PREDATORS — Gov. Jay Inslee today signed legislation that will provide state wildlife managers more resources to prevent wolf-livestock conflict and expand criteria for compensation to livestock owners for wolf-related losses.

• Increases the state's personalized license plate fee by $10, effective Oct. 1, with the proceeds to support WDFW's efforts to monitor wolf recovery and prevent wolf-livestock conflict in collaboration with farmers, ranchers and local governments, and to compensate livestock owners. The Department of Licensing estimates the fee will raise more than $1.5 million during the upcoming two-year budget cycle.
• Allows WDFW to compensate livestock owners for their losses at the current market value of the animals.
• Permits compensation regardless of whether livestock owners were raising the animals for commercial purposes.
• Revises other elements of state law to make it more consistent with the state's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan as adopted by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission in December 2011.

PREDATORS — Federal wildlife officials are postponing a much-anticipated decision on whether to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states.

In a court filing Monday in Billings, Mont., government attorneys say “a recent unexpected delay” is indefinitely holding up action on the predators. No further explanation was offered.

Gray wolves are under protection as an endangered species and have recovered dramatically from widespread extermination in recent decades.

More than 6,000 of the animals now roam the continental U.S. Most live in the Northern Rockies and western Great Lakes, where protections already have been lifted.

The protections are still in effect for most of Washington.

A draft proposal to lift protections elsewhere drew strong objections when it was revealed last month.

Wildlife advocates and some members of Congress argue that the wolf's recovery is incomplete because the animal occupies just a fraction of its historical range.

State and federal wildlife biologists and groups respresenting agriculture and hunting interests say wolves have recovered dramatically fast and must be managed to control the impact they have on livestock and big game herds in certain areas.

Bringing back Washington's prairie grouse

 Out & About: Washington raising stakes for drunk boating … REI project to boost Little Spokane River Trail … Mountain bikers gear up for 24 Hours … Two Rivers walleye derby … Angler nailed for taking two limits

Lake trout indirectly impact Yellowstone elk

Field Reports: Pend Oreille River pike netting continues…Elk group waives fee for auctions… Montana separates parks from wildlife agency

Wind turbines threaten eagles

Everest's glaciers melting, images show

Judge mandates joint talks on lynx protection

Nonlethal tactics used for Canada goose control in parks

 Weekly Hunting and Fishing Report

Landers: State needs public help on wolves, moose

PREDATORS — There's a little less  love for wolves in central Idaho this week.

Idaho issues 2 kill permits on wolves near Carey after 31 sheep killed
Between May 10 and May 12, John Peavey, the owner of the Flat Top Ranch near Carey, Idaho, lost 13 ewes and 18 lambs to wolves. Idaho Wildlife Services has issued a kill permit for up to two wolves.
—Idaho Mountain Express (Sun Valley)

WILDLIFE — Elk numbers in Montana's Bitterroot Valley are up this year mostly because of better calf survival, according to reseachers.

This year’s aerial spring count found 7,373 elk in the five hunting districts that encircle the Bitterroot Valley. That's the fourth highest number of elk spotted by biologists in the 48-year history of the annual spring survey.

Range conditions and more emphasis on controlling wolves, cougars and bears played a roll in the increase, biologists say.

Read the story in the Ravalli Republic.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — Some pro-wolf groups say hanging red ribbons on fences around pastures will protect cattle from wolf attacks. 

The theory is getting another test this spring in the Wenatchee area, site of the most recently documented new wolf pack in Washington.

Question: Does this mean the end of the open range?

Let's just say there could possibly mean a BIG MARKET for red ribbon in the West.

See the KING 5 TV report and video.

WILDLIFE — Which predator gets the blame for poor survival of elk calves in Yellowstone National Park?

A. Gray wolf.

B. Grizzly bear.

C. Lake trout.

Answer:  All of the above.

Check out the Billings Gazette story on the latest suprising research — which shouldn't be all that surprising to wildlife enthusiasts who understand the complex ways nature is connected.

PREDATORS – An update on gray wolf status in Washington will be presented by the state Fish and Wildlife Department’s top wildlife managers in Spokane this week.

