Commission to debate "predator plan" tonight
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
This evening in Boise, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission will open
public debate on a controversial proposed "predator plan" that would encourage
the state’s Department of Fish and Game to reduce predator populations.
By decreasing predator populations, the commission can provide for
healthier game populations of deer and elk, said commissioner Roy Moulton, in a telphone
interview. An attorney in Driggs, Moulton was the prime mover behind the predator plan.
"There is a lot of evidence out there, overwhelming evidence, that
predation is having a significant effect on our game animals," he said.
He said that when new predators are reintroduced to the
system—such as the recent reintroduction of the gray wolf in the White Cloud
Mountains—other predator populations should be curtailed to maintain the balance.
Though the commission has not disclosed which predators would be
affected under the plan, presumably coyotes, bears and cougars would be included. Wolves
are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and do not fall under the
state’s direct jurisdiction.
According to state law establishing the Fish and Game Commission,
wildlife "shall be preserved, protected, perpetuated, and managed. It shall be only
captured or taken at such times or places, under such conditions, or by such means, or in
such manner, as will preserve, protect and perpetuate such wildlife, and provide for the
citizens of this state and, as by law permitted to others, continued supplies of such
wildlife for hunting, fishing and trapping."
Referring to that law, Moulton said it is his job as a commissioner to
manage wildlife for "hunting, fishing and trapping."
And that includes predators, he said. He pointed out that deer and elk
herds have been managed for decades in a reactive manner.
"Somehow when it comes to predators, it’s not okay," he
said. "It strikes me as a bit of hypocrisy here."
But according to conservationists, science contradicts the rationale
behind Moulton’s plan.
Christopher Papouchis, a representative of the California-based Animal
Protection Institute, said, "Predators aren’t limiting factors. It’s
habitat degradation. Predators are, at best, temporary solutions."
State Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, said in an interview that it would
be best if the commission disposes of the idea at its level. If it doesn’t, the
"predator plan" will ultimately go to the Legislature for approval.
"It doesn’t seem like a very positive, forward-thinking thing
to do," she said.
Jaquet said science cites a necessary balance between predator and prey
for healthy herds.
"The commission’s (predator plan) says they don’t think
a balance is achievable. Today’s science and the hunting community has endorsed
science that says otherwise," she said.
Black bears, the commission charges, prey on infant elk. Fish and Game
conservation officer Lee Frost acknowledged that bears do sometimes kill young elk, but
said in south-central Idaho "black bears’ effect on calves is non-existent,
basically."
The commission will meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Fish and Game headquarters
building on 600 S. Walnut Ave, in Boise.
