Bruce Westerman: Current Black Vulture Depredation Permits ‘Simply Not Enough’ To Protect Livestock

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At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) pushed back on Rep. Jared Huffman’s (D-CA) proposal to delay the distribution of black vulture depredation permits, noting that the permit in its existing form is already insufficient.

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00:00Is there further discussion on the ANS?

00:03If there's no further discussion on the amendment,

00:06it's now in order to consider amendments to the ANS to H.R. 2462.

00:10I recognize Ranking Member Huffman for the purpose of offering an amendment

00:13designated Huffman No. 1.

00:15Without objection, the amendment is considered red.

00:18Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:19Mr. Huffman, if I can make an announcement.

00:21There is some food in the back room if members are here.

00:25That's important, yeah, thank you.

00:26Wanted to make sure everybody knew that you're recognized.

00:30Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:31This amendment would require that there's actually a demonstrated need

00:36before this legislation takes effect.

00:38That's pretty reasonable and, frankly, is the responsible way to go here.

00:43The bill, if it passes, would remove important safeguards

00:47that are built into the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,

00:49and it would do that without any justification.

00:53Again, we all agree that you need, in some cases, to manage and even to kill black vultures.

01:00We have a system that allows for that, a system of permits very generously allocated

01:05to all of the states.

01:07The requests for those permits are nowhere near the amount of available permits.

01:12So there's simply every reason to believe that we can accommodate actual real depredation demands

01:21without violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

01:25So I understand the legitimate concerns of livestock producers about black vulture predation.

01:32We support giving farmers the tools that they need to protect their livestock.

01:36We have done that.

01:37We've done it in a bipartisan way.

01:40We comprehensively addressed this issue last year when we passed the ACE Act.

01:45We did not just talk about it.

01:46We actually solved it.

01:48And that law codified the Black Vulture Livestock Protection Permit Program,

01:53giving producers lethal and non-lethal tools so that they can protect their herds.

02:00The data is just very clear on this.

02:02I mentioned earlier that the Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed permit availability, far exceeding,

02:09demand in every participating state.

02:11We've made it incredibly easy to get those permits.

02:14It's not prohibitively expensive.

02:16There's not a lot of red tape.

02:19So my amendment is very straightforward.

02:21If permit requests actually exceed permit availability for two consecutive years, this legislation goes

02:28right into effect.

02:30This ensures that we only eliminate these treaty protections if there's a proven, sustained demand

02:36that the current system cannot accommodate.

02:39If proponents are correct that additional tools are needed, then this provision is absolutely

02:45going to kick in.

02:46It's going to give them what they want.

02:48If current permits are sufficient though, as all evidence indicates they are, we preserve

02:54important protections and continue to honor the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

02:59I urge support for my amendment and yield back.

03:01Gentlemen, yield back.

03:02Gentlemen, yield back.

03:03Is there further discussion on the amendment?

03:06I recognize myself.

03:08Again, livestock producers need urgent relief from costly and dangerous black vulture attacks.

03:16This amendment simply delays that critical relief.

03:19H.R. 2462 provides livestock producers with the ability to take vultures where and when it

03:26makes sense.

03:27Now, in regards to the existing permit program that allows a farmer or rancher to take 10

03:34black vultures per year, that is simply not enough.

03:38I think a lot of these farmers are not even bothering with getting the permits, especially

03:44when large flocks of 40 to 50 birds regularly descend on a helpless calf.

03:50The simple math shows us that having a yearly maximum take of 10 is not enough.

03:57It's more common sense to allow the farmers to protect their livestock.

04:02The legislation requires that they report their take at the end of the year.

04:07This is something that can be monitored and that can give farmers relief and also will help

04:14us to manage this massive population of black vultures that are doing considerable damage to livestock

04:22across the country.

04:23I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment and I yield back with their further discussion

04:28on the amendment.

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