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Monday, August 11, 2008

Thanks, U.S. Wildlife Services!

Since I blasted them a week or so ago in an AP story, let me praise them now....

The U.S. Department of Agriculture division that kills problem wildlife says it will do the math to report how many wolves, robins, and other species it kills each year on a nationwide basis.

Wildlife Services spokeswoman Carol Bannerman said Monday from Washington, D.C., that the decision came after the conservation group WildEarth Guardians filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the information.

Wildlife Services has been posting the nationwide totals since 1996, but this year for the first time switched to a state-by-state format, forcing anyone interested in national trends to do the math themselves.

Wendy Keefover-Ring of WildEarth Guardians says this was an attempt to avoid public scrutiny.

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