Topics
Wolves
Summary
Few wildlife conservation efforts have been as controversial as that of the grey wolf in the Northern Rockies. Federal efforts to protect the wolf have clashed with state efforts to control wolf populations and protect livestock and game from predation by wolf packs.
Idaho and Montana have been given federal authority to manage wolf numbers using public hunts. Federal officials require Idaho to maintain a population of at least 150 wolves and 10 breeding pairs.
Idaho wildlife officials have boosted bag limits, expanded trapping and extended hunting seasons in some areas to help further reduce wolf populations in all corners of the state. Its 10-month wolf season runs until June.
Idaho’s wolf managers estimated 500 to 600 wolves roamed the state as of spring 2012, down from the more than 1,000 when the 2011 hunting season opened in August.
Hunters and trappers killed 364 wolves since the 2011 season opened, while dozens more wolves have died of natural causes or been killed for preying on livestock or targeted as part of a strategy to lessen impacts on specific elk herds in the state.
A federal appeals court in March rejected a lawsuit from conservation groups that wanted to block wolf hunts across the Northern Rockies. 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 in spring 2011.
Lawmakers stepped in after court rulings kept wolves on the endangered list for years after they reached recovery goals. Wildlife advocates claimed in their lawsuit that Congress violated the separation of powers by interfering with the courts. But the court said Congress was within its rights, and that lawmakers had appropriately amended the Endangered Species Act to deal with Northern Rockies wolves.
There are more than 1,700 wolves in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and expanding populations in portions of Eastern Washington and northeastern Oregon. Wolf hunting could resume in Wyoming this fall.
In parts of Montana, ranchers and local officials frustrated with continuing attacks on livestock have proposed bounties for hunters that kill wolves. Montana wildlife officials said they will consider ways to expand hunting after 166 wolves were killed this season, short of the state’s 220-wolf quota.
Wolves once thrived across North America but were exterminated across most of the continental U.S. by the 1930s, through government sponsored poisoning and bounty programs.
Wolves were put on the endangered list in 1974. Over the last two decades, state and federal agencies have spent more than $100 million on wolf restoration programs across the country. There are more than 4,500 of the animals in the upper Great Lakes and a struggling population of several dozen wolves in the Desert Southwest.
Prior lawsuits resulted first in the animals’ reintroduction to the Northern Rockies and then later kept them on the endangered list for a decade after the species reached recovery goal of 300 wolves in three states.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is monitoring the hunts. But agency officials have said they have no plans to intervene because the states have pledged to manage wolves responsibly.
Federal officials have pledged to step in to restore endangered species protections if wolf numbers drop to less than 100 animals in either Montana or Idaho.
Even without hunting, wolves are shot regularly in the region in response to livestock attacks. Since their reintroduction, more than 1,600 wolves have been shot by government wildlife agents or ranchers.
Latest updates in this topic
Washington’s proposed Game Management Plan available online
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Reward posted in shooting death of wolf
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Hunter fires gun during wolf encounter
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Field reports: Sea lions take toll on spring chinook
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Vanity plates helping fund wolf efforts
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In brief: All game and fish possession requires documentation
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Farmer being investigated for shooting gray wolf in Whitman County
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Landers: Hunter honored to name wolf pack
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Anger over wolf attacks rekindles at Washington agency meeting
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Naming a wolf pack is prize for citizens who discover a pair or more
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Wolf to be captured, relocated to wildlife park
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Judge reinstates federal protection for wolves in Wyoming
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Colville-area ranch family receives Forest Service award
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Wolf impact on elk keeps heat on wildlife managers
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Hunters, trappers play role in managing Idaho wolves
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New wolf pack blamed for cow, calf deaths in Ferry County
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In brief: CdA Casino’s Last Catch Pike Tourney approaches
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Officials: Sheep-attacking wolf pack’s alpha female killed
Washington wildlife officials confirmed Thursday that the alpha female of a sheep-attacking wolf pack was killed by a helicopter shooter last month. A Stevens County rancher has moved his sheep …
Stevens County ranchers move sheep after wolves kill 24
A Stevens County family moved 1,800 sheep off private grazing land over the weekend to protect their flock from wolves that have killed at least two dozen of the animals …
Hunter hired by state kills one Stevens County wolf
One wolf has been killed by a hunter hired by Washington, where the animals have been regaining a foothold in recent years after being heavily hunted in the early 1900s. …
State targets wolf pack
A death sentence has been issued for a portion of a wolf pack that’s killed at least 22 sheep this month in southern Stevens County. Efforts to haze and deter …
Helicopter gunners target wolves in Stevens County
A death sentence has been issued for a portion of a wolf pack that’s killed at least 22 sheep this month in southern Stevens County.
Lethal force authorized for wolves preying on Stevens County sheep
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Wolves kill 14 sheep in year’s first taking in Washington
Wolves killed 14 sheep in northeastern Washington this week, state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said Friday. Agency field staff confirmed that one or more wolves from the Huckleberry …
Wolves kill 14 sheep in Stevens County
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed that one or more wolves from the Huckleberry Pack in southern Stevens County killed 12 sheep Aug. 11 and two more …
Idaho biologists find, monitor wolf pups
The wolf pup had downy fur and a chubby little belly. But as it bolted from the den, it already showed signs of an adult wolf’s fleetness. Lacy Robinson was …
Idaho Department of Fish and Game defends handling, collaring wolf pups
Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials say the value of the information gained about wolf pup behavior and survival is worth the slight risk that accompanies handling and collaring …
Rich Landers: An issue of prey, not the endangered predator
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Highlights from the Big Horn Show
Here’s a sampling of highlights from the Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center last weekend: Hottest topic: “Wolves,” said Mike Wilkinson, one of …
Field reports: Lawmakers back wolf protections
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Out & About: Rare wolf-dog hookup indicates wolf population thin
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Agency spays endangered wolf after dog impregnated it
A domestic dog that took a monthlong romp on the wild side in Pend Oreille County forced Washington wildlife officials to capture and spay an endangered female gray wolf on …