Wyoming governor signs wolf management bill

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed a bill Friday that gives his administration authority to negotiate with the federal government the boundaries of a permanent wolf management area in northwestern Wyoming.

While Freudenthal and legislative leaders said they’re hopeful about settling a lawsuit with the federal government over wolf management, they also said they’re willing to keep fighting in court.

“This leaves us free, both by its terms and by its spirit, to pursue the litigation, and we intend to continue to pursue that aggressively,” Freudenthal said.

The lack of a Wyoming wolf management plan acceptable to federal officials has slowed wolves from being removed from federal protections in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The Fish and Wildlife Service wants all three states to have wolf management plans it deems acceptable and has accepted Montana’s and Idaho’s plans.

Wyoming sued in 2004 following federal rejection of its wolf management plan.

Federal officials now say the lack of an acceptable Wyoming plan could leave federal wolf protections in place in Wyoming while they’re lifted in Montana and Idaho. Fish and Wildlife has been holding hearings on removing federal protection for wolves.

The compromise bill signed Friday expires next February if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hasn’t by then removed wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act and given Wyoming the authority to manage wolves in the state.

“Always before, the discussion was, ‘Well, we can talk about it, but we’ve got to see what the Legislature wants to do and whether they’d support it,’ ” Freudenthal said. “This puts us in a position where collectively the legislative branch and the executive branch have said to the federal government, ‘If you’ll respond on these kind of issues, this bill can become law, and these can become the terms under which we can proceed to move forward.’ “

Mitch King, regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver, said he’s excited by Freudenthal’s signing of the bill.

“That’s taking us a bold step forward, and I think it’s a good move by the state of Wyoming,” King said. “I know there were a lot of folks who argued against it, but I think this kind of opens the door and allows us to move ahead. I think the ball’s kind of in my court now.”

King said he intends to try to revise federal rules limiting states’ ability to kill wolves that are killing too much wildlife.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials say wolves are killing so many elk in parts of northwestern Wyoming that they might be forced to issue fewer elk licenses there.

Asked how soon the federal government might change its rules to allow Wyoming to kill some wolves to protect wildlife, King said, “I’m sort of up against the wall with the state legislation. I may be optimistic, but I think that by next February, I’m hoping we’ll be where we need to be.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service has said that once the state takes over wolf management, the state must maintain at least seven breeding pairs of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and eight breeding pairs outside the park boundary. The agency classifies a breeding pair as a male and female with at least two young.

Federal officials reported at the beginning of the year that there were 136 wolves in Yellowstone and 175 wolves outside the park.

The Fish and Wildlife Service last fall proposed that Wyoming accept designation of a permanent wolf management area including Yellowstone and other public and private lands to the south and east.

Inside the area, wolves would be treated as trophy game animals and killed by licensed hunters. Outside that area, they would be treated as predators that could be shot on sight.