From Wildlife Conservation, Sep/Oct 92

War on the Range
Bald eagles, our national symbol, are headed for trouble as sheep ranchers take a lethal approach to predator control

By Jessica Speart

The spotter plane flew low over the canyon in Taylor Draw, Utah. The area used for pasturing sheep is also wintering territory for bald eagles. Up to 40 of the birds annually take shelter here before their flight back to Canada during their spring migration north. But fewer eagles would be leaving the canyon this year. As the plane circled lower the scene below came into view. On the ground were the carcasses of four dead animals, two sheep and two deer. Startled wildlife agents saw 13 eagles spread out on the ground near the carcasses. Twelve of the birds were bald eagles. The thirteenth was a golden eagle. They had been poisoned by baited carcasses placed there to draw them to a painful death. It was the largest kill of eagles in Utah in 20 years, the latest incident of the range war in the West.

As they soar high in the air, wings spread open to their full seven-foot span, eagles are a magnificent sight. Bald eagles, the national symbol of this country, are doubly treasured. But loss of habit, toxic pesticide use, and unrestrained hunting have taken their toll. In 1940, Congress passed the Eagle Protection Act. In 1962 the golden eagle was included for protection. Yet by 1963 the bald eagle population had plummeted from 100,000 to only 400 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states. Today, protected by the Endangered Species Act and as a result of an aggressive recovery program, the bald eagle population is back up to between 7,500 and 10,000 with some 3,000 nesting pairs. Yet once again, the eagle is headed for trouble, as the sheep ranchers declare war; the weapons: toxic and illegal poisons.

As birds of prey, golden eagles usually dine on jack rabbits, prairie dogs, and ground squirrels. But they also enjoy the taste of lamb, a predilection that angers sheep ranchers. Bald eagles are scavengers, taking advantage of whatever carrion comes their way. But to ranchers, an eagle has no right to livestock, dead or alive. Lambs die from a number of natural causes -- pneumonia, starvation, rough country, and bad weather. Predators are just one more hardship. In 1990, ranchers lost 490,000 sheep. Some 17,000 of these deaths were blamed on eagles, a dollar loss adding up to a total of $622,000. (Sheep, at that time, were worth about $62.00 a head, while each lamb was valued at around $39.70.) Frustrated, some ranchers have booby-trapped their land with poisoned bait. According to Terry Grosz, the agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain region for the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), poisoning is taking place "in Canada and Mexico and in all the states in between." The use of poisons spurred the FWS to mount an undercover operation that lasted 18 months and revealed a deadly black market thriving in the West.

With the sheep and wool industry in an economic slump, many ranchers wanted to deal with predators, especially eagles, in their own way. FWS agents placed an ad in Wyoming Woolgrower magazine for a covert company offering "the private approach" to predator control. One of the owners listed was Nick Koutralakos, the cover name of special agent Doug McKenna. Some ranchers invited the "company" to visit them and see what could be done about "those damn government crows." During these visits McKenna was shown a dozen dead eagles that had been poisoned by ranchers, and he was told of 50 more poisonings. McKenna recalls, "I was shocked. I had no idea things were this bad." The first raids by FWS were made in September 1991, and the reverberations are still being felt.

The trail first led to Randy Graham, then the predator control consultant with the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. Graham was responsible for certifying individuals to use restricted poisons. And according to court affadavits, he sold illegal raw poisons from safes at the state lab to McKenna and an informant. Claiming to have 70 pounds of Compound 1080 (a brand name for the chemical sodium fluroacetate), Graham made McKenna 320 drop baits laced with the poison. Compound 1080 is so toxic that a dose smaller than a pinhead will kill a coyote; although it is still registered for use in livestock protection collars, all other use of Compound 1080 was banned in 1972 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Developed during World War II, 1080 was used in the West to kill prairie dogs and ground squirrels; it was also partly responsible for helping to eliminate the black-footed ferret and for the near extinction of the California condor and the red wolf. Remaining stockpiles of the poison were to have been destroyed under official supervision. But Graham allegedly outwitted government inspectors by switching labels on the cans of poison and changing locks on safes in the lab so that the EPA would not be able to check their contents. Compound 1080 sells on the black market for up to $1,000 for an 8-oz. can. Graham was recorded on tape by McKenna and his team, saying that if he made and sold drop baits out of all the 1080 available, he'd make $3 million to "contribute to his retirement fund." Further, he allegedly sold the agents strychnine and cyanide before he was fired under recommendation from the Wyoming Attorney General's office; a court date is pending on charges relating to alleged violation of the Migratory Bird Act and distribution of pesticides in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

