THE NATION - News from July 2, 2009
Federal officials told state fish and game officials that their plan to halve the number of nesting pelicans by 2013 to boost fisheries is an “eradication program” that needs more work.
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission in May approved a five-year plan to kill and haze American white pelicans in southeastern Idaho to protect sport fish and Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations. The plan calls for shooting some pelicans and applying oil to eggs to suffocate the embryos.
Pelicans are protected under federal law, so anything to cut their numbers requires U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval.
Idaho wildlife officials denied that their proposal was intended to eradicate pelicans.
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