Nate Pamplin, the state’s assistant wildlife director, will be joined by Dave Ware, wildlife program manager, and Richard Harris, special species specialist in a presentation on Tuesday, 7 p.m., at the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council auditorium, 6116 N. Market.

In an apparent reference to the rudeness exhibited at two agency wolf presentations in Colville this year, wildlife council officers posted this notice in the club's May newsletter meeting announcement:

“Please be respectful with your questions and keep on track with them. Anyone who is disruptive, badgering or just (making) rude or un-tasteful comments will be asked to leave, period.”

ENDANGERED SPECIES — The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has voted unanimously to allow people without a special permit to shoot a wolf caught in the act of attacking a pet or livestock.

The emergency rule was enacted in an urgently called teleconference meeting that started at 1 p.m.

See story just posted by S-R Olympia Bureau reporter Jim Camden, who sat in on the teleconference.

Click “continue reading” below for all the details from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Also:

See the fact sheet the commissioners were briefed with (click on “Summary and attachment” under Agenda).

See my posts leading up to the meeting and link to today's news story from S-R Olympia Bureau reporter Jim Camden advancing the meeting.

See another story that broke today: Feds ready to delist wolves from ESA protections.

UPDATED 3:45 p.m. 4-26-13 with details from WDFW

ENDANGERED SPECIES — The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has voted unanimously to allow people without a special permit to shoot a wolf caught in the act of attacking a pet or livestock.

The emergency rule was enacted in an urgently called teleconference meeting that started at 1 p.m.

See story just posted by S-R Olympia Bureau reporter Jim Camden, who sat in on the teleconference.

Click “continue reading” below for all the details from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

Also:

See the fact sheet the commissioners were briefed with (click on “Summary and attachment” under Agenda).

See my posts leading up to the meeting and link to today's news story from S-R Olympia Bureau reporter Jim Camden advancing the meeting.

See another story that broke today: Feds ready to delist wolves from ESA protections.
  

ENDANGERED SPECIES — As reports surfaced today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the gray wolf from endangered species protections, the costs of the recovery are being totaled:

Between 1991 and 2011, the federal government spent $102 million on gray wolf recovery programs and state agencies chipped in $15.6 million. Federal spending likely would drop if the proposal to lift protections goes through, while state spending would increase. 

And the management job's not done. Scanning the news I see that in the past week:

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services verified that two wolves killed five ewes and eight lambs on a ranch in Montana near Gardiner, and the rancher has been given a shoot-on-sight permit to remove the wolves should they return.
• A wolf was observed killing a deer at the edge of a Wenatchee neighborhood.
• A wolf was killed by a motor vehicle on Highway 97 (old Blewett Pass route) in southern Chelan County.
• A dead calf near Twisp is being investigated Wednesday as a possible wolf kill.

Read on for the latest update on the delisting story by The Associated Press.

ENDANGERED SPECIES - The Los Angeles Times reports today that the feds are getting ready to announce their proposal to remove gray wolves from Endangered species protections.

Mike Jimenez, who manages wolves in the northern Rockies for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said delisting in that region underscored a “huge success story.”

The sweeping rule by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would eliminate protection for wolves 18 years after the government reestablished the predators in the West, where they had been hunted to extinction. Their reintroduction was a success, with the population growing to the thousands.

Pro wolf groups already are arguing that the move would cut short wolf recovery before the species has advanced anywhere near its former range, including Colorado and Utah.

But it's clear that state and federal wildlife manager are saying wolves have reestablished better than scientists had predicted and the headaches and social impact make delisting a prudent step in the wolf's best interest.

• Washington wildlife managers wild decide today whether to enact an emergency rule giving landowners authority without a special permit to shoot a wolf that's attacking their pets or livestock. See details here.
• S-R Olympia Bureau reporter Jim Camden has a wolf report from the Legislature.

The presence of wolves has always drawn protests across the Intermountain West from state officials, hunters and ranchers who lost livestock to the wolves. They have lobbied to remove the gray wolf from the endangered list.

Jimenez said that while wolves are now legally hunted in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the federal agency continues to monitor pack populations and can reinstate protections should numbers reach levels that biologists consider to be dangerously low.

