ENDANGERED SPECIES — Montana wildlife officials say a Canadian caribou has wandered into northwestern Montana for the second time this spring, and this one has the potential to make history. 

Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife manager Jim Williams tells KCFW-TV the possibly pregnant cow is from a herd that biologists brought to British Columbia to augment an existing herd. 

He says if the caribou gives birth, it would be the first known caribou birth in Montana in over 50 years.  

A biologist in Libby is tracking the animal in the Purcell Mountains, near the Yaak River and anyone who spots a caribou is asked to report the sighting to FWP. 

In late April, state wildlife officials located a collared caribou that was feared dead, got it medical treatment and returned it to Canada.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Two plants found exclusively on or adjacent to Washington’s Hanford National Monument warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. 

Both species, the Umtanum Desert buckwheat and the White Bluffs bladderpod, are found primarily on federal lands, occupying cliffs overlooking the Columbia River.

The Service is proposing to list the Umtanum desert buckwheat and the White Bluffs bladderpod as threatened.  A species listed as threatened is considered likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

The agency is also proposing to designate critical habitat for each plant: approximately 344 acres for Umtanum Desert buckwheat and approximately 2,861 acres for White Bluffs bladderpod. All of the land proposed for critical habitat for the Umtanum Desert buckwheat is federally-owned. Of the 2,861acres proposed as critical habitat for the bladderpod 2,400 are federally-owned. The remainder of the proposed critical habitat is a mix of state (42 acres) and private lands (419 acres).

More photos are available here.

Read on for details.

PREDATORS — Adding trapping and eliminating quotas will be on the table as Montana's wildlife regulators meet Thursday to consider proposed ways to to reduce the number of wolves in the state.

In 2011, despited a lengthy wolf hunting seasons, the gray wolf population rose 15 percent to at least 653 animals. Ranchers and hunters concerned about livestock and big-game kills complained that number is too high.

Last fall and winter, 166 wolves were killed in Montana’s first hunt since Congress removed the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list in May 2011.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners will hear a proposal to remove the statewide quota. The agency instead would shut down the hunt where officials determine enough wolves have been killed.

The proposed changes also include allowing trapping and ending the season on Feb. 28.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — A trail-cam image of a pair of gray wolves in the Methow Valley is raising the possibility that the Lookout Pack may be regrouping — and possibly reproducing.

The wolves (above) were photographed in April by a motion-activated camera put out by the U.S. Forest Service southwest of Twisp. 

Several sightings of the pair have been reported to the Washington Fish and Wildlfie Department, offering the possibility the pair may have mated and the Lookout Pack is rebuilding.

Poaching and other possible causes reduced the Lookout Pack from 10 wolves in 2008 to two or possibly three animals.

Three members of a Twisp family, whose ranch borders the area inhabited by the Lookout Pack, pleaded guilty in April to charges related to killing endangered wolves and attempting to smuggle a wolf hide to Canada.

Their fines total more than $70,000

The the photographed pair are a breeding male and female, pups could be born in early May.

“Without radio-collared animals, our next best chance of finding out more will be when the pups are old enough to leave the den and start responding to howling solicitations – probably not until mid-June,” Scott Fitkin, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, told the Methow Valley News.

Elsewhere in Washington

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is trying to document whether wolves confirmed in about five new areas of the state have formed new packs.

WDFW biologists currently are attempting to trap and fix radio collars on wolves in the “wedge” area between the Columbia and Kettle rivers in northeast Washington.

Officials say that operation likely will move next to the Hozomeen area in northwest WA.

Efforts to put collars on wolves in the Touchet River area of the Blue Mountains likely won't begin until later this spring or early summer, officials say.

OUTDOORS — As sage grouse have been strutting during the spring mating season, ranchers are working with state and federal officials to keep the prairie grouse from becoming the spotted owl of the West.

The iconic bird with the showy mating dance is experiencing population declines, and government land managers, with help from ranchers and conservation groups, are pouring tens of millions of dollars and rewriting dozens of management plans to protect habitat where the birds still thrive.

Click here to see a Great Falls Tribune story and videos about sage grouse efforts in Montana.

The goal of the sweeping plans, occurring on both private and public lands in 11 states, is to increase the population and avert the listing of the bird as a threatened and endangered species, which experts say would bring tougher restrictions on grazing and energy development.

