presidential paradigms
The Saga of the Predator Control Program
Charles Wilfong, President, West Virginia Farm Bureau
Many people across the
state have been asking about
the status of the predator
control program. I am going
to try to bring you up to date
on where we stand today, and
what possible future actions
will be taken to strengthen
the program.
were directed to reduce their overall budgets by
7.5%. So, in order to achieve their 7.5% reduction,
the WVDA totally eliminated all funding for
Wildlife Services. What was very wrong about
this was the fact that those funds were not
supposed to have even been under the control
of the WVDA. The across-the-board reduction
should have been applied, instead of the total
elimination of this one program.
For several years, we had total federal funding
of our predator control program. During that time,
there were $300-400,000 in earmarked funds in
the USDA budget for Wildlife Services to pay
for the WV program. The money was earmarked
in order to guarantee how it was spent within
the USDA. That structure worked very well. A
few years ago, all federal earmarks came under
attack in Congress, and most were eliminated. At
that time, WVFB and others petitioned the West
Virginia Legislature to help keep the program
funded because of its importance to so many
livestock producers across the state. As a result
of those efforts, our legislature stepped up and
provided funding for this vital program.
After numerous meetings wit