“It is really astonishing that you could have an animal on the endangered species list at one point, and a bare five months later they’re being hunted." - Stephen Augustine, spokesman for the Sandpoint-based Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance

Last week it was reported that the state of Idaho will start selling tags for its first-ever public wolf hunt, "to give hunters from both inside and outside the state a shot at up to 220 of Idaho’s wolves - a quarter of the wolf population."  This comes after the Idaho Fish and Game Commission pulled the trigger and voted 4-3 for the wolf-hunt plan.  But don't look at that vote as a near win, as the three dissenters voted against it because they wanted more approved kills - up to 430, or 49 percent, of the population.

As reported on New West, Defenders of Wildlife released a statement saying the group intended to join with other conservation organizations to file an emergency motion in court that would suspend the hunts and temporarily place wolves back on the endangered species list. (Defenders of Wildlife, in a coalition with other groups, has a pending legal challenge to the delisting of wolves; that legal mater has not yet been heard.)

In terms of local impact, hunters in the North Idaho Panhandle zone, will have a shot at 30 wolves, during a season that will run from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.

There are two local upcoming rallies planned to protest the wolf hunt:
This Friday, August  28 in Coeur d’Alene, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Idaho Fish and Game building, 2885 W. Kathleen Ave.
And Monday, August 31 in Sandpoint, from 11 to 1 at the county courthouse, South First Avenue and Lake Street.
The Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance also will hold a wolf education program for families and children at the Sandpoint Community Hall to coincide with the Sandpoint rally.

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