Notice of Decision - Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Predator Damage Management in Idaho

Print

 NOTICE OF DECISION – Idaho: Wildlife Services (WS), a program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), has issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) titled “Predator Damage Management in Idaho.”  On December 6, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice of availability in the Federal Register (88 FR 60451) of the WS-Idaho FEIS.  After the required 30-day review period, WS signed the ROD on January 6, 2025.  

The FEIS analyzed the potential environmental impacts of six alternatives for WS-Idaho’s involvement in predator damage management (PDM) activities to protect agriculture, natural resources, property, and human health and safety in Idaho.  The ROD documents WS-Idaho’s selection of the preferred alternative (Alternative 2) that continues current PDM activities with limitations including caps on maximum anticipated take of predators, limits on the types of projects that may be conducted for the enhancement of natural resources and a ban on the use of M-44s and Livestock Protection Collars.  The ROD concluded that the alternative would have low to moderate impacts on the human environment and that Alternative 2 best meets the Purpose and Need and Objectives.  Alternative 2 allows WS-Idaho to respond to the greatest number of requests for PDM assistance using an integrated approach that includes education, technical assistance, nonlethal and lethal methods, while giving preference to non-lethal methods when they are appropriate and effective. 

Interested parties may view the FEIS and ROD at:

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/APHIS-2019-0005.

If you would like a hard copy of the final EIS and/or the ROD sent to you by mail, send a written request to Idaho Wildlife Services State Director, 9134 West Blackeagle Drive, Boise, ID 83709. When submitting a request by mail, please include a return mailing address.