Recent wolf activity in the Sun Valley area has prompted the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to tell local dog owners to keep a close eye on their pets.
Fish and Game officials told the Blaine County Commission Tuesday that the presence of the Phantom Hill wolf pack near local homes and trails threatens the safety of people's domestic, canine friends. The department sought unsuccessfully to have county officials close the partially snow-covered Trail Creek Road northeast of Sun Valley to recreational use while the pack is in the area.
Fish and Game officials are placing a number of signs warning of the presence of wolves at trailheads in the Independence Gulch, Parker Gulch, Proctor Mountain and Trail Creek areas. Wolves view their domestic cousins as a threat, said Regan Berkley, the department's Magic Valley regional wildlife biologist.
"It's a good idea keep your dog leashed or under control," she said.
Berkley said Fish and Game conservation officers found and carried off 22 elk carcasses the pack killed in the Wood River Valley from late February through March. She said 16 of those known kills were elk calves.
Based on the results of a tracking flight this week, the warnings may not be as quite as timely. On Thursday, Berkley said Fish and Game found the pack in a remote area 10 miles northeast of Sun Valley during the flight.
County Commissioner Larry Schoen, who along with the rest of the commission has been a strong supporter of non-lethal measures to keep local sheep bands and wolves separate, said he does believe some lethal control is needed to manage wolves. Last year, the commission voted to provide funding to the Wood River Wolf Project, which successfully kept the Phantom Hill wolves from attacking sheep on forest lands northwest of Ketchum.
Wildlife officials say only one sheep was killed by the pack last summer. The wolves were linked to the deaths of about a dozen sheep during the previous summer.
Schoen expressed optimism that county residents can learn to live with wolves. He noted that locals already coexist with cougars, a species that is managed by Fish and Game.
"In my opinion, cougars are a lot more unpredictable than wolves," he said.
Jason Kauffman: jkauffman@mtexpress.com