“It would just have catastrophic impacts on our food and energy security, much of which comes out of the West,” said Dave Naugle, a wildlife professor at the University of Montana who is serving as science adviser for the national sage grouse initiative headed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Three members of a Methow Valley family who raised havoc with the Lookout Pack, the first re-population of wolves discovered in Washington, were fined a total of more than $73,000 in plea agreements entered in Spokane federal court.

Some conservation groups are making headlines saying they think those penalties weren't enough, arguing the family members should get jail time.

Maybe, maybe not.

But perhaps the Seattle PI online gives us a perspective on how these issues are viewed on Western Washington. There's nothing particularly wrong with the story, but the headline caught my attention:

WOLF KILLERS IN METHOW GET OFF WITH PROBATION

What do you think? 

Is accurate to suggest a family that's had to pay $73,000 in fines and restitution is “getting off with probation?”

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Tom D. White, 37, and his wife, Erin J. White, 37, of Twisp, Wash., have entered guilty pleas in plea agreements involving illegal conduct relating to endangered wolves.

Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, just announced the deal in Spokane.

On April 4, William D. White, 62, pleaded guilty in the same case to conspiring to kill a protected wolf and send its pelt to a friend in Canada in return for the friend's help in illegally killing a moose.

The older White admitted guilt to the charges of conspiracy to take an endangered species, conspiracy to transport endangered species and unlawful importation of wildlife. The importation charge stemmed from the moose, which White brought back to the Methow Valley from Canada, along with a whitetail deer.

As part of the overall agreement, William White was fined $38,500 and lost possession of a trap, two guns and any remaining wolf parts in his possession.

Today White's son, Tom White plead guilty to killing two endangered gray wolves in May and December of 2008.

Erin White pleaded guilty on two counts involving exporting an endangered species.

The younger Whites each face maximum penalties of up to one year in prison for each offense. But under the agreement, Tom White will pay fines and restitution totaling $30,000 and forfeit the firearm used to kill the wolves.

Erin White has agreed to pay $5,000 in fines.

The U.S. Attorney is recommending probation for both of the younger Whites.

A sentencing hearing has been set for July 11.

PREDATORS — With wolf-related issues burning or smoldering all over the place, a high-level panel is coming together for a public discussion at the University of Idaho Thursday night (April 5).

The Environmental Law Society is focusing on wolves, one of the most politicized and difficult issues in environmental law.

• Ed Bangs (former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wolf Recovery Coordinator) will provide the scientific background;
• Professor Dale Goble (University of Idaho College of Law) will describe the law surrounding wolf de-listing;
• Professor John Freemuth (Boise State Masters of Public Administration Program) will talk about what public policy makers consider when negotiating their way through divergent interests to a workable solution. 

The presentation is set for Thursday, 6:30 p.m.,  Room 104, Menard Law Building

PREDATORS — Idaho's wolf trapping seasons closed March 31 in all wolf management zones, and hunting seasons have closed in all but the Lolo and Selway zones where hunting seasons remain open through June 30.

As of April 2, hunters had killed 252 wolves, and trappers 123, for a total of 375 wolves, the Idaho Fish and Game Department reports. The agency says it sold about 43,300 wolf tags for the 2011-2012 season.

For the remainder of the 2011-2012 season, hunters may use two 2012 tags, and they may take only one wolf per tag. Wolf seasons are any-weapon seasons, electronic calls may be used, and wolves may be taken incidentally during fall bear baiting.

Hunters must report killing a wolf within 72 hours, and they must present the skull and hide to an Idaho Fish and Game office within 10 days.

Wolf trapping seasons opened November 15 in the Panhandle zone, except for units 2 and 3; in the Lolo zone; in the Dworshak-Elk City zone, except Unit 10A; in the Selway zone; and the Middle Fork zone. Unit 10 A was opened to trapping on February 1.

All trapping seasons ran through March 31 and are now closed.

The 2012-2013 wolf hunting season will open throughout the state on August 30, and the trapping season will open November 15 in some wolf zones.

PREDATORS — Hunters and trappers can be their own worst enemies.

The World Wide Web saw red this weekend as animal rights groups took great pleasure in spreading photos of hunters and trappers posing in bloody scenes with their wolves.

