Senate Resources Chairman Gary Schroeder, R-Moscow, a fur trader, brought a large wolf pelt to the committee hearing today and had it hung prominently on the wall as the committee prepared to hear a briefing on wolves and consider a wolf-transfer bill that Schroeder's proposed. "It's called a prop," Schroeder explained. "I put it in my truck and I brought it down." Schroeder told the panel that the pelt is from a Canadian wolf. "These things can take down big animals," he said.

Schroeder said his bill, SB 1015, would declare that Idaho has a surplus of wolves. Within 30 days of passage of the bill, "Idaho Fish and Game will contact all of their agency counterparts in all the other states and ask if they want some wolves," Schroeder said. Then, if no other state wants them, he said, Idaho could take steps toward killing surplus wolves. "They have a very serious impact on our big game herds," Schroeder said. "If somebody wants them, we have surplus animals, we can ship some to California or New York or whoever wants them," he said. If Idaho's turned down by the other states, he said, "Then we need to kill some because nobody wants 'em, and we can effectively say we offered them out and nobody wants them. ... That's all it is is strategy. It's a strategy bill." The bill won the committee's unanimous support on a voice vote, and now moves to the full Senate.