Permits allow
ranchers to shoot problem
wolves
By GREG
STAHL
Express Staff Writer
The U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service last week issued four permits to ranchers in the
East Fork of the Salmon River valley allowing ranchers to shoot and kill a
wolf if it is on their property. They’re the first permits of their kind
issued in Idaho.
"I don’t
suspect that this will result in the death of many wolves," said
Carter Niemeyer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Idaho wolf recovery
leader. "It’s going to be a very opportunistic situation for a
rancher to see a wolf in broad daylight that they can kill."
Because
wolves are federally protected, it is illegal to kill a wolf unless it is
in the act of attacking livestock or if permission is granted through a
permit.
This type
of permit has been used in Wyoming for several years, Niemeyer said.
However, no wolf has ever been killed using this type of permit.
They are
available only to livestock producers who have experienced "chronic
wolf depredations," and they expire 45 days after they are issued.
"We’re
looking at any livestock producer in the Idaho recovery area who has had
previous wolf depredations in past years on their private property, and I
emphasize private property," Niemeyer said. "I can think of only
about a dozen families in Idaho who would qualify."
At least
one alternative to killing of wolves has met with only marginal success.
Non-lethal
rounds, which are meant to haze wolves rather than kill them, have been
issued to any ranchers requesting them.
An Idaho
rancher near Salmon, who shot wolves with rubber bullets, later ended up
with repeated depredations. In another case, a Yellowstone-area rancher
successfully shot a wolf using a bean bag round.
"It
knocked the wolf unconscious. It got up, ran in a few circles and ran off.
It seemed to work," Niemeyer said. "The guy reported that he
didn’t see it around any more."