The most offensive features a man keeling and smiling. In the background, in a circle of snow tinted with blood, is a wolf, its tongue hanging out, its foot clamped in a leg-hold trap. Men posing with dead wolves is sufferable. In this case, the guy is mugging for the camera while the wolf suffers in the background.

Then the idiot posted the photo on the Internet.

Here's a Reuters story on the outrage, which of course is being spread by animal rights group giddy with the opportunity.

Read on for a few terse thoughts about the extremes in the wolf issue.

WILDLIFE — A major elk herd that migrates between Yellowstone National Park and Montana suffered another steep decline last year due to a hard winter, predator attacks and hunting, state and federal scientists said Tuesday.

An Associated Press report says new data from wildlife agencies show the Northern Yellowstone elk herd is down to about 4,174 animals, a 10 percent drop from the prior year’s count. That follows a 24 percent drop in 2011.

Yellowstone biologist Doug Smith said the herd remains healthy despite its smaller size. The number is more in line with historic levels since wolves were reintroduced and grizzly bears and mountain lions returned naturally, he said.

The herd peaked at about 20,000 animals in 1992, a few years before wolves were brought back from Canada after being absent from the region for decades. Since then, the herd has declined about 80 percent.

Read on for details from the AP.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Up to 10 wolf packs could be roaming in Washington, according to a new wolf recovery map (above) posted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

If the evidence leads to confirmation, that would be 100 percent increase in the state's verified wolf packs over the past year.

Most of the wolf activity is in northeastern Washington, but the pack activity is being found in the Blue Mountains and even the North Cascades.

A good update on the Washington wolf situation, summarizing the presentation state wildlife officials made at the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commisison earlier this month, has been posted by Andy Walgamott of Northwest Sportsman Magazine.

The Washington Fish and Wildlfie Department recently introduced an online wolf-reporting tool that enables the public to help alert wolf researchers to expanding wolf activity.

Click here to listen to the audio transcript of the March 9 wolf presentation.

PREDATORS — The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation wants wolves to be more aggressively managed in Montana and they’re offering state wildlife officials at least $50,000 to contract with federal trappers to kill more of the predators.

RMEF President David Allen tells the Missoulian the state isn’t using remedies allowed under the wolf management plan to the fullest.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim says the agency is still considering the offer, according to the Associated Press.

Mike Leahy with Defenders of Wildlife argues that assistance from conservation organizations should further conservation, not undermine it.

Despite months of open public wolf hunting and some Wildlife Services action to kill wolves causing livestock losses, biologists estimate Montana’s wolf population grew by at least 15 percent last year compared to 2010 levels.

The state had at least 643 wolves at the end of 2011. FWP Director Joe Maurier has said the goal in Montana is about 425 wolves.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Citing requests from Idaho’s governor, local governments and the Kootenay Tribe, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a 60-day extension for public comment on a proposal to designate critical habitat for woodland caribou in the Selkirk Mountains.

The federal agency made the announcement this morning along with scheduling a public hearing on the proposal for April 28 in Bonners Ferry.

The woodland caribou that range from North Idaho and a sliver of northeastern Washington north into British Columbia are listed as an endangered species.

Federal biologists have proposed designating 375,565 acres of high-elevation critical habitat in Idaho and Washington for the caribou. They say the designation would have little impact on protections that already are in place.

Idaho’s Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and Boundary County officials asked for an extension to the comment period that was announced in November as well as additional opportunities for citizens to participate in public processes regarding the proposal, FWS officials said.

“We recognize the public’s interest in this issue and will work together to help citizens fully understand our proposal to designate critical habitat for caribou,” said Brian Kelly, the Service’s State Supervisor for Idaho.

FWS is re-opening the public comment period on the caribou proposal until May 21, 2012.

Read on for more details about the proposal and the public meeting in Bonners Ferry.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Bonner County commissioners in Sandpoint have approved spending up to $10,000 as part of plan to have Selkirk Mountains woodland caribou taken off the federal endangered species list, according to a story moved by the Associated Press.

Commissioners last week unanimously approved a plan that involves a contract with the Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm that focuses on property rights. Commissioners also approved a memorandum of understanding that allows the public to contribute money to the effort.

