Gray Wolf News "The latest in the Wolf Wars"

[bearpaw]

Re: Colville tribe hunting wolves to protect deer, elk, chairman says
 
http://tinyurl.com/b7r8f2n
 
December 9, 2012
 
"When wolves begin to have a negative effect on the lives of people in any given area, the people begin to understand that the number of wolves needs to be controlled.  People come first."
 
Will Graves
 
Author: "Wolves in Russia - Anxiety Through the Ages"
http://wolvesinrussia.com/

[bearpaw]

Dec 10, 2012 The Critter News
 
Critter News:
 
Montana shuts down wolf harvest near Yellowstone
 
by Associated Press December 10, 2012
 
BILLINGS, Mont. -- Montana wildlife commissioners have closed some areas outside Yellowstone National Park to wolf hunting and trapping after several collared animals used for scientific research were shot in recent weeks.
 
The closures were approved Monday on a 4-to-1 vote by Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. Commissioner Dan Vermillion cast the lone dissenting vote.
 
Saturday marks the opening day of Montana's first wolf trapping season since the animals lost federal protections last year.
 
With at least five collared wolves from the park shot this year, commissioners say they want to guard against too many being killed.
 
But Commission Chairman Bob Ream says Monday's action was not a permanent closure.
 
Wildlife officials say the statewide wolf harvest is down 18 percent this year

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Note:  In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

[bearpaw]

Folks,
 
It appears that something fishy may be happening in Montana. Many of you are aware that radical activists are trying to close wolf hunting in areas outside of Yellowstone National Park. Not only would this set a terrible and risky precedent, but this would effectively prevent recovery of the hard hit elk and moose populations in the area.
 
Here is where it gets worse.
 
It looks like attempts are being made to circumvent the law to make this decision TODAY.  The problem is that the item is not on the official Montana FWP Commission Meeting Agenda.
 
According to press reports some commissioners suggest that restricting wolf harvest will be on today’s agenda, "Montana wildlife commissioner Shane Colton said closing some areas to trapping or setting strict quotas will be on the table during a Monday commission meeting.” In the same article another commissioner indicates he may support the action, “State wildlife commissioner Ron Moody said he would support closing areas to harvest or reducing wolf quotas if that's supported by the evidence." You can read the quotes in the Billings Gazette article at:
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/wolf-trapping-near-yellowstone-national-park-faces-scrutiny/article_82a01d64-7e4e-5f17-a8bb-34e7b1193c06.html
 
Montana law is very clear. No decisions can be made, unless advanced public notice is given that the issue will be considered in the meeting. How can concerned sportsmen and ranchers know to attend the meeting if proper notice is not given? A quick review of Section 2-3-103 of Montana Statute indicates, “…the agency may not take action on any matter discussed unless specific notice of that matter is included on an agenda and public comment has been allowed on that matter…”
 
Of the four issues on the agenda for today’s Montana FWP commission meeting. None of them relate to restrictions on wolf harvest around Yellowstone National Park. The only agenda item related to wolves is listed as “Information only.” In fact this item is all about how Montana can harvest more wolves and decrease overall wolf numbers. Here it says about this item:
 
“The 2012 season framework includes a number of changes from 2011, largely intended to increase wolf harvest and decrease wolf abundance in Montana…The review will include data on harvest numbers, geographic distribution of harvest, consideration of depredation removals and overall wolf mortality relative to wolf population model projections. Much of the data will be presented to compare harvests during the 2011 and 2012 hunting seasons.” Emphasis added. http://fwp.mt.gov/doingBusiness/insideFwp/commission/meetings/agenda.html?coversheet&itemId=2770985
 
Here is a link to the full agenda: http://fwp.mt.gov/doingBusiness/insideFwp/commission/meetings/agenda.html?meetingId=27709806
 
So is the item on today’s agenda or not? I don’t think anyone knows but the Commissioners in Montana. Knowing that questionable actions have been taken before, Big Game Forever issued an action alert in Montana asking Montana sportsmen and livestock producers to send messages to the commission. Over 650 messages have been sent from Montana. On Friday we sent another request to our national list. This generated over 2,000 additional messages. So thanks to each of you who sent one of the 2,600 messages to Montana FWP commission for being ahead of the curve on this issue.
 
