Idaho hunters killed 188 wolves last season. Now, a federal judge and an inadequate wolf management plan in Wyoming are preventing hunters from legally taking any wolves this coming fall and winter.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy ruled on Thursday, Aug. 5, that the northern Rocky Mountain wolf population, which roams through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, must be relisted under the Endangered Species Act.
Wolves in the three states were first removed from the ESA in early 2008, but were ordered relisted by Molloy later that year. Then, in early 2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted wolves for a second time, but only in Idaho and Montana. The Fish and Wildlife Service left Wyoming out of the second delisting due to its wolf management plan that classified wolves as predators across most of the state, allowing them to be shot on sight.
Under Molloy's long-awaited ruling, the entire northern Rocky Mountain wolf population must be relisted, despite previously approved management plans in Idaho and Montana.
"The lack of a plan from Wyoming has been a bit of a speed bump," said Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "Wyoming has to sort out its differences with the federal government for the rest of us to move forward."
This decision has effectively canceled public wolf hunts for 2010-11 in Idaho and Montana, frustrating hunters and Fish and Game officials alike.
"It's disappointing that (Molloy) didn't just leave it the way it was and tell Wyoming to hurry up and catch up," said Ken Enslinger, spokesman for the group Idaho Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife.
Enslinger said he's spoken with hunters who have seen the elk population in Idaho drop as a result of rising wolf numbers, and he's concerned the judge's ruling will further reduce elk numbers.
Wildlife officials in both Idaho and Montana had used last year's public wolf hunt to manage wolf numbers and try to reduce impact on big-game herds, but that option is no longer available.
"It's hard to manage wolves when you don't have all the tools," said Sime. "There are real management needs on the ground."
Wayne Wright, Idaho Fish and Game commissioner for the Magic Valley Region, expressed similar concerns in a statement on Thursday, saying, "This is a major setback for responsible wildlife management in Idaho ... this is not how the Endangered Species Act should work."
Fish and Game estimates there are 835 wolves in Idaho, well above the numbers established for official recovery. Without a public hunting season, the department anticipates the population will grow to 1,000 by the end of this year.
Public hunts are not the only way to manage wolves, however, and Idaho officials have not ruled out other ways of keeping the population down.
"We're looking at all options," said Kelton Hatch, spokesman for the Magic Valley Region of Idaho Fish and Game.
Hatch said many of Idaho's wolves are in what is known as an experimental population, which allows the state some leeway.
This leeway is due to a provision of the ESA. Known as the 10(j) rule, this provision allows states with approved wolf management plans to protect game herds and private property in populations that are classified as "experimental."
All wolves south of Interstate 90 in northern Idaho are listed as experimental. This means, among other things, that landowners in much of the state can kill a wolf caught in the act of attacking livestock or pets, which is not otherwise allowed under the act. It also allows Fish and Game to carry out approved control actions as necessary.
And they are necessary, according to Hatch.
"Depredations (instances of wolves killing livestock) this year have gone way down," he said. "If we don't have a hunt in the near future, I can see those going up."
Todd Grimm, western district supervisor for Idaho Wildlife Services, agreed.
"If nothing changes and wolves aren't delisted, we'll see more depredation in 2011," he said.
While Fish and Game sees 10(j) as a way to keep a semblance of Idaho's wolf management plan in place, wolf advocates say this "loophole" prevents wolves from being truly protected.
"It's a bad rule," said Lynne Stone, director of the conservation group the Boulder-White Clouds Council. "It's like, OK, the wolves are protected again—actually, they're not."
Stone has been tracking wolves since 2006, and says she believes more wolves were killed during the last hunting season than were reported.
"You've got to think that for every wolf shot in the hunt, maybe another one was shot (illegally)," she said.
Stone cited the comment boards for the Idaho Mountain Express Web site and comments on anti-wolf blogs as places anonymous posters gather to boast about shooting wolves, legally or not.
If the two sides of the wolf issue can agree on anything, it is that the ESA needs revisiting. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter called the act "irreparably broken" in a statement issued on Thursday.
Rodger Schlickeisen, president of the national nonprofit group Defenders of Wildlife, called the ruling a "significant victory," while the Defenders' Northern Rockies representative Suzanne Stone expressed only qualified optimism after Molloy's decision.
"The court's decision demonstrates the problems inherent in the federal government's current delisting scheme," she said Thursday. "We need a new approach."
But until a new approach is developed and the entire population can be delisted, Idaho hunters will have to apply for wolf tag refunds and wait for Wyoming to come up with an approved wolf management plan.
"All eyes are back to Wyoming," Sime said.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
What about the elk?
With the release of a recent Idaho Department of Fish and Game study, the impact of wolves on elk is in the spotlight. Will the canceled wolf hunt affect elk hunting this season?
Not likely, said Kelton Hatch, spokesman for the Magic Valley region of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
"We're not happy with the decision," Hatch said, "but I don't see it affecting this year's elk hunt."
Lynne Stone, president of conservation group the Boulder-White Clouds Council, said she hasn't noticed a drop in local elk populations, even before the Phantom Hill and Solider Mountain wolf packs shrank.
Stone has tracked wolves for years, and she said she often finds them by looking in likely elk-grazing spots.
"You have elk, you're going to have wolves," she said.
Stone said she's seen wolves near Deer Creek and Greenhorn Gulch, and in the Golden Eagle subdivision north of Hailey, where people have been feeding the elk.
It appears wolves in Idaho will not be hunted this fall and winter, but the state might still have leeway to kill some of the canines. Photo by Mountain Express
