APRIL 2003: ADLA and seven other animal protection and conservation organizations have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court over a "study" of declining bighorn sheep populations. This "study" required killing the majority of mountain lions in the Four Peaks Wilderness Area within the Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix. The groups argue that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service have violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Wilderness Act, and other federal laws by authorizing, assisting, and partially funding the Arizona Game and Fish Department's mountain lion killing project.

ADLA and, in particular, board member and wildlife biologist D.J. Schubert have been trying to stop this study for several years. Previous ADLA newsletters have featured stories on this situation.

"This 'study' is both bad science and bad wildlife management," said Stephanie Nichols-Young. "Many individuals and organizations, including former department biologists, pointed out the problems in the public process. Unfortunately, these comments were ignored. Mountain lions are the last big carnivore in Arizona, and the agencies won't do their job to protect them."

Internal memoranda from Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists indicate that disease transmission from domestic sheep, habitat degradation, and drought are all threats to the bighorn sheep population. While disease transmission from domestic sheep is the greatest concern, there is a federally-permitted domestic sheep "driveway" located within the study area in the Tonto National Forest, through which thousands of domestic sheep are herded periodically to reach summer grazing allotments, sharing habitat and water sources with bighorn sheep.

Despite the knowledge that mountain lion predation is the least of these factors related to bighorn sheep survival, the three-year study seeks to kill 75% of the mountain lions within the study area, and to capture up to 15 bighorn sheep several times a year with netguns fired from helicopters.

In addition to ADLA, other plaintiffs are the Fund for Animals, the Humane Society of the United States, Mountain Lion Foundation, Forest Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity, Animal Protection Institute, and Flagstaff Activist Network. The groups are represented by the public interest law firm of Meyer & Glitzenstein.

Photo of mountain lion in snare courtesy of Wildlife Damage Review