Fwd: ACTION ALERT: Urge Greenwood Village, CO to Adopt Ecologically & Ethically Sound Coyote Management Plan!

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TAKE

ACTION!

 

 

URGE GREENWOOD

VILLAGE (CO)TO ADOPT AN ECOLOGICALLY AND ETHICALLY SOUND COYOTE MANAGEMENT PLAN

 

 

Greenwood

Village, Colorado has become a hot zone for human-coyote conflicts in recent

months with city officials taking a decidedly lethal approach toward coyote

management. To date police and a sharpshooter hired

by Greenwood Village have killed at least six coyotes this year, when the city

council authorized lethal coyote control. At least 2 of the 6 shot

coyotes ran off after being shot and wounded. The

controversy has pitted wildlife advocates against those who want coyotes

removed and highlights the divisiveness the presence of this native carnivore

has brought to communities nationwide.

 

 

What makes this situation unique is that the adjacent town of

Centennial has chosen a very different approach to coyote-human coexistence.

Centennial has enacted a coyote management policy that places emphasis on

public education and outreach, reduction in coyote attractants, and hazing of

habituated coyotes where deemed necessary. Lethal control is a last resort. The

city of Denver has adopted a similar proactive management plan that emphasizes

tolerance and the role people play in mitigating negative encounters with

coyotes. Denver also has one of the most proactive hazing programs in the

country. Representatives and volunteers from Colorado-based WildEarth Guardians

have taken it upon themselves to conduct hazing in Greenwood Village in an effort

to reduce negative coyote-human encounters and to keep coyotes from being needlessly destroyed.

Despite these efforts, city officials continue to authorize lethal control and

have refused to work with wildlife advocates and coyote experts who have offered

assistance.

 

 

The

controversy has brought coyote-human interaction to a head in Colorado and

raises fundamental questions about coyote management at the local and state

level. In a recent meeting with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), Dr. Marc

Bekoff, who has studied coyotes for nearly four decades, and is also on the

advisory board of Project Coyote, joined representatives from

WildEarth Guardians and HSUS to discuss coyote management issues in Colorado. Dr. Bekoff emphasized the lack of detailed information

about the social behavior and population dynamics of coyotes on the

front range of Colorado, and that these data are essential for understanding

coyote ecology and behavior to reduce negative encounters.  While the CDOW does not control municipal approaches to

coyote management, they have oversight over the species at a state level and

heavily influence public perception and local management.

 

 

Greenwood

Village has an opportunity to follow the lead of

neighboring cities and implement a proactive, long-term approach to coyote

management that emphasizes public awareness, tolerance, and the role humans

play in reducing (and creating) negative encounters with coyotes and other

urban wildlife.

 

 

 

 

 

TAKE

ACTION!

 

 

Letters are needed to Greenwood

Village Mayor Nancy Sharpe urging her to adopt an ecologically and ethically sound

management plan that is based on sound science and humane protocols (sample

letter below).

 

 

Address

letters to:

 

 

Mayor Nancy

Sharpe

City of Greenwood Village

6060 South Quebec Street

Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111-4591

 

 

 

 

 

You can also

contact Mayor Nancy Sharpe via email (nsharpe) or

call her at 303-486-5741 and make

the same points.

 

 

 

 

 

Please also

cc your letter to:

 

 

Harris

Sherman, Executive Director

Colorado Department of Natural Resources

1313 Sherman St., Rm. 718

Denver, CO 80203

Harris.Sherman

 

 

*************

SAMPLE LETTER

(This sample is meant to be used as a guide; it is very important to use your

own words so that your message stands out and has a greater impact)

 

 

Mayor Nancy

Sharpe

Greenwood Village

6060 South Quebec Street

Greenwood Village, Colorado 80111-4591

 

 

Dear Ms.

Sharpe:

 

 

I am writing

to ask you to immediately stop the coyote killing program underway in the

Greenwood Village. Lethally removing coyotes in an effort to reduce their

populations is an ineffective, ecologically unsound, and ethically indefensible

approach to mitigate real or perceived human/pet-coyote conflicts. Conflicts

can be resolved in a humane and effective manner without resorting to

indiscriminate killing- as shown by both Centennial and the city of Denver.

 

 

Greenwood

Village has an opportunity to follow the lead of neighboring cities and

implement a proactive, long-term approach to coyote management that emphasizes

public awareness, tolerance, and the role of human behaviors in mitigating

negative encounters with coyotes. Such programs also recognize the important ecological role of coyotes in

maintaining ecosystem health and species diversity. 

 

 

I urge you to

cease the killing of coyotes and instead work with wildlife organizations to

implement a proactive, humane program that prioritizes coexisting with, rather

than destroying, Greenwood Village’s coyotes.

 

 

Thank you for

your consideration. I look forward to your response.

 

 

(Your Name)

Street Address

City, State, & Zip

 

 

cc: Mr.

Harris Sherman, Executive Director, Colorado

Department of Natural Resources

 

 

Letters to

the Editor to the Denver Post Needed!

 

 

The Denver

Post reported on the recent coyote killings in the May 18th edition

(see http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_11751106). Please

take a moment to write a letter to the editor in response to this article (300

words max). Letters can be emailed to openforum, and should

include your name, city and a daytime phone number (your phone number will not

be published). For tips on writing letters to the editor visit our

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING LETTERS: http://www.projectcoyote.org/actionlettertips.html

) .

 

 

Thank

you for acting on behalf of Coyotes!

 

 

FOR

MORE INFORMATION: www.ProjectCoyote.org 

& www.letlimpylive.org

 

 

______________________

 

Camilla

H. Fox, Project Coyote

Wildlife Consultant

P.O. Box 5007

Larkspur, CA 94977

cfox

 

 

 

415.945.3232 (o)

415.373.3826 (f)

 

 

www.ProjectCoyote.org

 

 

 

 

Fostering creative coexistence between humans and coyotes

A project of Earth Island Institute