The trail next led to Ray Hall, whom McKenna met through Randy Graham. McKenna again posed as a buyer interested in obtaining illegal poisons. Owner of the Humane Coyote Getter, a shop in Pueblo, Colorado, Hall was reputed to manufacture cartridges that explode a cyanide pellet into the mouth of a coyote when it pulls at bait. While cyanide is banned in the U.S. except for its use in predator control by licensed applicators, Hall legally sold the cartridges in Canada, Peru, Mexico, and South Africa. He also was charged with having sold them illegally to customers throughout the West, and to McKenna and his partner. Also said to be on Hall's list of clientele was Wyoming sheep rancher Dick Strom, a member of the predator control board for his county.

According to a court affidavit, Strom would get rid of wildlife by lacing hotdogs with the poison Temik (a brand name for the chemical aldicarb). McKenna confirms that it's one of the most lethal chemicals still being sold as "restricted." "If you were to swallow or breathe in one little particle, it would probably kill you in minutes." Strom allegedly sold 10 pounds of thallium, 5 pounds of sodium cyanide, 2 pounds of methomyl, along with 1080 and strychnine to the team. By the time the three raids on Graham, Hall, and Strom were over, Regional Director of FWS Galen Buterbaugh exclaims, "We found enough poison to kill every predator, man, woman and child west of the Mississippi." An estimated 10 million doses of 1080, strychnine, and Temik were confiscated.

Bears, mountain lions, bobcats and foxes have all fallen prey to poison, but bald eagles are the hardest hit victims. "Eagles are real easy to bait in. All you need is a carcass, because they're just out scavenging," explains John Talbott of Wyoming Game and Fish Department. On a recent aerial search, claims Craig Miya of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, poisoned bait was discovered in all areas of the state. Unfortunately, poisons such as Temik and Furadan (a brand name for the chemical compound carbofuran) are sold as insecticides for crops and can be purchased in feed stores by anyone with an applicator's license. Easily resold, the poisons become part of a lucrative black market for use in predator control. The poisons have a remarkable staying power.

While press reports quote a federal official as saying that 2,000 to 3,000 eagles are lost each spring, agent Terry Grosz admits only that "it [poisoning animal carcasses as bait for eagles] is a widespread practice." But Craig Miya says we're seeing just the tip of the iceberg. Though 24 ranchers are under investigation in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming for selling black market poisons (none has been indicted), FWS now says there is a network of people engaged in the business of selling illegal pesticides.

Yet, Bill Rightmire, director of the Animal Damage Control program in Wyoming, claims that he is not aware of poisonings in his state. Carolyn Paseneaux, director of Wyoming Woolgrowers Association, says eagles are but one problem facing ranchers, including the federal clean air and water acts, and the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone. She says it is the large sheep ranchers who are the endangered species. Their number dwindle each year.

In Colorado and Wyoming the killing of an eagle is a misdemeanor, while in Utah it is a felony. But the punishment rarely fits the crime. On March 23, 1992, Ray Hall, owner of Humane Coyote Getter, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to knowingly storing hazardous wastes. The maximum penalty could have been up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on a felony charge of storing illegal cyanide. Hall also pled guilty to the same charge on behalf of his company, for which he could have received an additional fine of $100,000 on a misdemeanor sales conviction. What Hall did receive was an order to wear an electronic monitor to help lawmen keep track of his whereabouts, and to stay near his home for six months, a $4,250 fine, three years probation, and 50 hours of community service for each of the three years.

A stockpile of old bones lies on a barren ring of land in Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Even today there turns up the occasional dead squirrel, magpie, or crow that gnawed on a bone or one of the carcasses containing thallium placed there 30 years ago. The pile stands as a grim testimony to the deadliness of toxic poisons. What will it take for the death to stop? Certainly man must understand and accept the wildlife with whom he shares the land. Terry Grosz sums it up: "The American people had better wake up. Our national heritage is going right down the drain."

Copyright © 1992 by Wildlife Conservation Magazine. Used with permission.