If NMFS does not act with 60 days to eliminate the take of threatened and endangered species by this fishery, the coalition will file suit to shut down the fishery. U.S. fishing vessels operating in international waters must obtain permits from NMFS pursuant to the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act. Despite the fact that the California-based longline fishery is known to be catching and killing endangered species, NMFS has refused to analyze the impact of, or limit killing under these permits. The noise and disturbance of low level flights, including helicopters, cause birds to abandon nests and roosts, lessening their chances of reproductive success. The proposal calls for helicopters to land adjacent to the Ventana Wilderness Area and at least two of the four landing sites are known to be utilized by the endangered California condor.
Studies show that condors use the projected flight paths of the helicopters.
Will Metz urging him to not approve the special use permit. COWS Continuing their century old practice of slaughtering all wildlife perceived to prey upon, compete with, or disturb their cattle, New Mexico ranchers are brutally killing elk under a corrupt 1997 state law. Pushed through by the livestock industry, the law allows the killing of an unlimited number of elk, if they are so rash as to eat grass on private lands. One Catron County rancher, Narciso Baca, has shot 50 elk this year, many of them pregnant females, and many of them at night with a spotlight. Though the law attempts to encourage the salvaging of the elk meat by the State, ranchers rarely notify the Game and Fish Department in time, causing the carcasses to waste.