The Department of the Interior appears to be orchestrating a jurisdictional maneuver within the National Wildlife Refuge System that could pose a threat to several rare species and prevent the achievement of the System's goals. The Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service, both within the Department of the Interior, are parrying against each other for exclusive control over five million acres of Wildlife Preserves, while the future of the peregrine falcon, the desert bighorn sheep, the Sonoran pronghorn antelope, and the black-footed ferret hang in balance.

The foci of this jurisdictional struggle are five wildlife ranges and game ranges in the West: the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Range in Montana, the Charles Sheldon Antelope Range in Nevada, the Desert Wildlife Range near Las Vegas, the Kofa Game Range in Arizona, and the Cabeza Prieta Game Range on the Arizona-Mexico border. All were established by presidential order, pursuant to a congressional delegation of power to the Executive,¹ and all are presently open to cattle grazing, insofar as that activity does not interfere with wildlife needs.