Federal authorities intend to remove endangered species protections for all gray wolves in the Lower 48 states, carving out an a exception for a small pocket of about 75 Mexican wolves in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico, according to a draft document obtained by The Times.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT — Lawmakers in Olympia apparently have worked out a compromise for dealing with two wolf-related bills still alive in the 2013 Washington Legislature.

Both of the measures have wide support in Northeastern Washington as well as the endorsement of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlfie biologists, but their linkage has been stalled by some groups in on the West Side.

According to reports from legislators:

Senate Bill 5193, authorizing a state wolf vehicle license plate to collect money earmarked for non-lethal wolf management programs has been maneuvered out of committee and is expected to be adopted Friday.

Senate Bill 5187, which would allow people to kill a wolf without a permit in the case of a wolf attack on pets or livestock, will be presented to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission with a recommendaton to be enacted immediately by an emergency rule.  

As reported in my blog this morning, the special commission teleconference is set for Friday at 1 p.m., but the discussion has narrrowed to just the provisions of SB5187 now that the Legislature has taken action on the non-lethal control measure. 

• People keenly interested can listen to the meeting live via telecommunications at WDFW regional offices in Spokane, Ephrata and Yakima.

If this works, it's win-win for legislators and wildlife managers. West Side Dems can vote on the non-lethal control option which is not controversial without having to vote on a lethal control measure that would stir up pro-wolf groups like a pack in a sheep pen.

The non-elected Fish and Wildlife Commission is being asked to make the more controversial decision, which many people see as important to qwelling the anger and frustration with burgeoning wolf packs in northeastern Washington.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT — The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commisison's urgently scheduled meeting to discuss a proposal to give people authority to kill wolves that attack pets or livestock will not be broadcast live online as previously reported.

• People keenly interested can listen to the meeting live via telecommunications at WDFW regional offices in Spokane, Ephrata and Yakima. The commission's teleconference meeting is set to start Friday at 1 p.m.

Otherwise the public will be able to go online to listen to a recording of the special meeting on wolf measures shortly after adjournment.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commisison office originally said the meeting would be open in a live online audio stream. The staff said the recording would be posted ASAP after the meeting on the commission website.

UPDATED 4/25/13 at 10:50 a.m. regarding recording of upcoming meeting.

ENDANGERED SPECIES — A request to allow landowners to protect people, pets and livestock by killing an attacking wolf without a permit will be considered Friday in a urgently scheduled special meeting of the Washington Fish and Wildlife commision.

Ten state lawmakers — from both parties and both chambers — signed a letter Tuesday (click on document below) requesting the commission to enact provisions of two wolf-control bills that are stalling in the 2013 Washington Legislature.

The bills, which have been endorsed by Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologists, would people to shoot wolves caught in the act of attacking their animals. They also address funding for non-lethal deterrents to wolf depredation.

The measures would apply to the eastern third of Washington where the federal government has delisted gray wolves from federal endangered species protections, but where state protections still apply.

State wildlife managers have testified at legislative committee hearings that the measures would likely result in few wolves killed.

They said the measures would improve social tolerance for the rapidly growing wolf population in northeastern Washington by giving rural dwellers a tool to protect their property if needed.

Idaho and Wyoming enacted similar provisions in the early years of wolf reintroduction and only three wolves were taken, WDFW biologists testified.

However, pressure by animal rights activists in Western Washington apparently have kept lawmakers from moving the measures to final consideration (although the bills are not dead). They apparently were unmoved, even by the testimony of man whose dog was attacked by a wolf on the porch of his house.

Public can listen to recording of wolf issue meeting

The public can listen to a recording of the special meeting on wolf measures shortly after it adjourns. The meeting is set to start Friday at 1 p.m.

• People keenly interested can listen to the meeting live via telecommunications at WDFW regional offices in Spokane, Ephrata and Yakima. 

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commisison office originally said the meeting would be open in a live online audio stream.  But the office announced later that a recording would be posted ASAP after the meeting on the commission website.

Documents:

WILDLIFE — An internationally famous Yellowstone National Park bull elk has died, likely killed by the Canyon wolf pack, which was seen Saturday feeding on his carcass, according to today's report by Brett French of the Billings Gazette.