The meeting is happening now. It is becoming more clear why Montana hunters are so frustrated. Underhanded tactics seem to have become the norm when it comes to the lack of adequate wolf management in the state of Montana. If restricting wolf harvest is considered by Montana FWP Commission in today’s meeting, it will be a clear violation of the spirit if not the letter of Montana law meant to protect its citizens from this very kind of action.
 
Stay tuned,
 
--
Ryan Benson
http://biggameforever.org/

[3nails]

they need a bounty

My dad, Mont. ST Senator Hinkle, tried to get one in some sort of reimbursment plan but the Dems would have none of it.

[bearpaw]

Idaho wolf trapping to open, dog owners warned
 
Dogs vulnerable to snares, traps
 
November 11, 2012 The Spokesman-Review
 
For the second year, wolves will join furbearers as targets during Idaho’s winter trapping season.
 
Although trappers must take a course in safe techniques before they can purchase a wolf-trapping license, bird hunters and other people who let their dogs run freely in the wilds of the Idaho Panhandle should familiarize themselves with techniques for releasing a pet from a foothold trap or neck snare.
 
The wolf-trapping season is set for Thursday through March 31 in most of the Panhandle zone. The exception is that wolf trapping is prohibited in Hunting Units 2 and 3, which generally includes the region from Priest River and the west shore of Lake Pend Oreille south to the Coeur d’Alene area.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/aqm54ll

[bearpaw]

Hungry wolf pack rearranges balance in Yellowstone Park
 
by Brett French January 15, 2012 Yellowstone
 
Typically content to stay in Yellowstone National Park’s remote Pelican Valley where they specialize in killing bison, Mollie’s wolf pack has migrated more than 20 miles to the Lamar Valley this winter, probably in search of food, and killing other park wolves along the way.
 
The wolves have explored the region as far back as 2000, and the pack’s founders hailed from the Lamar Valley, said Doug Smith, the park’s wolf biologist.
 
What is different is the extent to which they’ve migrated – all the way to the valley’s lower reaches, including Slough Creek – and why they’ve left their interior haven just north of Yellowstone Lake – a lack of snow.
 
This year’s territory shift also is unusual because the wolves have stayed longer than they typically do. Usually, they only visit the region for a few days. This time, they’ve already been there for three weeks.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/ajxk44k

[bearpaw]

Hunters have killed over 80 wolves this season
 
By: Brad Dokken, Grand Forks Herald November 11, 2012
 
Hunters had killed 82 wolves as of Friday morning in Minnesota’s inaugural wolf season, including 37 in the northwest part of the state and 37 in the northeast.
 
The Department of Natural Resources closed the season in the east-central part of the state on Monday after a hunter registered the eighth wolf, just one short of the zone’s target quota of nine.
 
Minnesota’s wolf season opened Nov. 3.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/ass3gwo

[bearpaw]

Tomahawk teen traps wolf
 
Nov 11, 2012 Wausau Daily Herald
 
TOWN OF KING — Maegan Loka knows trapping. She has taught hundreds of kids and adults how to trap and animal and then skin it.
 
She has hunted and trapped nearly every animal you can imagine in Wisconsin — raccoon, coyote, beaver, otter, muskrat, weasel, fox, fisher, skunk, deer, and yes, wolf.
 
At age 14, Loka has accomplished what most hunters could only dream of in a lifetime. On Oct. 18, just four days into Wisconsin’s first modern day wolf hunt, she trapped and harvested a wolf.
 
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to harvest this animal,” Loka said Saturday at her parent’s town of King home, east of Tomahawk.

