institute. Named as defendants are the Interior Department, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and James Hidy, manager of the Hansen refuge.

Hidy could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Earlier this year, the government began trapping and shooting coyotes on the refuge, following a public comment period that ended in February. It received about 400 letters, about 90 percent of which opposed the coyote kill.

At the time, Hidy said most of the comments appeared to be a reaction to an advertisement placed by Friends of Animals.

The herd on the 2,000-acre refuge mainland has dwindled from several hundred to about 60 animals. The government has cited studies indicating that coyotes have been picking off fawns, resulting in an aging deer population that could vanish in the next two years.

Although other subpopulations inhabit nearby Columbia River islands, refuge managers say losing the mainland herd would be a major blow to recovery of the deer.

Friends of Animals contends the deer have declined because the animals are malnourished, and that cattle allowed to graze on the refuge are competing with them for grass.

Hidy has said there is no evidence for that. He said the approximately 400 cattle that graze on about a quarter of the refuge from April through October keep the grass short and nutritious for the deer.

The lawsuit contends that cattle grazing destroys the heavy shrubs and leaves that are important to the deers’ diet. It also contends that only three or four pairs of coyotes are killing fawns, and that in 1996, twice as many deer died from disease or starvation than the number confirmed to have been killed by coyotes.