Pass The Ammo

(photo credit)

Wolves have always been an issue for hunters and ranchers in the Idaho Panhandle. The threat of running into a wolf in the woods is not so great that everybody has, but everyone knows someone who has. So hatred of the wolf has become pretty strong. I think the main reason for the hatred is the fact that we cannot destroy them when we do encounter one. Hunters have had to stand idly by while their best hound dog was torn apart, after a mistake encounter.

There are apparently only three packs in the northern part of the Panhandle. But they have yet to cause any problems. It’s more the lone wolves that get into tangles with hunters and ranchers’ cattle.

There have been a couple groups working toward removing wolves from the protected species list. And it seems that we’ll be able to shoot em only in a tangle come early next year. This is more toward the common sense approach that we’ve been trying for.

I really don’t see why we even reintroduced them back in 1995. What good does a wolf have to offer the ecosystem? Why let wolves reduce the elk count, when a paying hunter can better manage their growth?

Wolves slowly handed to state
Posted: Thursday, Sep 20, 2007 - 11:07:54 pm PDT
By SEAN GARMIRE

Animals to be delisted as early as February 2008

NORTH IDAHO — A plan that could alter the way wolves are managed in Idaho has been reopened for public comment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The proposed plan would grant state and tribal governments flexibility in killing wolves if they are shown to have caused a major decline in elk, deer or moose populations.

The plan would also give citizens on private or public land the legal right to kill a wolf that is in the act of attacking their dog or stock animal.

The amendments represent an ongoing transition of power, as the federal Fish and Wildlife Service passes on a greater degree of wolf management authority to state governments.

The proposed alterations only apply to “nonessential” experimental populations in the Central Idaho and Yellowstone areas of the northern Rocky Mountains, and would not apply to any wolves living north of Interstate 90. Those populations will remain on the endangered list.

“We’ve got more and more wolves, and we recognize we’ve got a recovered wolf population,” said Ed Bangs, a wolf recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wolves have proven to be surprisingly dynamic species. Since the experimental populations were reintroduced starting in 1995 their numbers have steadily risen across Idaho. By the end of 2006, an estimated 1,300 wolves ranged the northern Rocky Mountain area — almost three times the minimum goal. At that time surveys showed 673 wolves lived in Idaho.

Packs have even been established in Bonner and Boundary Counties. Around three packs now live in the Panhandle north of I-90, likely made up of naturally dispersing individuals that crossed the Canadian border some time in the 1980s.

Idaho Fish and Game Regional Wildlife Manager Jim Hayden said North Idaho hunters should not worry about wolves. Extensive wildlife research has shown wolves do not drive game populations, he said.

“Wolves can impact game that are harvested by hunters, but not dramatically. The number of prey determines the number of wolves,” Bangs said.

When game populations do decline it is often the result of a variety of factors that include habitat quality, winter weather, drought, black bear and mountain lion predation as well as hunting by humans.

However, predatory wolves often play a role in lowering game populations below state goals.

“In some situations wolves can compete with hunters, and affect big game populations,” Bangs said.

The proposed amendments to the rule would allow the state to decrease wolf populations south of I-90, after game managers show wolves are a major cause of the decline. The amendment would require the state to peer review the data and open it to public comment before enacting wolf culling.

“Hunters have a legitimate concern, but just in a few areas,” Bangs said.

While this rule would not apply to wolves north of I-90, Hayden said there is little worry the wolf population, which is marginal in the Panhandle, would result in any major game declines.

“Currently the wolves in Bonner and Boundary counties are not affecting ungulates in any measurable degree,” he said. “There aren’t many wolves up there.”

“That’s not to say they couldn’t,” he added.

Wolves could eventually have an effect on game numbers in North Idaho, if their population increases significantly, or if deer and elk populations suddenly decrease.

Hayden said, regardless, it should be a good year for hunters in North Idaho. During last year’s hunting season, deer hunters in the northernmost unit had a 52 percent success rate, with 3,658 deer taken. A total of 400 elk were also harvested from the unit.

Wolves have had an impact on private property in Idaho. According to some estimates, around 35 hunting dogs have been killed by wolves in the past 19 years. No pet dogs have ever been confirmed killed by wolves while people were present, however, some hunting hounds have been killed while owners were close enough that they could have protected their animals by shooting at the wolves.

Currently, private individuals are not allowed to kill wolves on public land. Nor can landowners legally take wolves on public land.

The proposed alterations would empower private citizens on private or public land to kill a wolf while it is in the act of attacking their livestock or dog, as long as there is no evidence of baiting, feeding or deliberate wolf attractant.

“We’re liberalizing these regulations so people can protect their private property,” Bangs said.

Ultimately, the alterations are little more than a stopgap measure, Bangs said. The proposed alternatives will function as a contingency plan, which would improve management strategies in the case where the Fish and Wildlife Service has difficulties removing wolves from the endangered status.

And, delisting isn’t far off.

Wolves could be delisted as early as February 2008, Bangs said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Fish and Game have produced management plans, and the organization will likely hand the reins to the state.

At that time “wolves will be totally delisted from the endangered species act, and that will include public harvest,” Bangs said.

Steve Nadeau, the Idaho Fish and Game large carnivore manager and state wolf program coordinator, said wolf hunting will start soon after they are delisted.

The state is developing harvest strategies, which could be available for public review in November.

Nadeau said he did not know how many wolves will be allowed to be shot, but the Idaho population will not be reduced below the mandatory population of 15 breeding pairs.

“The state plan indicates wolves will be allowed to exist where they don’t cause conflict. Hunting will reduce populations in those areas where they cause conflicts,” Nadeau said.

“We’re not as concerned about the (population) numbers as we are concerned about the conflicts.”