[bearpaw]

Senate panel OKs designating wolf as game species
 
Nov. 11, 2012 Hillsdale
 
Lansing -- A state Senate committee has approved a bill that would designate the gray wolf as a game species in Michigan, a first step toward allowing the predator to be hunted.
 
The measure cleared the Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes committee on Thursday. It now goes to the full Senate, which is in recess until Nov. 27.
 
If it’s enacted, state Natural Resources Commission will decide whether to establish wolf hunting seasons.
 
Wolves have rebounded from near extinction in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where the population is estimated at nearly 700. Wisconsin and Minnesota began allowing wolf hunts this fall.
 
Supporters of hunting say the wolf population is too big and poses danger to people and other animals. Opponents say wolves are still recovering and it’s too soon for a hunt.

[bearpaw]

Russian Granny Hacks Vicious Wolf to Death with Axe
 
By Alfred Joyner November 12, 2012 International Business Times
 
A pensioner hacked a wolf to death with an axe, after the animal attacked her in Dagestan, Russia. In a remarkable reversal of the tale of Little Red Riding Hood.
 
Aishat Maksudova, 56, overcame the wild animal after receiving numerous bites to her right arm, hand and thigh. Lying injured in bed after the attack, she recounted the ordeal.
 
"I was not even frightened. I stood holding the axe, and the wolf with an open mouth suddenly jumped on me. The wolf clawed into my leg, and I wanted to hit him with the axe," she said.
 
Aishat, now nicknamed 'Wolfhound' by her friends, had been repairing a calf pen in her village of Novy Biryuzyak when she heard the cries of one of the animals being mauled by the beast. She attempted to scare the wolf away, but the aggressive animal leapt onto hear and began tearing at her limbs.
 
"When I raised my arm up the wolf was just holding my hand, trying to claw my hand. I wanted to open his mouth and put my fist all the way there, all the way to his throat, but I could not open him. So I just left my hand, and the wolf was just clawing into it, pulling on it, pulling away. And then I took the axe and hit him on his head," she said.
 
Graphic footage of the dead wolf was taken by local villagers on their mobile phones, with numerous bloody blows to creature's head revealing the force with which she hit the animal. Local men are now preparing a raiding party to eliminate the wolf pack that has been terrorising the local area and killing cattle.
 
Graphic Image Link:
http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2012/11/12/319969.jpg
 
Caption: This graphic footage of the slain wolf was taken on a villager's mobile phone [Reuters]
 
Source of story (Warning, video ads auto play):
http://tinyurl.com/b763z9n

[bearpaw]

Yukon wolf studies
 
Email November 11, 2012 from Charles E. Kay, Ph.D. Wildlife Ecology
 
To all------Dr. Robert Hayes has written a popular book about his 20 years of research on predator -prey relationships in the Yukon. Below are 3 quotes from the book that should interest you.
 
"There is the popular belief that wolves [only] kill the sick and the weak, but this is a fable.Yukon wolves actually kill mostly healthy moose."-------page 177.
 
"In the Yukon the combination of wolf and grizzly bear predation holds moose numbers far below what the landscape [habitat] could support."-------page 180.
 
" Take away these large predators and moose could reach much higher densities."--------page 181.

-- --
 
Re: Yukon wolf studies
 
Email November 11, 2012 from Will Graves author of "Wolves in Russia" - http://wolvesinrussia.com/
 
My extensive research about the characteristics, habits and behavior of wolves in Czarist Russia, the former USSR and the Russian Federation support Dr. Hayes'  conclusions.      Will

-- --
 
Bob Hayes book “Wolves of The Yukon”
 
http://tinyurl.com/ap3a8xl

-- --
 
Book Review – Wolves of the Yukon
 
http://tinyurl.com/aehvydn

[bearpaw]

Wolf hunt: More than 110 taken so far
 
by Tom Robertson, Minnesota Public Radio November 12, 2012
 
BEMIDJI, Minn. — Hunters have killed more than 110 wolves since the start of the state's first managed wolf hunting season 10 days ago.
 
