Hundreds testify on proposed wolf rules

Ken Fischman was solo camping in Idaho’s Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness when a pack of wolves began howling.

The retired geneticist huddled in his sleeping bag, exhilarated and scared.

“They were across a stream, no more than 150 to 200 yards away from me,” said the Sandpoint resident. “I’ve always considered that one of the peak experiences of my life.”

Fischman is one of hundreds of Idaho residents testifying this week on proposed rules for a wolf hunting season. He was part of a largely pro-wolf preservation crowd that filled the Sandpoint Community Building Tuesday night.

Gray wolves in the Northern Rockies were taken off the Endangered Species List in late March. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission plans to use the fall hunts as a tool for managing wolf populations.

Fischman, who taught genetics at Columbia University’s School of Medicine, thinks a hunting season is premature for the estimated 800 wolves roaming Idaho’s backcountry.

“Their numbers are extremely low,” he said. “What we’re concerned about with low populations is inbreeding … which reduces the genetic and biological fitness of the animals.”

Eight hundred wolves might sound like a lot, Fischman said, “but I think it has to be put in the context of other things. Idaho has hundreds of wolves, more than 1 million people, and a hundred thousand elk.”

But Larry Book, president of the 200-member Bonner County Sportsman Association, said he’s confident of the state’s hunting plan.

“The North American model for wildlife management has been very successful,” said Book, naming once-rare species that are now common, including Canada geese and pronghorn antelope. Sportsmen paid for the recovery efforts by purchasing hunting licenses, he said.

The state management plan calls for Idaho wolf populations of 500 to 700 for the first five years after delisting. In the Panhandle, the plan is to maintain wolves near their current population of 87, which allows for the deaths of 25 each year through hunting, natural causes, accidental trapping and livestock predation control.

When the quota is met, all hunting would cease.

Some speakers questioned the $11 wolf tag, saying it was too low. The tag price, comparable to what’s charged for bears and mountain lions, is set by the legislature, said Tony McDermott, an Idaho Fish and Game commissioner.

Others said they’ve never seen evidence of wolves in the Panhandle.

“It’s not that I haven’t wanted too,” said Lucy Walker, who lives in the mountains near Sandpoint. “I’ve never heard a wolf. I’ve never seen a wolf, and I spend a lot of time outside.”

Since wolves killing livestock isn’t an issue here like it is in the Clearwater region, she questioned the need for a wolf hunt in the Panhandle.

Book said he frequently sees evidence of wolves. A hunter and a hiker, he spends 60 to 80 days in the woods each year. For the last four years, he’s heard wolves howling within 20 miles of Sandpoint. He said he’s seen tracks and wolves of every color between Sandpoint and the Canadian border.

The state’s wolf management plan should do a better job of accommodating both hunters and people who want to watch wolves, said John Robison, the Idaho Conservation League’s public lands director. The League wants the state to set up wolf viewing areas that would be off-limits to hunters.

“There’s twice as many Idaho residents that watch wildlife as hunt,” Robison said in a prior interview, citing statistics from a state Fish and Game survey. “We think there should be opportunities for both.”

Combining both areas, like the state’s latest plan does, doesn’t meet the needs of either interest group, Robison said.

Hunted wolves would be warier, and harder for wildlife watchers to detect. The potential for clashes between hunters and non-hunters also escalates. “It’s kind of like allowing people to fish with dynamite in the same stream people are practicing,” Robison said.

Packs that weren’t hunted could also provide the “control groups,” allowing scientists to compare wolf behavior. Some studies show that hunting destabilizes pack structure, leading to more livestock predation, he said.

“Instead of having old wise wolves, who know the habits of deer and elk, you end up with young upstarts that get into more trouble,” Robison said.