Idaho gets say over majority of wolf packs

BOISE – A decade after gray wolves were released from cages and reintroduced to the mountains of central Idaho, the state has assumed most management authority over the predator, under an agreement signed Thursday with the federal government.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will continue to look over the state’s shoulder to ensure a minimum number of packs are allowed to roam free, but the agreement will give the state greater flexibility in day-to-day management, including handing kill permits to ranchers.

“States are the best managers of wildlife populations within their borders,” Interior Secretary Gale Norton said during a signing ceremony at the governor’s office.

Wolves north of Interstate 90 will remain under stricter federal protection. The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates only five to seven live in a pack northeast of Sandpoint. The animals are given greater legal protection because they returned on their own, unlike the central Idaho packs, which were brought in from Canada and are classified as “experimental and non-essential.”

The state is expected to assume greater control of the northernmost wolves shortly. Dave Allen, regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said he expects to issue a public notice within a week of the special permit to allow Idaho to “exercise any necessary control measures, as well as take action that will enforce recovery of wolves in North Idaho.”

Predator advocates worry the plan signed Thursday will open the door for the state to kill the majority of the estimated 600 wolves now in Idaho. But many ranchers and hunters are optimistic that local control will make it easier to coexist with the animal.

“We have put a tremendous responsibility on our local folks, the fish and game,” said House Resources Chairman Bert Stevenson, R-Rupert. “Those who have bore the burden of allowing these (wolves) to feast on their livestock will have local people to go to.”

Idaho rancher Ted Hoffman clutched his gray felt cowboy hat as he spoke at the signing ceremony. He said ranchers like him just wanted more of an opportunity to defend their property and be compensated for losses if wolves attacked their livestock. “We thought we could live with the wolves. … We didn’t necessarily think this was a wise idea, but we could live with it as long as we didn’t get into a hole.”

Allen, with the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the management handover was possible because of the hard work of Idahoans, from the Nez Perce Tribe to the livestock industry. “I’d especially like to thank the people of Idaho, who have been very patient in learning to live with a reintroduced species that not everyone loved,” he said.

Allen said the process could serve as a model for handling other endangered species in Idaho. Although wolf numbers have risen – about 950 now roam in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming – wolves will remain protected under the Endangered Species Act until Wyoming submits a recovery plan deemed adequate by the federal government. Both Idaho and Montana have already completed such plans. Once Endangered Species Act protections are lifted, the door will be opened for the state to manage and allow the hunting of wolves, as it does other large predators, including black bears and cougars.

Wolf backers including Defenders of Wildlife, which has paid more than $500,000 to reimburse ranchers across the West who have lost livestock to wolves, fear Thursday’s transfer will lift protections that have helped wolves flourish. They point to the state’s management plan, which pledges to maintain at least 15 wolf packs — just a quarter of the existing population. Wolves were trapped, shot and poisoned out of the West during the early part of the 20th century.

“The state has a strong record of objecting to wolves,” said Suzanne Stone, a Defenders spokeswoman in Boise. “Time will tell how good of wolf managers they become.”

In 2005, federal wildlife agents investigated 93 rancher complaints, with wolves confirmed or suspected of having killed 181 sheep, 18 calves, six cows and 11 dogs. That compares as follows with figures from 2003, when wolves were blamed for killing 118 sheep, 13 calves and six guard dogs.

Many Idahoans remain steadfast in their belief that wolves are nothing but bad news for the state. John Nelson, a resident of St. Maries, Idaho and one of the leaders of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, said the introduced wolves were imported from Canada and have decimated the state’s deer and elk herds.

“These are a non-indigenous wolf. They have no place in Idaho,” Nelson said. “There’s just no other way. We’re going to have to remove these wolves one way or another.”

The group is vowing to file a lawsuit in coming weeks to fight for a complete removal of wolves from Idaho.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, a former rancher, has been a longtime critic of the federal wolf reintroduction. But in comments Thursday, he indicated muted support for the continued existence of wolves in the state.

“The wolf has a place here in Idaho. But its place is not supreme,” said Craig, who attended the signing ceremony.

Idaho Fish and Game Director Steve Huffaker said his department’s goal is to figure out a way to balance the needs of big game herds, wolf packs and Idaho residents. “That’s not going to be an easy job,” he said.