“We're going to seek out donors,” Commissioner Mike Nielsen told the Bonner County Daily Bee.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1984 listed the caribou as a protected species. Woodland caribou, rarely-seen creatures with their antlers stand as tall as a man, are struggling to survive in the United States, precariously occupying one remote area of the Northwest as a final toehold in the Lower 48.

Continue reading, more from the AP:

HUNTING — A federal appeals court today rejected a lawsuit from conservation groups that want to block wolf hunts that have killed more than 500 of the predators across the Northern Rockies in recent months, according to a just-filed Associated Press report

The ruling from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Congress had the right to intervene when it stripped protections from wolves last spring.

Lawmakers stepped in after court rulings kept wolves on the endangered list for years after they reached recovery goals.

Michael Robinson with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued to restore protections, said an appeal was under consideration but no decision had been made.

Read on for more details from the Associated Press.

PREDATORS — Idaho has posted its 2011 annual summary of wolf monitoring.

Although much of this was reported last week, here are some compilations and updates:

• Idaho wolf numbers are down for the second consecutive year.
• At the end of 2011, 746 wolves were documented in 101 Idaho wolf packs, down from a high of 856 wolves at the end of 2009. At the end of 2010, the population estimate was 777 wolves.
• 24 documented border packs were counted for Montana, Wyoming and Washington that established territories overlapping the Idaho state boundary and spent some time in Idaho.
• Of the 63 packs known to have reproduced in Idaho, 40 packs qualified as breeding pairs by the end of the year.
• 10 previously unknown packs were documented during 2011, but the overall net increase was only six packs in the state, with four other packs removed during the year.
• 296 wolves were confirmed killed in Idaho during 2011. Of known wolf mortalities, hunter and trapper harvest accounted for 200 deaths, and agency control and legal landowner take in response to wolf-livestock depredation accounted for 63 deaths.
• 18 wolf deaths were attributed to other human causes, including illegal take. The cause of 12 wolf mortalities could not be determined and were listed as unknown, and 3 wolves were known to have died of natural causes.
• Livestock losses to wolves included 71 cattle, 121 sheep, three horses, six dogs and two domestic bison. Probably wolf kills included 19 cattle, 26 sheep, one horse and one dog.

In addition, since the beginning of this year, 145 wolves have been killed in Idaho by hunters and trappers, 14 were killed in a Lolo Zone aerial control action, nine have been taken in other Wildlife Service control actions around the state and one died of parvovirus.

That brings the 2012 toll on Idaho wolves to 169 as of Monday.

• Idaho's 2011-2012 hunting and trapping seasons in MOST remaining open areas including the Panhandle end March 31.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northern Rocky Mountain wolf progress report includes reports from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

WILDLIFE — Yellowstone National Park officials say the park’s wolf population has stabilized at about 100 wolves over the last two years.

The Billings Gazette reports that represents about a 60 percent reduction from 2007 wolf numbers as elk populations have also declined.

In December, Yellowstone officials said the herd numbered just more than 4,600, a drop from their peak of 19,000 decades.   Most people agree that 19,000 elk was too many for the area.  The current elk population, however, is cause for concern to many hunting groups outside the park.

The largest Yellowstone wolf pack last year was the 19-member Molly Pack that usually stays in the Pelican Valley in the park’s interior.

But officials say a lack of snowfall made it harder to kill bison so the pack migrated to the Lamar Valley.

That forced competition with wolf packs already in the area, and officials say six wolves with radio collars have been killed in pack rivalries.

Officials estimate about 25,000 visitors to the park last year saw wolves, mainly in the Slough Creek and Lamar Valley regions.

Quotable

“I hear from environmental groups all over the United States when we started our very successful wolf hunt, that, 'Why was I killing all those wolves, and how beautiful they are.'

“You respond back to them and say, 'When was the last time you came to Idaho and spent some money to look at a wolf?'”

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, testifying before Congress on the need for the federal government to provide more funding to states for wolf management.
- Idaho Statesman

ENDANGERED SPECIES — This map, included in the latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report on wolf populations in the Northern Rockies, shows current territories of the packs in Washington and Oregon, where wolves are still protected.

Washington has five documented packs and 27 wolves going into the pupping season.

Oregon has five documented packs and 29 wolves.

See this blog post for more details just released regarding wolves throughout the Northern Rockies.