LETTERS FROM OUR READERS
To the Editor:
Open letter to Supervisor Glenn Mcgourty,
At the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, August 17th, Supervisor Glenn Mcgourty spoke profusely in support of retaining the incompetent and sadistic USDA Wildlife Services to implement Mendocino County’s wildlife management program. In his disjointed blatherings, McGourty seemed to be completely oblivious to the obvious contradictions contained within his own statements.
Mcgourty claimed that most of the ranchers he knows use non-lethal methods to protect their livestock and only rarely call on Wildlife Services to kill coyotes. But in his next breath, he says that if the County terminates its contract with Wildlife
Services, ranchers will take matters into their own hands and mayhem will ensue out in countryside. Which is it Supervisor, are the ranchers friendly neighbors or a pack of marauding killers? You can’t have it both ways.
Mcgourty said over and over again how much he loves wildlife. But in his next breath, he demonizes coyotes as vicious evil lamb killers.
Which is it Supervisor, do you love wildlife or do you hate them for exhibiting their natural behaviors? You can’t have it both ways.
Let’s face it Supervisor McGourty, its the ranchers who are the problem, not the coyotes. When ranchers graze defenseless sheep way out in remote areas of the County, what do you expect to happen?
Ultimately, the full Board made the right decision to terminate the County’s contract with Wildlife Services on a 3 to 2 vote with Supervisors McGourty and Dan Gjerde in dissent. Also at the Board meeting, Supervisor John Haschak informed the Board that he is working on developing an “exclusion service” that will provide all County residents with non-lethal alternatives to protect their property from wildlife damage.
Supervisor Mcgourty, if ranchers really care about wildlife as much as you say they do, then they should jump at the chance to implement effective non-lethal exclusionary methods to protect their livestock. That singular act would untangle your ball of contradictions.
-Jon Spitz, Laytonville