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Commissioner requests $150,000 for wildlife services operations; ranchers urge stronger predator control
Summary
The Agriculture Department told the committee it requests $150,000 in optional funds to support wildlife services predator control operations, citing aircraft and operational gaps; ranchers and livestock stakeholders urged more capacity for aerial control of coyotes and other predators.
The Agriculture Department asked lawmakers to consider an optional request of $150,000 to support wildlife services operations targeted at predator control. Commissioner Doug Goring said the amount would help with operations for an aircraft provided to USDA Wildlife Services (APHIS) that the department would utilize in areas with gaps in contracted pilot coverage.
"This would help with the plane that was actually provided to, USDA APHIS or wildlife services and it was for feral swine... We could utilize this plane for predator control in central and southern North Dakota where we have a lack of predator control. And that's what the 150,000 would be for," Goring told the committee.
Goring explained the department manages the contract and audits work performed under the wildlife services agreement; the requested funding would pay operational costs in the next biennium to close coverage gaps.
During public testimony livestock stakeholders urged stronger predator control. Larry Fry, who described himself as representing producers affected by predators, told the committee the state needs more aerial capacity and personnel. "We need to get more help than what's out there," Fry said, describing losses from coyotes and wolves.
Committee members acknowledged the long history of state support for predator control and indicated they would seek more detail from the department on how the $150,000 would be budgeted, whether it augments existing contracts, and which territories would receive increased service.
