Letter: Richland shouldn’t rush wildlife plan
On Tuesday Dec. 15 the Richland City Council plans to approve a contract for removing wildlife at our landfill.
Richland officials, in contracting with the Dept. of Agriculture for Wildlife Services, state their goal is “reducing the presence of blackbirds, collared doves, coyotes, gulls, pigeons, ravens, and starlings” because there may be building damage or health concerns.
Nothing in the proposed contract indicates what specific problems the Wildlife Services will solve. If the city has received complaints about wildlife, or if public works has suffered damages from wildlife, these should be documented so that wildlife control can be targeted and effective. Otherwise, the citizens of Richland will be paying taxes to kill wildlife because of some imaginary threat for the next five years. Animals shouldn’t suffer just to make us feel like we’re in control.
Laurie Ness, Richland
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 1:06 PM with the headline "Letter: Richland shouldn’t rush wildlife plan."