The agency's website shows more than 50 wolves have been killed in the northwest, more than 50 in the northeast, and fewer than 10 were killed in the east central part of the state.
 
The kill number is higher than DNR wolf experts predicted. One DNR wolf expert predicted about 70 wolves would be killed during the early season that runs concurrently with the deer hunt.
 
Steve Merchant, acting chief of wildlife for the DNR, said the agency didn't have a lot to go on when predicting how many wolves hunters would kill.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/as6eakl

[bearpaw]

Following, is a link to an article that appeared in the Columbia Tribune earlier this month - in regard to a
wolf that was shot by a bowhunter near Booneville, MO earlier this month.
 
Is the Missouri Department of Conservation trying to hide the fact that there are wolves in the state...just
as they did mountain lions for years?  It seems odd that the wolf that was taken opening weekend of
the Missouri deer season last year was not even addressed by your conservation officer.  If I remember
right, MDC tried to cover that one up as well...claiming it was an over sized coyote.  But DNA testing
proved otherwise...didn't it.
 
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/nov/03/experts-say-hunters-kill-might-be-a-wolf/
 
Whether "your" DNA testing proves this is a wolf or not...I can tell you from just the photo...this is a young
wolf...NOT a coyote.
 
The more state wildlife agencies try to hide the fact that wolves are moving in from wherever...the deeper
they dig the hole that the sportsmen who have funded these agencies will bury them in.
 
Toby Bridges
LOBO WATCH
 
www.lobowatch.com

[bearpaw]

Study Finds Wolves’ Presence May Reduce Elk Population in Several Ways
 
Outdoor Hub November 7, 2012 Agnieszka Spieszny
 
A recently released Montana State University (MSU) study found that the presence of wolves in elk territory reduces elk population, but not only because elk are prime wolf food. The simple presence of wolves alters elk behavior in a way that reduces the animals’ propensity to reproduce.
 
Scott Creel, professor of Conservation Biology and Ecology at MSU and co-author David Christianson presented the findings of their study in a seminar held at the school last Thursday. The study was also presented to the Society of Conservation Biology last week.
 
The men noted a marked change in elk population dynamics in regions of Montana and Wyoming where wolf recovery was underway compared to wolf-less regions .
 
The seminar brief writes, “we examined changes in population size and calf recruitment, and tested for relationships with all of the variables that have been hypothesized to affect elk dynamics. These include changes in density, winter snow accumulation, growing season conditions, human harvest, predation by bears, direct predation by wolves, and the ‘risk effects’ of wolf presence. Some of these variables were strongly correlated with recent changes in elk dynamics, while others were not.”
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/atgfgvo
-- --
 
See also:
 
Greater Yellowstone elk suffer worse nutrition and lower birth rates due to wolves
 
July 15, 2009 By Tracy Ellig, MSU News Service
 
http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=7324
-- --
 
See also:
 
Elk, wolf researchers probe wildlife battlefield
 
April 19, 2006 By Evelyn Boswell, MSU News Service
 
http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=3646
-- --
 
See also:
 
Bull elk oblivious to danger at dinner time
 
July 28, 2004 By Evelyn Boswell, MSU News Service
 
http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=1833

[bearpaw]

Wolf Harvest On Pace with Last Year
 
The Flathead Beacon 11-12-12
 
A total of 55 wolves have been harvested so far this year as trappers prepare for the start of the state’s first season this week.
 
Montana’s wolf trapping season begins Dec. 15. Prospective trappers were required to take an educational wolf trapping course, and according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, more than 600 people registered in Northwest Montana’s Region 1.
 
Hunters have harvested a total of 55 wolves statewide since the season opened in September. In the Wolf Management Unit 130, south and east of Kalispell, six wolves have been harvested. In Unit 101, west and north of Kalispell, three have been harvested.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/auesb6a