Wolf Delisting Update

[BigHornRam]

Rocky Barker - Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 03/24/08


Seven wolf advocacy groups are unlikely to stand in the way this week as Idaho and four other states take over the management of Northern Rockies wolves.
The predators are being removed from the endangered species list and control over the animals will transfer Friday from the federal government to the states.

An attorney for the environmental groups says the advocates don’t plan to ask a federal court this week to stop the transfer.

Federal managers predict little change in how the animals are managed in most places, but in much of Wyoming, wolves will become fair game to whoever wants to kill them.

Seven environmental and animal-rights groups have filed a notice of their intent to sue over the decision, but they are limited by the Endangered Species Act from filing until 60 days after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has made its official decision on delisting, which was Feb. 28.

The groups do not plan to file until the deadline, April 28, unless one or more of the states allows a significant numbers of wolves to be killed, said Jenny Harbine, an attorney with Earthjustice, a lawyers group that filed on behalf of the environmental groups.

"Our intent is to stop the wolf killing in court of we can," Harbine said. "If a large number of wolves are getting killed, we'll act."

Read more about Friday's transfer of wolf management power to the states in Tuesday's Idaho Statesman.

 

[TheTone]

Kind of an interesting piece. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens as the April 28 date approaches. No matter where you really stand on the wolf issue, it is nice to see the Endangered Species act work the way it was designed to and see a species come off federal protection.

 

[shoots-straight]

I say they haven't found a smoking gun yet and are stalling.

 

[BigHornRam]

Wyoming Ranchers Have no Plans to Whipe out Wolves

By CHRIS MERRILL
Star-Tribune environment reporter
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 7:33 AM MDT

LANDER -- Gray wolves in the Northern Rockies will no longer be protected as an endangered species starting Friday. But Wyoming ranchers and county predator control boards outside the wolves' trophy game zone say they won't send up airplanes that morning to haphazardly hunt the predators.

Going after wolves that aren't killing livestock would not only be a fools' mission for the ranchers and the boards, but it also would be exorbitantly expensive, according to board members.

"The only time we'll fly them is when there is a problem," said Truman Julian, a sheep rancher in Kemmerer and chairman of Lincoln County's predator control board. "Just to put a plane up there looking for a wolf is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it's expensive, and we have to pay for it. We don't have the money, and that's not our goal. Our goal is to remove the offending animals."

Beginning Friday, ranchers in Wyoming's predator zone for wolves -- which includes most of the state, save the extreme northwest -- will be able to call USDA Wildlife Services directly if there is a wolf bothering or hunting livestock.

Inside the trophy game zone, wolves will be managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department similar to the way they are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service statewide today. Ranchers will not be able to kill any wolves on sight, but instead must enlist the help of Game and Fish, or obtain take permits from the department.

Outside the trophy game zone, Wildlife Services will be paid through continuing contracts with county predator control boards to aerial hunt and kill wolves, the same way these boards currently pay the agency to destroy animals such as coyotes and foxes.

It currently costs the local boards about $125 per hour to hire a fixed-wing aerial hunting crew, and about $675 per hour for a helicopter.

"We have other problems, too, like ravens, coyotes and foxes," Julian said. "We're not going to blow all of our money flying over wolves."

In Lincoln County, wolves are a less significant problem for ranchers than other pests and predators, Julian said, so ranchers will need to be judicious when it comes to contracting Wildlife Services to shoot wolves.

"We're not indiscriminate killers. We target the animal that's causing the problem for us. I could care less about the wolf, as long as he's not causing me a problem," Julian said.

The Lincoln County predator board will not offer any bounties for wolves, nor will it start any programs to encourage hunters to kill wolves, he said.

Although some money for the animal control contracts with Wildlife Services comes from state and federal agencies, about 60 to 70 percent is paid by each county's predator management board, said Bill Taliaferro of Rock Springs, a rancher and member of the Sweetwater County board.

The local boards are funded, in large part, by area ranchers who contribute just under $1 a head to the statewide predator management program for each cow or sheep they sell.

Taliaferro said the Sweetwater County board and its ranchers will deal with wolves on a case-by-case basis as well. It will not fund any systematic hunting of wolves, nor will it offer any bounties on the animals, he said.

"It's going to be horribly expensive to take many of them," Taliaferro said.

Following the recent, eight-year drought, and in the wake of wolf reintroduction, many ranchers have gone out of business statewide, he said, and as a result, some of the predator boards weren't generating enough money. That's why they requested money from the state Legislature in 2006.

Lawmakers appropriated $6 million for the 2006 and 2007 biennium budget to revive the local predator management programs, and $5.6 million this legislative session for the coming two years.

"There are enough funds now, but who knows about the future?" Taliaferro said. "If (wolves) keep reproducing at the rate they're reproducing -- who knows?"