Elk No. 10, the last to wear a yellow ear tag with the number 10 on it, was found dead about a half mile east of the Wraith Falls trailhead in the park on Saturday, according to Al Nash, the park's chief of public affairs.  The elk was 16-18 years old.

Elk No. 10 became internationally famous after the British Broadcasting Corp. made a film on elk that featured the Mammoth animals as well as those in Estes Park, Colo. Clips from the films “Street Fighters” and “Showdown in Elk Town” can still be found on YouTube.

The large bull elk attracted attention in Gardiner in 2001 when he got his antlers tangled in a badminton net and poles at the Mammoth school. The only way to remove the net was to tranquilize the elk and saw off its antlers. That's when the elk was given its yellow ear tag to ensure that any hunters who saw it that fall would know the elk's meat was unsafe to eat because of the tranquilizer.

“I remember in 2006 when Elk 10 arrived on the Mammoth scene on Sept. 10,” wrote Jim Halfpenny, a Gardner-based naturalist who gives tours in the park, in an email. “He was now big and took the harem over from another bull. In the coming years, he and Elk 6 did battle on more than one occasion. In more recent years he did not come into Mammoth, but maintained a harem of his own between the YCC camp and Mammoth Terraces. Being slightly old, wiser, and lacking the body weight of his youth, it was now time to retreat to a more private place with a smaller harem. He let the younger bulls compete for the prime grazing habitat of Mammoth and the cows that are attracted there.”

WILDLIFE —  A reader submitted this photo snapped Wednesday off I-90 between Wallace and Mullan.  She said the eyes appeared blue like those of a husky, but the animal ran away as though it were wild.

 What's your guess? Wolf, wolf hybrid or husky?

Click “continue reading” for my opinion and the consensus from several Idaho Fish and Game Department wildlife biologists who work with wolves.

PREDATORS — A wolf witnessed hunting a deer in a Wenatchee residential area Tuesday is a dose of reality a little too close to home for some people.

It's a reminder that urban deer need to be controlled, and that we need to have measures in place so we can control wolves.

We need to be aware of wolves — all of us.  The landscape has changed.

Andy Walgamott of Northwest Sportsman magazine offers this reminder of the well reported developments in the past few years:

It’s a reminder that it’s not just ranchers who will need to adapt to living with the species, but mountain bikers, hikers, mushroom pickers and others who frequent the woods. They will also need to adjust their behavior and become more alert in the outdoors and better understand wolves’ proclivities to avoid the rare negative interactions.

ENDANGERED SPECIES – A day before the Washington Legislature’s deadline for bills to be considered by the opposite house, two wolf-related proposals are still alive.

But despite their merits and being approved by the state Senate, they’re gasping in the House — as a new crop of wolf pups is being born in dens across the East Side.

Senate Bill 5187, sponsored by Sen. John Smith, R-Colville, would allow rural dwellers to kill a gray wolf caught in the act of attacking or threatening livestock or another domestic animal, no permit required.

This bill, supported by Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologists, would go a long way in reducing the public tension in northeastern Washington, where locals feel they are being unfairly saddled with the dangers and impacts of wolf recovery.

The bill has essentially died in committee, but Smith said it has a chance of being tied in with another wolf bill that could move.

SB5193, also introduced by Smith, would allow the State Wildlife Account to be used for compensating owners of livestock for damage caused by wolves. It also would create a new account to be used for livestock predation claims. 

An important part of this bill would remove the condition in existing law that a livestock owner must raise livestock for sale to qualify for wildlife damage compensation.

PREDATORS — U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists weighed in today, confirming that the Northern Rockies gray wolf population has remained sustainable two years after wolves lost their endangered species protections in most of the region.

The latest wolf status updates on 2012 wolf monitoring in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming found that aggressive hunting, and some trapping, in the three states lowered the overall number of wolves for the first time in years. 

Overall, biologists tallied a minimum of 1,674 wolves across the five states at the end of 2012, a 6 percent decline.

However, the wolf population that burgeoned under protections for more than a decade are still FIVE TIMES higher than the federal government’s original recovery goal, set in the 1990s, of at least 300 wolves in the region.

That goal was achieved in 2002, but lawsuits stalled wolf management for years and the population soared.

Read on for a summary of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2012 Northern Rockies wolf status report.