Lawsuit Filed – Killing of Native Migratory Birds to Save Nonnative Fish

On behalf of Yellowstone Valley Audubon Society, Earthjustice filed a complaint against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) for allowing the State of Montana to shoot and kill migratory birds in order to protect nonnative fish species.

The November 14, 2024 press release, “Conservation Group Sues Feds Over Fish Hatchery Shooting Migratory Birds” can be found on the Earthjustice website.

In 2018, the US Fish Wildlife Service began issuing Osprey Depredation Permits to the Miles City Hatchery allowing them to kill native migratory Ospreys that were eating their nonnative largemouth bass. With the approval of the US Fish Wildlife Service and the Dept. of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, the eastern most breeding population of Ospreys on the Yellowstone River was lethally removed by the MT Fish Wildlife & Parks’ Hatchery Division at the Miles City Hatchery in less than two years.

Hundreds of native migratory birds have been shot at the Hatchery including Great Blue Herons, Double-crested cormorants, Canada Geese and Ospreys. YVAS and others immediately protested this practice and the permit process.

YVAS, Earthjustice and others are vigorously pursuing corrective measures to this lethal management of native birds and misguided permit process.

For more information see:

Journal of Raptor Research – Range Contraction of an Osprey Population Following Lethal Control at a State Fish Hatchery in Montana by Dr. Marco Restani March 31 2023

FWP’s Bluewater Hatchery contaminated by mudsnails 2nd time in 2 years – Billings Gazette, March 31, 2022

Shooting Birds at the Miles City Hatchery – updated November 2025