The upshot of the trophy game arrangement is that ranchers inside the zone will still be compensated for livestock lost to wolves, Taliaferro said.

"On the outside, you're just kind of on your own with the predator boards," Taliaferro said. "But at least the public and the hunters will help control the wolves."

Franz Camenzind, biologist and head of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said he'd be surprised if wolves establish any kind of sustainable population outside the trophy area after they are delisted.

"They'd have to remain pretty inconspicuous to survive," Camenzind said. "I think it's an unfortunate reality, because I think there are places outside of the trophy game area where they could survive without causing problems."

Although the trophy game zone includes about 12 percent of the state, there's only a small percentage of that region -- inside the state and federal parks -- where wolves are going to be continuously protected, he said.

"That's less than 4 percent of the state where wolves would be totally protected. I don't think that wolves have a particularly big foothold in the state, and I think for the near future that's what we're going to see," Camenzind said.

If delisting results in the quick slaughter of a large number of wolves, it's likely that a court injunction will be issued next month against the government's decision to lift federal protection, Camenzind said.

Environment reporter Chris Merrill can be reached at [email protected] or at (307) 267-6722.

 

[shoots-straight]

I can already taste the Coors! Come to papa you bad boy. Remember I said Coors regular, in the bottle. I've always told everyone that BIG HORN RAM is a stand up guy.

 

[BigHornRam]

Don't get too cocky yet SS. REMEMBER I was the one that said that wolves that stay out of trouble in the Wyoming predator zone would do just fine. The rancher bashers here said that Wyoming would just whipe them out and get them relisted again. Remember???????

If the Wyoming boy's continue to behave themselves, I'm going to have start putting that Coors on ice for you SS.

 

[brymoore]

Looks like the killing has begun...

Three wolves killed in Wyoming within days of protection removal

LANDER, Wyo. — Wyoming hunters and ranchers killed at least three gray wolves within the first three days of the animals’ removal from the federal endangered species list, local and state wildlife officials said.
Wyoming, Montana and Idaho took over management of wolves within their borders on Friday as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ended protection of the animals under the Endangered Species Act.

Two wolves, a male and a female, were killed Friday near an elk feedground in the Pinedale area in Sublette County, said Eric Keszler, spokesman for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Scott Talbott, the Game and Fish official overseeing Wyoming’s new wolf management program, said one of the wolves was wearing a tracking collar.

Also Friday, a rancher killed a wolf on his property because he’d been having problems with a wolf harassing his livestock, said Cat Urbigkit, a member of the Sublette County Predator Board.

All three wolves were killed in Wyoming’s predator zone, where people are now allowed to kill wolves at any time and for any reason as long as they report the time, location and sex of each kill to the state within 10 days. The animals are still protected as a trophy species in Wyoming’s northwestern corner.

“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.”

Wyoming is home to 25 wolf packs living outside of Yellowstone National Park, and seven of those live in the predator area. Wildlife officials have said that most of the 30 to 35 wolves living outside the trophy game zone live in adjoining Sublette County.

Terry Pollard, co-owner of Bald Mountain Outfitters in Pinedale, said he heard reports of many locals going wolf hunting over the weekend, but most didn’t make any kills.

“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.” Mike Leahy, Rocky Mountain regional director of Defenders of Wildlife, said it’s hard to know how many wolves were killed over the weekend because hunters have 10 days to report kills within the predator zone.

“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 one of several groups that has filed notice of their intent to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service to retain Endangered Species Act protections for the wolves. Leahy said it’s too early to know whether the group will seek an emergency injunction against the federal delisting decision.

 

[BigHornRam]

NYT Weighs in With Opinion

Editorial

Published: April 5, 2008
At midnight on March 28, the gray wolves in Wyoming slipped out of the protection of the Endangered Species Act and became other kinds of creatures: trophy game animals to be hunted in the state’s northwest corner and predators to be shot on sight elsewhere.

The nature of the wolf didn’t change, only the restraints imposed on humans. In the next three days, three wolves were killed, two by hunters and one by a rancher, all in the predator zone where the only restriction is the obligation to report a kill within 10 days. Environmental groups plan to sue to reverse the lifting of these protections, but they are barred from doing so for 30 days — plenty of time for more wolves to die.

It is tempting to adduce an ancestral hostility between man and wolf. But this is a problem in economics. Wolves kill a small number of livestock, and compensating ranchers’ losses is a price worth paying. What this is really about is a competition between two top predators — man and wolf — for elk. Elk-hunting generates revenue, and wolves cannot pay for the elk they take.

Gray wolves in the Rocky Mountains were eradicated in the early 20th century, so it is easy to think of them as a special case. They were reintroduced by humans — a legally mandated intervention — and they will be killed by humans because of another legal intervention. Their survival is wholly a matter of our intent. And yet you might say the same thing about every other species, every other ecosystem on this planet.

