The Uncosted West · Episode 7 of 15 · 39 min
Why Taxpayers Fund the Killing of Millions of Wild Animals for Private Ranchers
A little-known federal program killed nearly two million animals in a single year, much of it to protect private livestock on public land. The episode sets the below-market grazing fee beside USDA Wildlife Services' predator control, and gives ranchers' real losses and the program's non-lethal work their due before tallying the ledger.
Who's who
- Chiara EisnerJournalist on the NPR and OPB Wildlife Services investigation
- Nick McMillanJournalist on the NPR and OPB Wildlife Services investigation
Timeline
- 1931Animal Damage Control Act formalizes federal predator control
- 1978Public Rangelands Improvement Act sets the grazing fee floor of $1.35
- October 10, 2024NPR and OPB publish 'That's a bloodbath' on Wildlife Services kills
- 2024Wildlife Services reports killing 1,928,932 animals
- March 2026Federal grazing fee rises to $1.69 per animal unit month
Still debated
The net taxpayer cost of grazing depends on how overhead is allocated, and the kill counts are the program's own figures, which NPR and OPB question and the program disputes. How much predator control serves public-land grazing specifically is not published as one number.
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