April 10, 2008
Forest Service Backs Off Shooting Wild Cows

Photo by Dave Maxwell County Commissioner Wade Poulsen.

By Dave Maxwell, Staff Writer

Lincoln County Commissioner Wade Poulsen said the proposed plan by the U.S. Forest Service to hire a contractor to shoot the wild cows that roam free, mostly in the Quinn Canyon area of Nye County, has been scrapped in favor of another idea.

A meeting was held March 27 in Alamo with Ed Monnig – Forest Supervisor of the US Forest Service Region 4, Patricia Irwin - District Ranger of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Chris Collins from the State Agriculture Department, Nevada Representative Ed Goedhart, Commissioner Wade Poulsen, along with grazing permittees Ed Higbee, Rocky Hatch, and Grecian Uhalde concerning the issue.

Poulsen said discussions among interested parties, involving a map of the Quinn Canyon region, showed that most of the wild cattle have been spotted on the west side of the Grant Mountain Range. He said, “It’s very rough country and has very limited access and is difficult to get the cows out.”

However, after some discussion of options other than shooting the cows Poulsen said, an agreement was reached that a bounty be given to the permittees for every cow they pulled off that mountain that was wild. “The permittees will be able to get the benefit of the cow, plus the forest will also pay them a bounty,” he said. Additional agreements stated that more concerted efforts would be made to try to get the animals out. Each permittee will concentrate on their own area, to round up as many of the wild cows believed to be on their land.

Poulsen said after several phone calls and discussions the Forest Service’s original position changed drastically. “I think this is a great example of when you have people in the same room talking, and face-to-face communication, good things can happen.”

The Forest Service has admitted they felt frustrated in trying to get the cows out for the past several years, due greatly in part to the highly inaccessible terrain where the cows have been living. “The wild cow issue is as big a concern to the permittees and to all of us. It is a problem, but it’s not the only place in the state it’s a problem. Other forests permittees in other parts of the state have the same issue,” Poulsen noted.

In regards to the cows in the Quinn Canyon area, which make up about 75 percent of the estimated 120 head, he said, “I think we have come to a great resolution by putting the bounty on that cow for the permittee it makes it more economical sense to make an effort to go get them rather than just let them roam.”

Cows that are pulled out for the $200 bounty will most likely be sent to market as soon as possible.