For the week of January 21 - 27, 2004

Wolf delisting
awaits Wyoming

Politicians praise Idaho plan’s approval

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"The wolves have recovered biologically. Now let’s get the federal bureaucracy out of the way and let Idaho manage the wolves."

— IDAHO GOV. DIRK KEMPTHORNE

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

State regulation of federally protected gray wolf populations in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is waiting only for Wyoming to approve key changes to its state laws and its proposed wolf management plan.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday, Jan. 13, that Endangered Species Act protections for wolves cannot yet be peeled back "because of significant concerns about Wyoming’s existing state law as well as its wolf management plan."

At the same time, and to the praise of Idaho politicians, Fish and Wildlife announced that wolf management plans developed by Idaho and Montana are adequate to maintain the population of wolves above established recovery goals.

However, wolves in the three states are part of the same distinct population segment, and delisting occurs by population segment, not by state boundaries, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We must follow the biology, and we are making progress on this issue working together with our partners," Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams said. "Delisting can move forward as soon as Wyoming makes the changes we’ve identified to both its state law and its wolf management plan, but not until then because these wolves are part of one distinct population segment."

The review of each state’s management plan included peer review by 11 national wolf experts, as well as state responses to those comments. The reviews were conducted last fall.

Some of Idaho’s most prominent politicians applauded the Fish and Wildlife Service’s approval of the Gem State’s management blueprint. However, they also pushed for immediate implementation of those plans.

"What remains to be seen now is whether states with approved plans will have meaningful authority to carry out those plans immediately," said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

Citing a population explosion of wolves since their reintroduction to Idaho almost nine years ago, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said he would work with the two neighboring states to begin working toward state management.

"I am pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service has recognized Idaho’s wolf management plan as biologically sound," the governor said. "We will work with the service and our neighbors in Montana and Wyoming to clear the remaining hurdles to delisting the wolf.

"The wolves have recovered biologically. Now let’s get the federal bureaucracy out of the way and let Idaho manage the wolves."

According to Idaho’s plan drafted by the Idaho Legislative Wolf Oversight Committee, wolves will be managed through various means, which include hunting and government control methods.

In Wyoming, more specifically, that means the Fish and Wildlife Service wants the state to adequately address each of the following three concerns:

• Wyoming’s predatory animal status for wolves must be changed. The service recommends changing the classification from "predator" to "trophy game" in order to allow Wyoming to devise a management strategy that provides for self-sustaining populations above recovery goals, regulated harvest and adequate monitoring of that harvest.
  
   
• The Wyoming state law must clearly commit to managing for at least 15 wolf packs within the state.
  
   
• The Wyoming definition of a pack must be consistent among the three states and should be biologically based. The three states are currently collaborating on the criteria that defines a wolf pack.

Meanwhile, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said the wolves would continue to flourish unchecked.

"While we continue to deal with the bureaucracy of delisting the population, the wolves in the three states continue to multiply by leaps and bounds. Without state management of the population, balance will not occur between the needs of the wildlife and the needs of he communities affected by this species.

"I commend the leadership efforts of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in putting our state management plan together and working with the Idaho Legislature to approve it. Idaho has a strong state management plan and should be given the opportunity to demonstrate its strengths."

 

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