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
Environmentalists plan lawsuit over feds’ wolf finding
Environmentalists are renewing their fight to get the federal government to write a nationwide gray wolf recovery plan.
Recent Minnesota wolf sightings rekindle debate over the Endangered Species Act
MINNEAPOLIS – Some Ely residents aren’t too thrilled about their newest neighbors.
After Washington rejects wolf request, Colorado running out of options
With the third winter “release season” in Colorado’s gray wolf reintroduction plan just weeks away, state wildlife officials are scrambling to find a source for additional relocated wolves.
Idaho state officials say number of cattle, sheep killed by wolves is decreasing
The number of livestock killed by wolves in Idaho is on the decline, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Director Jim Fredericks told a committee of Idaho legislators Monday.
Court blocks efforts to remove wolf in Northeast Washington
The state’s plans to kill a wolf in northeast Washington got nixed Tuesday after a court sided with environmentalists seeking to block the action.
WDFW authorizes “incremental” killing of wolves in Ferry County
Wildlife officials are trying to kill at least one wolf from a pack in northeast Washington in response to a series of cattle attacks.
Judge orders feds to reconsider Endangered Species Act protections for wolves
A federal judge in Montana has ordered wildlife officials to reconsider Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the West.
Idaho wolf population decreases slightly
Idaho’s latest wolf estimate suggests the population decreased slightly last year.
Wolves attack calves in Ferry County
Wildlife officials are mulling over their options after a series of wolf attacks on cattle in northeast Washington.
Washington wolf population declines slightly for first time in 16 years
Washington’s wolf numbers shrank slightly last year for the first time in 16 years.
Wolf-livestock conflict hit new high in Washington last year
Conflict between wolves and livestock hit a high in Washington in 2024.
Reward up to $20,000 offered for information on each of three WA wolf killings
Conservation advocates and a federal wildlife agency are offering $20,000 for information on each of three recent wolf poaching incidents in Washington.
‘Reprehensible’: Idaho hunter killed weeks-old wolf pups and reaped rewards, records show
BOISE – For the past few years in Idaho, hunters, trappers and government officials have killed wolves in a variety of ways. One hunter hit a wolf with a snowmobile …
50 years ago in Expo history: S-R offers scrapbook of fair
Editor’s Note: We’re reaching the end of our Expo ’74 history chronicle, so we have a question for our history column readers: Should we continue to run two items each …
Conflict resolution specialist reveals tools for national wolf dialogue
BILLINGS – Few discussions result in more fur flying than those involving people with differing views on large carnivores like gray wolves.
Washington OKs killing of more wolves in northeast Washington
Another wolfpack is under the gun after a series of attacks on livestock.
Washington will try to kill wolves in pack near Canadian border
Two wolves from a pack in northeast Washington are set to be killed following a series of attacks on livestock.
Idaho on track to meet wolf population goals
LEWISTON – Idaho is on track to meet its wolf population goals within the next four or five years, according to the state’s fish and game department.
Wolves keep endangered status in Washington
Gray wolves in Washington will remain on the state’s endangered species list.
State kills over 80 bears in southwest Alaska in second-year effort to boost caribou
State wildlife officials have now killed a total of 180 brown bears on Southwest Alaska caribou calving grounds in just over a year as part of a contested strategy to …
Under pressure: Study analyzes how elk manage threats from predators, humans
Elk in northeastern Washington have a lot to deal with.
Field Reports: Yellowstone names new leader of wolf program
A longtime biologist is taking the helm of Yellowstone National Park’s wolf research and monitoring efforts.
State kills two wolves in southeastern Washington
Two wolves that were part of a group that had been attacking livestock have been killed.
State authorizes killing of up to two wolves in southeastern Washington
Washington state officials have approved the killing of up to two wolves in southeastern Washington after the animals were linked to a series of cattle deaths.
Washington Fish and Wildlife considering lethal removal of wolves in Asotin County
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife managers are considering options, including lethal control, to stop wolf attacks on livestock in Asotin County.
Washington buys upgraded devices to help prevent wolf-livestock conflict
Washington wildlife officials have added to their wolf conservation repertoire with an improved version of an old tool to keep carnivores away from livestock.
Wolf report spawns debate over population, hunting
When it comes to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks and wolves, no one seems to be happy.
Yellowstone wolf population rebounds from hunter harvest
The wolf population in Yellowstone National Park has rebounded somewhat following a reduction in 2021-22 when hunters killed 25 animals that primarily lived inside the refuge where hunting is banned.
‘The Return of Wolves’: New book by S-R’s Eli Francovich delves into politics of wolves in the American West
“Wolves incite the kind of passions usually reserved for war and infidelity —passions that highlight deep political and social divides,” Eli Francovich writes in his new book, “The Return of …
State biologists confirm wolf pack on Mount Spokane during annual wolf survey
Washington biologists have confirmed the existence of a wolf pack on the western flank of Mount Spokane. The pack was confirmed during the state’s annual wolf survey and has a …
Montana wolf harvest drops for 2nd year in a row, despite laws to make hunting, trapping easier
Despite laws enacted by the Legislature two years ago to increase wolf kills in Montana, the state’s wolf harvest dropped for the second year in a row.
How does Idaho count wolves? Critics say state uses ‘smoke and mirrors,’ misleads public
How does Idaho count wolves? Critics say state uses ‘smoke and mirrors,’ misleads public