Black Hills
Member
Randy & all,
As we seem to be edging closer to getting wolves delisted in some fashion or another how about we talk about what the next phase will look like in wolf management for the states.
We are mostly fixated on getting a wolf hunting season (and that is important) but merely hunting wolves will not truly provide the management we will need in MT or any of the other states where wolves are thriving. We should look to Alaska and see how they employ "Wolf Control" in their overall wolf management plans.
We will have to get MT FWP tuned in to providing a true wolf control plan. It is very likely that the estimated wolf numbers for MT are quite low (not nearly enough of them collared to get good counts). Simply hunting them in a sport hunt season will not cull enough in the long run (they will get harder and harder to kill). Control techniques will be required and this in itself will be a challenge to get adopted by FWP. It will not be a real public favorite either from time-to-time as it will call for more aggressive and strategic taking of wolves in specific areas when it is needed, but so be it.
So, I would offer up for discussion that we begin to focus on more than just getting a hunting season approved as that will only be one small piece of controlling the wolf numbers. One can talk with the federal agents who are taking the wolves now for the FWP (the FWP does not do this themselves, they contract it to Wildlife Services of APHIS, part of the USDA) and you will hear that we have challenges ahead of us in wolf control.
This of course is all the more reason wolves need to be delisted and turned over to the states which will happen.
As we seem to be edging closer to getting wolves delisted in some fashion or another how about we talk about what the next phase will look like in wolf management for the states.
We are mostly fixated on getting a wolf hunting season (and that is important) but merely hunting wolves will not truly provide the management we will need in MT or any of the other states where wolves are thriving. We should look to Alaska and see how they employ "Wolf Control" in their overall wolf management plans.
We will have to get MT FWP tuned in to providing a true wolf control plan. It is very likely that the estimated wolf numbers for MT are quite low (not nearly enough of them collared to get good counts). Simply hunting them in a sport hunt season will not cull enough in the long run (they will get harder and harder to kill). Control techniques will be required and this in itself will be a challenge to get adopted by FWP. It will not be a real public favorite either from time-to-time as it will call for more aggressive and strategic taking of wolves in specific areas when it is needed, but so be it.
So, I would offer up for discussion that we begin to focus on more than just getting a hunting season approved as that will only be one small piece of controlling the wolf numbers. One can talk with the federal agents who are taking the wolves now for the FWP (the FWP does not do this themselves, they contract it to Wildlife Services of APHIS, part of the USDA) and you will hear that we have challenges ahead of us in wolf control.
This of course is all the more reason wolves need to be delisted and turned over to the states which will happen.