The coordinator of predator-control efforts for the state Game, Fish & Parks Department said it's unlikely that an ongoing review will lead to the end of the aerial-hunting program.

Art Smith, coordinator of GF&P's animal-damage control program, met in Chamberlain on Thursday and Friday with agency trappers and pilots to discuss aerial hunting and other predator-control issues. Smith confirmed Friday that GF&P Secretary Jeff Vonk received a petition from Sinapu, a Colorado-based conservation group, asking the agency to end its aerial-hunting program.

Sinapu argues that aerial hunting is dangerous, expensive and ineffective overall in preventing livestock damage from predators.

Smith said he and others involved in the internal review of the aerial-hunting program will eventually give a report to Vonk, which is unlikely to recommend that the aerial-hunting program be terminated.

"I would be very surprised if our final recommendation would be that we need to stop the aerial program," Smith said. "It is a question we have asked and considered. I just don't see it as a legitimate choice."

Smith and other GF&P officials began the internal review after the July 30 crash of a state-owned Christen A-1 Husky airplane in a pasture in the Cheyenne River breaks near Wasta. GF&P pilot Tony DeCino and state trapper Dan Turgeon were hunting coyotes at the time of the crash. Each suffered minor injuries.

Another GF&P pilot and his gunner crashed under similar circumstance in 2005 near Lodgepole, also in a state-owned Husky airplane. They survived, although the pilot has been grounded since then because of lingering health issues.

The more recent crash led Smith and other GF&P officials to begin a review of the aerial-hunting program. Initially, Smith said all options would be examined, including ways to improve safety measures and whether GF&P should continue to have its own airplanes and pilots for aerial hunting.

Smith said the ultimate decision is up to Vonk, but that the consensus among those who discussed the issue Thursday and Friday was that the aerial-hunting program should continue. The focus of the review will be on ways to make the program safer and more efficient. That review will include whether the Husky is the best choice for aerial hunting, Smith said.

But Smith said there's no question that aerial hunting is an effective method of predator control.

"We realize at the same time that this is a dangerous activity," he said. "But we also believe it can be done safely, and that's why we're re-evaluating our safety procedures."

Smith said the review will include experts in predator control and aerial hunting from outside of GF&P. But it won't include public meetings or seek suggestions from the public, he said.

"We don't believe this is a public issue," he said. "This is a department issue, and an operations issue."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com