western states and wolves

[wyohunter]

Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to manage estimated 1,500 animals in region

BOISE, Idaho - Good news for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains: They no longer need federal protection. The bad news for the animals? Plans are already in the works to hunt them.

Federal Endangered Species Act protection of the wolves was lifted Friday in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, giving those states management of the estimated 1,500 gray wolves in the region.

Even though environmentalists plan to sue the federal government next month to restore wolf protections, hunts are already being scheduled by state wildlife agencies to reduce the wolf population to between 900 and 1,250.

Idaho hunters will be allowed to kill between 100-300 of the animals this fall under a plan approved by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission. The hunts are partly in response to increasing numbers of livestock being killed as the predators' population has grown.

"We manage big game for a living, we're good at it," said Steve Nadeau, who oversees large carnivores for the Idaho Fish and Game Department. "The world is watching and we know it."

Fish and Game estimates Idaho now has 800 gray wolves. Should the number of breeding pairs in Idaho fall below a target number, the animals could be brought back under federal protection.

After a series of public shouting matches between wolf advocates and opponents, comments from Idaho Department Fish and Game officials on Friday seemed largely designed to reassure both ends of the debate.

Cal Groen, director of the department, told reporters that his agency has already proven its ability to recover and maintain Idaho wolf populations. "We've exceeded all the goals the federal government set," Groen said.

But Doug Honnold, a managing attorney for the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice, disagrees. Honnold said the wolf populations won't be fully recovered in Idaho and the northern Rockies until the animals number between 2,000 and 3,000.

Umbrella group plans lawsuit

Earthjustice, which represents 12 local and national environmental groups, plans to sue the federal government next month to continue wolf protections.

All three state plans to manage the wolves call for a reduction in their numbers, which will eventually lead to weaker breeding, Honnold said in a telephone interview from Bozeman, Mont.

"We think that would be a disaster," he said. "We've spent a lot of time, money and effort to promote wolf recovery."

Gray wolves were listed as endangered in 1973 after being hunted into near extinction, but the population has rebounded dramatically after restoration efforts began in 1995. The wolves were recently de-listed in the western Great Lakes, while the wolf population in the Southwest remains endangered.

Wildlife biologists estimate there are now 41 breeding pairs in Idaho, in 72 packs. If that number falls below 10 breeding pairs, or 15 during a three-year period, the wolves could be brought back under federal protection.

On Friday, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed a bill to allow ranchers, outfitters and pet owners to kill wolves harassing livestock. The law gives owners up to 72 hours to report wolves they've killed after catching them annoying, disturbing or stalking animals or livestock.

[sureshot]

going to be some happy people in those states, I know the last 2 years in WYO for holidays all people were talking about the wolves!

[wyohunter]

in the areas, especially near yellowstone nat park, the wolves have deminished the animals so much its pathetic... no the game and fish dept. wont admit that, but its true... its time to control the wolves, and i for one am happy

[_MD_]

By CHRIS MERRILL

Star-Tribune environment reporter

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 2:06 AM MDT LANDER -- At least three wolves were killed by Wyoming residents over the weekend, after the animal was removed from the federal endangered species list.

Large numbers of hunters reportedly prowled the state’s newly designated wolf predator area in Sublette County Friday, Saturday and Sunday, locals and outfitters said.

At least two wolves were killed near an elk feedground in the Pinedale area, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Another was killed, also in Sublette County, by a rancher, a local predator board member said.

The Star-Tribune received reports that a fourth wolf was possibly taken, also in Sublette County, but that kill has not yet been confirmed.

All three of the confirmed wolf kills happened in the Cowboy State’s newly designated predator zone for wolves, where the animals can be shot on sight without limits, as long as the time, location and sex of each kill is reported to the Game and Fish Department within 10 days.

Wolves were removed from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act on Friday, at which point the state of Wyoming took over management of the animals inside its borders.

Wolves in the state’s extreme northwest corner are now in the animal’s trophy game zone, and are still afforded some protection. Wolves in the rest of the state are considered predators, similar to coyotes.

Eric Keszler, spokesman for the Game and Fish Department, said the two wolf kills reported so far both happened Friday, about one to two miles west of the Jewett feedground outside of Pinedale. Both were gray-black, one male and one female.

One of the two near the feedground was wearing a tracking collar, said Scott Talbott, the Game and Fish official overseeing the state’s new wolf management program.

One rancher outside the trophy game zone killed a wolf Friday on his private property, said Cat Urbigkit, a member of the Sublette County Predator Board.

The rancher, who wanted to remain anonymous, was having problems with a wolf harassing his livestock, Urbigkit said. The predator board sent USDA Wildlife Services to assist the rancher, but he was able to kill the wolf on his own, she said.

Urbigkit, along with other locals, said there were a lot of hunters out over the weekend in Sublette County looking for wolves. Most of the 30 to 35 wolves outside the trophy game zone live in Sublette County.

“There has been a lot of excitement and interest for hunters in Sublette County,” Urbigkit said. “The predator board has nothing to do with that, but if the hunters are successful in their efforts, then hopefully the predator boards will not be called in on conflicts.”

The Sublette County Predator Board will not hunt wolves, she said, and will only respond when there is a conflict with livestock.

Terry Pollard, co-owner of Bald Mountain Outfitters, said he, too, knows many locals who went out wolf hunting over the weekend. He said most of them came back empty-handed.

“I think they’re finding just what we figured,” Pollard said. “These wolves are an extremely tough animal to hunt. There was a significant amount of hunters out this weekend, and very few of them were taken.”

The problem, however, is that many more wolves might have been killed and authorities don’t know about it yet, said Mike Leahy, the Rocky Mountain regional director of Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife.

Because the predator area requirements allow people to wait 10 days before reporting wolf kills, the authorities who most need to know about the impact of the new wolf rules will be largely in the dark for days or even weeks, Leahy said.

“In a shoot-on-sight zone, a large number of the wolves could be killed before Wyoming Game and Fish or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service even knows about it,” Leahy said. “There could be big impacts to the wolf population that go underreported until it’s too late.”

Defenders of Wildlife is part of a coalition of 11 conservation groups that has notified the federal government about its intent to sue over the wolf delisting rule once the requisite 60-day waiting period is up at the end of April.

There are provisions built into the Endangered Species Act that theoretically allow citizens to seek an emergency injunction against a federal delisting decision, should sufficient need arise.

“It is too early to tell, but certainly if this number of wolves was killed in the first weekend, and this pace keeps up, we would certainly consider the emergency provisions,” Leahy said.

[aksheephuntress]

...I'm sure you all have heard of the wolves coming into Fairbanks, North Pole, and other populated areas and eating the sled dogs off their chains, and some household pets......

-Luckily we have a really cool governor now, Sarah Palin, who is not only pro-hunting...she is aggresive, sticks to her "guns", and is trying to avoid the vetos on all the ariel wolf hunt initiatives...

-The trappers are trying to trap as many as they can....but we are getting overrun!!

-I appreciate seeing this info on what's going on in other states...I'll try to get some official stuff posted from AK to add to this....