For the week of August 8 - 14, 2001

Groups sue to protect wolves

SNRA grazing restrictions requested

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"Grazing did get second shrift in the passage of the SNRA statute—that’s because it’s such an incredible place"

— William Eddie, Attorney for Land and Water Fund of the Rockies.

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By GREG MOORE
Express Staff Writer

In an effort to reduce the number of wolves killed for preying on livestock, two local conservation groups filed a lawsuit last week demanding that more aggressive measures be taken to protect sheep and cattle herds in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

The Idaho Conservation League and Western Watersheds Project filed the suit against the U.S. Forest Service on Friday in federal district court in Boise.

The suit follows the June 29 killing by U.S. Wildlife Service gunners of two wolves from the White Hawk pack, which has roamed through the White Cloud Mountains. Since wolves were reintroduced in Idaho in 1995 and 1996, the agency or ranchers have legally killed 24 preying on livestock. An additional 14 have been killed illegally.

Wolf advocates were especially upset about the June 29 wolf shootings because they believed the owner of the eight sheep killed by the wolves had moved his herd into an area where the wolves were known to be living.

The lawsuit contends that under the 1972 law creating the SNRA, grazing on public land there can be allowed only so long as it does not impair the purposes for which the SNRA was established, one of which is wildlife protection.

"Grazing did get second shrift in the passage of the SNRA statute—that’s because it’s such an incredible place," said plaintiffs’ attorney William Eddie, of the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies.

The suit asks the court to order the Forest Service to revise its management practices to minimize harm to the wolves.

In their complaint, the environmental groups suggest that possible management changes could include altering times and locations of grazing, reducing livestock numbers and better guarding or otherwise protecting the herds.

The Forest Service has instituted some changes in the SNRA this summer by requiring shepherds to maintain clean camps and use "hazing" methods, such as loud noises, to keep wolves away from sheep. Volunteers have also been helping to guard herds.

However, the 1994 federal rule authorizing reintroduction of wolves as an "experimental" species, promulgated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act, states that management of wolves "would not cause major changes to existing private or public land-use restrictions," so long as at least six breeding pairs of wolves are established in Idaho. Carter Niemeyer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator for Idaho, said there are now at least 15 breeding pairs in the state.

In February, SNRA Area Ranger Deb Cooper said she interpreted the rule to mean she could not confine grazing to certain areas to facilitate wolf recovery.

The wolves will be removed from Endangered Species Act listing once there are 30 breeding pairs for three years throughout the three areas where they were introduced—Idaho, northwest Montana and the Greater Yellowstone area. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides whether to recommend delisting each December. As of last December, there were an estimated 29 breeding pairs.

However, Ed Bangs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator, said there are now about 48 breeding pairs, including 16 in Idaho. Bangs said a recommendation for delisting could come as early as December 2002, since research could indicate there were more breeding pairs than thought in 2000.

Once delisting occurs, management will be turned over to the states under plans approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Bangs said hunting of wolves would likely become part of the species’ management. However, if the number of breeding pairs falls below 30, wolves would again be listed under the Endangered Species Act and returned to federal management. Bangs said he thinks that is unlikely to happen.

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