PORTLAND — Conservation groups opposed to the ongoing killing of cormorants on the Columbia River to protect steelhead and salmon say they have documents showing a federal agency ignored a finding by its own biologists that the measure would not help the fish.
The Audubon Society of Portland and several other groups made the documents public Wednesday. They were obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under a court order.
The groups had challenged the killing in a federal lawsuit. In May, a judge declined to block the plan to shoot the cormorants, but the lawsuit is ongoing.
One of the newly disclosed documents is an analysis by U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists concluding that killing double-crested cormorants would not benefit Snake River steelhead — which are most affected by cormorant predation — because fish not eaten by the birds would be eaten by other predators.
Sourced through Scoop.it from: exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com
This looks like it might be another example of wildlife managers blindly exterminating wildlife in hopes of benefiting a special interest.