150 feral cattle to be shot from sky in New Mexico national forest as US Forest Service issues kill order

A kill order has been issued for 150 cattle in Gila Wilderness, a protected backcountry area in New Mexico.

The U.S. Forest Service announced its decision in a news release, explaining that feral cattle roaming the southwestern area of the state “pose a significant threat to public safety and natural resources."

The move, set to take place in part of the Gila National Forest, sets the stage for more legal challenges over how to handle wayward livestock as drought maintains its grip on the West.

The first of those legal challenges came from New Mexico's Cattle Growing and Humane Farming associations, which filed a lawsuit to stop the aerial shooting plan. A hearing on a temporary restraining order was scheduled for Wednesday morning. 

If the government prevails, aerial shooting of the animals will take place from a helicopter Thursday through Saturday, according to the news release late last week. The memo defines feral cattle as cattle without brands, ear tags or other signs of ownership.

Gila National Forest officials are asking people to avoid the area.

Lawsuit filed to stop NM aerial shooting:Officials plan to shoot 150 cattle from the sky Thursday. An 11th-hour lawsuit hopes to stop it.

Why are the cattle being shot?

About 150 feral cows live in the wilderness area, and the Gila National Forest is working with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to remove them in the "most efficient and humane way," the release said.

Feral cattle have been causing habitat damage in the forest since a rancher abandoned the animals on the Redstone Allotment in the 1970s,  according to a document from the Forest Service. 

“This has been a difficult decision, but the lethal removal of feral cattle from the Gila Wilderness is necessary to protect public safety, threatened and endangered species habitats, water quality, and the natural character of the (area),” Gila National Forest Supervisor Camille Howes said.

Cattle in the area have been aggressive toward wilderness visitors, Howes said, graze year-round and trample stream banks and springs, causing erosion and sedimentation.

Concern from farmers

Some cattle growers have said branded cattle could have strayed into the area over the past year because of fences and water gaps damaged during an unusually strong monsoon season, the Forest Service reported.

The agency said it's "committed to continued efforts toward collaborative solutions and will continue to coordinate with permittees in their efforts to locate, gather, and remove their branded cattle from areas where they are not authorized."

Cattle killed will be left "to naturally decompose," federal officials said, and forest staff will work to make sure no carcasses are next to or in any body of water, designated hiking trail or known culturally sensitive area.

'Society should be better than this'

Tom Paterson, chair of he New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association Wildlife Committee, said the group has tried to find a solution that does not involve shooting cattle, including permits to gather and herd the animals out.

But with snow on the ground, access is limited. Paterson said federal officials are not giving enough time to see if the directive will work. 

“Easy is not an exception to their own rules. Frustration is not an exception to the rules,” he said. “Our society should be better than this. We can be more creative and do it a better way where you’re not wasting an economic resource.”

'Cattle ruin the land'

Environmentalists in dozens of lawsuits filed in courts across the West in years past applauded the Forest Service's decision. The cattle, they argued, ruin the land and water by trampling stream banks.

“We can expect immediate results," said Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Clean water, a healthy river and restored wildlife habitat."

Legal challenges

The support of aerial shooting marks a shift from the environmental community's stance on shooting other wildlife – from a fight over protecting bison at the Grand Canyon to annual complaints about the actions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services, an agency often vilified for killing birds, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and other animals.

Environmental groups have long claimed that the agency's efforts to control predators violate environmental laws.

Recent lawsuits:

• Last month in Montana, environmentalists sued over a program aimed at managing grizzly bears.
• In 2021, conservation groups settled another lawsuit in Idaho over Wildlife Services' practices. 

Contributing: The Associated Press

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.