It’s been a rough year for wildlife. Anteaters and sloths burned in the Amazon and Koalas dying in the flaming forests of Australia. Not to mention all the wild spaces set aside by Obama and turned in to drilling fields by his successor. There are easier things to be than wildlife at the moment. But even though its been a crappy decade and some folks aren’t happy that democrats negotiated with the terrorist and made a funding bill to keep the government from shutting down, this is a sweet little tidbit that came out of the deal.

Congress Funds New Nonlethal Conflict-Prevention Positions

Congress and the President approved a spending package last week to keep the government running through the rest of the 2020 fiscal year. Contained within the legislation is a provision that NRDC and Defenders of Wildlife worked to secure: an appropriation of $1.38 million for the federal agency Wildlife Services to hire new employees dedicated to using nonlethal measures to reduce livestock-carnivore conflicts in up to 12 states.

The new employees will be modeled after three “wildlife conflict-prevention specialist” positions we’ve already worked with Wildlife Services to create—two in Montana and one in Oregon. In Montana, one of the specialists is a year-round fencing technician who works with landowners to install electric fencing around livestock pastures, bee yards, chicken coops, and other “attractants” across western and central Montana. The other is a seasonal “range rider” who has spent the last two summers protecting several herds of cattle on grazing allotments in wolf and grizzly bear country in the state’s northwestern corner.

The third specialist works in seven different counties in southwestern Oregon, using fencing, scare devices, her own human presence, and other deterrents to reduce conflicts with wolves, black bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and other wildlife.

Okay. so the article doesn’t SPECIFICALLY say that they’ll be teaching these specialists how to to install flow devices but good lord you can’t put up fences and chase grizzly bears ALL the time. I’m sure that the right pressure could be applied in the right places and make this more likely to happen.

Because of the effectiveness of these positions and the strategies they employ, over the last year NRDC and Defenders of Wildlife advocated for federal funding to create similar positions in additional states (including Washington, California, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan). After months of uncertainty, we were thrilled when, late last week, the spending bills containing our requested appropriation were signed into law.

We’re in the club! Now we just have to find out who the non-lethal officer is for our state and ply him or her with information about flow devices! Surely one of us knows someone who knows someone….hmmm…

But working together despite those disagreements is part of what makes our collaboration so compelling. Even with serious differences, we have found a way to join forces to provide meaningful, durable solutions for the landowners and rural communities most impacted by predators—while keeping carnivores out of trouble and alive on the landscape to fulfill their critical ecological roles. And perhaps as importantly, by cooperating in the face of our differences, we are also proving that even in such politically divisive times, it is still possible to find and work toward common goals—for the benefit of people, wildlife, and the country.

So beavers aren’t carnivores, I know. But non-lethal management of beavers in California could be good for salmon and steelhead and wildlife prevention. I cannot imagine that this won’t come up. All that remains is for us to find out who’s doing the actual work and slip some beaver deceivers into their calendar.

Just because its unlikely doesn’t mean it should be impossible?

Last issue released this morning. Say goodnight Gracie. When my very old house was built the gazette had already been running 40 years. It’s been a helluva run.