The more we think about it, the more we believe the only nature that matters anymore is human nature. This is not a happy thought. The answer to every important environmental question ultimately depends on human self-restraint. The simple ethical fact seems to be that humans cannot restrain themselves, not without laws and incentives that are only as solid as our weakest intentions. The laws change, and overnight all that good work is threatened by gun smoke.

 

[BigHornRam]

Hagener Represents Montana Well-Sierra Club Still Not Happy With Montana's Effort

Wolf de-listing: A look at both sides of the issue

State officials praise wolf decision

Montana wildlife officials welcomed the official removal of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. Wolf conservation and management in Montana is now officially the responsibility of the state.

"Montana's wolf population is healthy, growing and firmly established in Montana," said Jeff Hagener, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. "Montanans have shown patience and cooperation with this recovery effort. FWP supports wolf delisting and we're proud of the role the people of Montana have played in the recovery."

With delisting now official, the line separating Montana into the northern Endangered Area and the southern Experimental Area no longer exists. FWP will move to reclassify wolves throughout Montana as a species in need of management under state law, which also offers wolves legal protection much like other managed wildlife.

"It's important to understand that wolves are now an official part of the Montana wildlife environment," Hagener said. "The wolf will be managed like Montana's other wildlife species."

For instance, wolves can only be purposely killed legally during an official hunting or trapping season; when a wolf is killing, attacking or harassing livestock; and to protect human life, Hagener said.

With delisting, the flexibility to protect livestock and domestic dogs is provided in Montana law. Similar to lions and black bears, a wolf seen actively biting, wounding, chasing, harassing, or attacking livestock or pets could be killed. Such incidents must be reported to FWP in 72 hours.

The new flexibility, however, may be short lived. Several groups have already filed a federal notice that they intend to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to block the wolf delisting.

The pending legal challenge is also affecting the sale of hunting licenses for a wolf-hunting season recently adopted by the Montana's FWP Commission. Officials said none would be offered for sale until Montana is assured a wolf-hunting season could occur.

Nevertheless, the recovery of the wolf in the northern Rockies is one of the fastest endangered species comebacks on record. In the mid 1990s, to hasten the overall pace of wolf recovery in the Northern Rockies, 66 wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho.

The minimum recovery goal for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains was set at a minimum of 30 breeding pairs-successfully reproducing wolf packs-and a minimum of 300 individual wolves for at least three consecutive years. This goal was achieved in 2002, and the wolf population has increased every year since. The wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountain Recovery Area, which comprises parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, now stands at 1,500, with 100 breeding pairs.

About 420 wolves now inhabit Montana, in 73 packs and 39 breeding pairs, Hagener said.

The delisting affects only the northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves.

FWP has led wolf management under the federal guidelines since 2004. Delisting allows Montana to manage wolves in a manner similar to how bears, mountain lions and other wildlife species are managed, guided completely by state management plans and laws.

"In participating in this wolf recovery effort-and the recent recoveries of bald eagles, and grizzly bears-Montanans made significant sacrifices and will continue to do so," Hagener said. "Wolves, grizzly bears and bald eagles will continue to spend portions of their lives on public and private lands. Helping landowners and working to conserve critical habitats will be a continuing challenge. Montanans will need the help of all the American people to fund the careful management of these important wildlife species well into the future."

After recovery, wolves now at risk

The Northern Rockies Gray Wolf has been officially removed from protection under Endangered Species Act. The premature delisting leaves wolves at the mercy of aggressive, non-scientific state management plans.

“Right now, the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming lack balanced wolf management plans,” said Sierra Club representative Melanie Stein. “The state plans are based on politics rather than the best available science. They treat wolves as pests, rather than as a valuable wildlife resource.”

Though wolves once roamed freely through most of North America, by the 1930s, they had virtually disappeared from the Rocky Mountain landscape. Wolves were reintroduced into the region in 1995. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, they've begun to rebound, but scientists say wolves have not yet made a full recovery.

“Everyone wants to see wolves delisted and managed locally. But until these states come up with sound management plans, wolves need federal protection,” Stein said. “Without balanced plans, we risk ending up right back where we started, with wolves back on the endangered species list and under federal control.”

In January 2007, Governor Butch Otter of Idaho proposed slashing Idaho's wolves from 800 to 100 animals. Wyoming's plan treats wolves as pests throughout much of the state, allowing anyone to shoot, trap, or poison a wolf anytime. Wyoming officials plan to dramatically reduce wolf numbers-despite the fact that seven of ten residents who commented on the state's plan said wolf populations should be left to grow naturally.

“Wolves should be treated like a valuable wildlife resource, not a pest," Stein said. "Wolves attract tourists and boost the economy. Living with wolves and other wildlife is a fundamental part of life in the West. In fact, the sense of the wild is what keeps many people here.”