scientific data is on the side of the sheep, the public opinion is on the 

 side of the coyote and the frustration is on the side of the rancher. 

 Shortly after the oversight hearings, Secretary of Interior Andrus 

 an^unced a tightly restricted research effort utilizing 1080 and the 

 toxic collar and this will be reinstituted at Texas A and M University. 

 This, we felt like, was a very small step in the right direction. 



That's where we are today. Now let's go a little bit further. 

 Testimony at the Simpson hearing by scientists generally refute most of 

 the allegations towards Compound 1080. The woolgrowers feel that the 

 Leopold Report that I mentioned earlier, which calls for the use of this 

 toxicant under control situations, was correct in its approach. There 

 has been a great hue and cry about non-lethal means of control. The 

 testimony at the Simpson hearing also played down the success of this 

 oft repeated nonlethal approach. When Secretary Andrus made his 

 announcement, he emphasized that these non-lethal methods would be 

 phased into the program and the lethal methods would be phased out. 

 He noted that additional research into the non-lethal area would be 

 initiated. Fourteen years ago Stanley Cane made that same statement. 

 Seven years ago Nathanial Reed made that same statement. Today, it is 

 questionable as to whether the amount of wool necessary to support a 

 war effort could be delivered to our shores. Last year coyotes 

 destroyed over $100 million worth of lamb and an additional $30 million 

 worth of calves. If you like lamb, as I do, and you are concerned 

 about the price in the grocery store, you may be able to realize the 

 impact that predation has on you, not to mention the price of the wool 

 in garments in your local department store. Two-hundred and 

 seventy-five thousand pounds of lamb goes across the table every day 

 in the United States. The 1978 loss of 28 million pounds of lamb 

 represents enough meat to provide table food for 220 million Americans 

 for an additional 32 days each year. I don't see how we can justify 

 such a waste of resources. 



The predation problem is acute. The sheep industry teeters on 

 the brink between growth and decline. Last year sheep numbers in 

 this country increased by two-and-one-half percent, the first increase 

 in 20 years. But those increases came in farm flock states. The large 

 western range states did not record numbers increases. The loss of 

 the western range industry would be chaotic for the remainder of the 

 producers. The availability of health supplies, handling equipment, 

 markets, packing houses, woolen mills and buyers and other items 

 hinges on the bulk sheep remaining in the West. 



To risk the loss of this important industry, in my opinion, is 

 foolhardy. It is obvious from scientific data now available that no 

 wildlife species, including the coyote himself, was ever endangered by 

 the predator control program. That statement is in a sworn affidavit 

 made by Jack Berryman, who is now the Executive Director of the 

 International Association of Game and Fish managers. It's not my 

 statement, it's his. The application of control techniques actually takes 

 place on only 11 percent of the land area in the West. There has 

 never been a human death recorded from the use of toxicants for 

 predator control, although there have been several from the use of 



