Since its inception, Project Coyote, a fiscally sponsored project of Earth Island Institute, has been working to reform U.S. predator management as conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program. Counties across the west contract with the federal program to kill native wild animals largely at the behest of ranchers and farmers. As a result, Wildlife Services indiscriminately kills millions of animals nationwide each year. And despite the adverse environmental impacts caused by the loss of these animals, counties regularly fail to conduct an environmental analysis when renewing their contracts with Wildlife Services.
On March 1, 2022, Project Coyote and Feather River Action! filed a lawsuit against Plumas and Sierra Counties for violating the California Environmental Quality Act by failing to conduct an environmental review of its $76,623 taxpayer-funded contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services program. This contract authorizes Wildlife Services, a highly controversial federal program, to kill hundreds of animals in these counties every year without assessing the ecological impacts of widespread killing and without considering alternative non-lethal management strategies. The parties reached a settlement in 2022 and, as a result, both counties have suspended their contracts with Wildlife Services and are conducting environmental reviews. Jessica L. Blome of Greenfire Law and Donald L. Lipmanson represented Project Coyote in this matter.
On February 3, 2020, Project Coyote and Mendocino Nonlethal Wildlife Alliance filed a lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act against Mendocino County over its renewal of a contract with the United States Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services for lethal control of predators and "nuisance" wildlife. Project Coyote contends that these contracts result in the killing of hundreds of animals annually throughout the county without adequate environmental review of the impacts. In a victory for Project Coyote and wildlife advocates, the Mendocino Board of Supervisors ultimately voted to terminate their contract with Wildlife Services. Donald L. Lipmanson represented Project Coyote in this matter.
On August 27, 2019, Project Coyote joined several organizations in a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture over its failure to update its National Environmental Policy Act analysis for the "Wildlife Damage Management" program in the Sacramento District. Despite the outdated analysis, the agency continues to move forward with these programs across California, which resulted in the killing of more than 30,000 native animals in California in 2017. The parties reached a settlement in April 2020. Cristina Stella of the Animal Legal Defense Fund and Collette Adkins of Center for Biological Diversity represented Project Coyote in this matter.
Every year, Shasta County contracts with the United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services program for the lethal control of predators and other wildlife it considers to be a nuisance. These contracts result in the killing of thousands of animals annually. On June 6, 2018, Project Coyote joined several other organizations in submitting a letter to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors that details how these contracts are a violation of the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Endangered Species Act, the public trust doctrine, and other laws. As a result of this notice letter, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors terminated its contract with Wildlife Services. Christina Stella of Animal Legal Defense Fund represented Project Coyote in this matter.
On June 21, 2017, Project Coyote joined several organizations in a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture over its failure to update its National Environmental Policy Act analysis for the "Wildlife Damage Management" program in California's North District. Despite killing millions of animals annually, Wildlife Services continued to support its program with wildlife management science from the 1980s and earlier. As a result of this lawsuit, Wildlife Services entered into a settlement agreement that, among other things, created an enforceable timeline for completion of a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision and required the implementation of various best practices for wildlife management in the North District. Collette Adkins and Jennifer Loda of the Center for Biological Diversity represented Project Coyote in this matter.
Monterey County enters into annual contracts with wildlife trappers employed by United States Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Program for the lethal control of predators and other wildlife it considers to be a nuisance. Despite the fact that these contracts result in the killing of thousands of animals annually, the county enters into these contracts without any environmental review. On June 1, 2016, Project Coyote joined several other organizations in a lawsuit against Monterey County for violations of the California Environmental Quality Act as a result of the execution of the lethal predator control program. On August 9, 2017, the court found in favor of the plaintiffs and held that Monterey County violated the California Environmental Quality Act by failing to analyze environmental and ecological impacts prior to renewal of the contract with Wildlife Services. Attorneys from Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati represented Project Coyote in this matter.
August 15, 2017: In The News - Court rules against Monterey County over predator control program
