Gray Wolf News "The latest in the Wolf Wars"

[bearpaw]

March 23, 2013
 
Montana turns tide on wolves; first year since 2004
 
by Rich Landers March 21, 2013 The Spokesman-Review
 
Montana wildlife officials say they've finally turned the tide on the growth of gray wolf populations that generally have been increasing since the 1900s.
 
At least 625 wolves inhabited Montana at the end of 2012 according to state wildlife managers in a summary of a federally required annual wolf conservation and management report released today.
 
- Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' complete report is expected to be available online at  by April 12.
 
Montana's verified minimum wolf count decreased more than 4 percent in 2012, compared to a 15 percent increase in 2011 and an eight percent increase in 2010 despite  open hunting seasons.
 
The minimum wolf count is the number of wolves actually verified by FWP wolf specialists at the end of the year. Actual numbers likely are higher.
 
The 625 wolves are in 147 packs with and 37 breeding pairs.
 
While it's the first time since 2004 that the minimum count has decreased, Montana’s minimum wolf pack and breeding pairs estimates increased slightly from 2011.
 
The 2012 calculation, however, doesn't include the 95 wolves taken by hunters and trappers between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28 of this year.
 
“We're making some progress,” said FWP Director Jeff Hagener. “Confirmed livestock loss has been on a general downward trend since 2009, and we have more tools now for affecting wolf populations. In some areas, where hunting, trapping and livestock-depredation removals have been effective, it looks like the wolf population's growth has been curbed this year. In other areas the population may be leveling off, but we have more work to do. There are still places where we need to manage for a better balance among other Montana wildlife and with Montana's livestock producers and their families.”
 
Source:
http://tinyurl.com/d2v9b7u
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Meeting centers on impact of wolves on big game
 
by Rich Landers March 22, 2013 The Spokesman-Review
 
The potential impact of wolves on northeastern Washington game species such as deer and elk will be discussed in a public meeting set by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on Wednesday (March 27) in Colville.
 
- The meeting is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Colville Ag Trade Center, 317 West Astor Ave.
 
State and local wildlife managers will present information on wolf monitoring in the area along with population trends and harvest data for white-tailed deer, elk and moose.
 
They’ll also discuss the status of wolves in the region and the impact wolves have had on deer and elk populations in other western states, according to a WDFW media release.
 
Dave Ware, WDFW game manager, said the department has not documented any measurable impacts from wolves on game species in Washington, but recognizes that reports from other states have raised public concerns.
 
“We want to talk to people in northeast Washington about this issue because that’s the area of the state that has the largest number of wolves,” Ware said. “We’d encourage area residents who have concerns to attend this meeting.”
 
Source w/map:
http://tinyurl.com/af42o88
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Wolf Recovery, Political Ecology, and Endangered Species
 
by Dr. Charles Kay (1996)
 
493 Kb 43 page PDF file:
http://tinyurl.com/3x6d35h
 
[Hosted by Idaho for Wildlife]
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Gogebic sheriff won't sign up to halt planned U.P. wolf hunt
 
3/23/2013 Your Daily Globe
 
BESSEMER [Michigan] - Gogebic County Sheriff Peter Matonich isn't signing the downstate petition to keep wolves a protected species and prevent a hunt.
 
When the sheriff of Saginaw County sent Matonich a message seeking his support in signing the petition to stop the planned wolf hunt, it struck a raw nerve with Matonich.
 
"I would like to thank you for the laugh, I needed one today. I will make sure and pass on your letter and request to other law enforcement agencies and officers in my county. I am sure they could use a good laugh, also," Matonich responded.
 
"Have you ever seen a wolf in your yard next to your children's swing set? I have numerous times in my own yard, and I live within the city limits of our county seat. A pack was eliminated within two miles from my home with more than one (wolf) shot and killed in neighboring city of Ironwood's downtown.
 
"Reports of wolf sightings, encounters with household pets, sporting dogs and livestock depredation are becoming all too common here, not to mention the decrease in our deer population," Matonich said.
 
Source:
http://tinyurl.com/clqss6e
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Witness sinks teeth into woman's wolf tale
 
By Alexandra Paul 03/22/2013 Winnipeg Free Press
 
Clayton Ross figured the wolf was sick or injured, which is why he pulled over on a lonely stretch of Highway 6 in the first place.
 
Ross, a young father from Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Cross Lake, was headed south on Highway 6 with his girlfriend and two daughters the day a Thompson woman reported she was attacked by a wolf.
 
That was March 8, near Grand Rapids, about 400 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
 
But the account Dawn Hepp gave in repeated media interviews doesn't fit Ross's recollection of events.
 
Ross posted a colourful Facebook rant full of expletives after the encounter, ending the post with this classic line: "That was the dumbest (excrement) I ever seen in my life."
 
Reached at his home Thursday, Ross said a truck, with a woman alone at the wheel, pulled up behind his car that day.
 
The wolf they were watching was a timber wolf, full-grown but scrawny and skinny. It looked as though it had been hit by a car.
 
"Maybe the woman felt sorry for it," he said.
 
Ross and his family watched as the driver got out, crossed the two-lane highway and walked 10 metres toward the spot where the wolf was standing and watching her.
 
"She had a bag in her hand, chips? Anyway, she's dumping this bag of chips by the side of the road and her truck was 30 feet behind her.
 
"I sure as hell wouldn't get out of a vehicle if a wolf was there," Ross said. "This wolf is slowly walking up to her. She didn't move back. It was like the woman was trying to feed the damn wolf. Me and my girlfriend are saying, 'What the hell is she doing?' "
 
Then the wolf jumped the woman, Ross said.
 
"It attacked her. It pounced. It happened so fast, it was over in like three to five seconds and I'm going 'Man!' Then she stepped back, like she was pushing it off, and it jumped down and it ran about 15 feet away from her."
 
At that point, the woman backed off too and retreated down the highway toward her truck, the wolf trailing her.
 
"I'm saying, 'Man, get the hell in your vehicle.' She was taking so damn long getting back to it and then she took a while to close the door.
 
"It must have been three or four seconds after she got in before she closed her door and the wolf was right there," said Ross.
 
Ross said he waited to see what would happen next.
 
His Facebook account recorded an exchange he recalled:
 
"We were looking at that wolf, then she came up behind us. I asked her if she was all right, then she says, 'Yeah. I'm OK. Don't worry.' Then she says, 'Are you OK??' I'm like 'Well, yeah, I'm worried about you. And then she says, 'ya, I'm OK. It's nothing.'
 
"I'm like (astounded). I think this lady's in shock."
 
As the woman roared off down the highway, Ross said, he pulled over to where the wolf had pounced her and looked for blood, but didn't see any.
 
Meanwhile, the wolf hadn't moved, which unnerved the already uneasy witnesses.
 
"I don't want people to think we didn't want to help her. I knew she was in shock and I tried to catch up with her vehicle, but we never saw it again," Ross said.
 
Hepp, the woman at the centre of the story, could not be reached Thursday for comment. She's reportedly resting at her mother's house in Ashern.
 
Wolf experts say Ross's account sounds realistic and Manitoba Conservation Thursday repeated its warnings not to feed wild animals. Provincial wildlife officials urged the witness to call their 24/7 tip line at 1-800-782-0076.
 
Experts looking at photos of a deer killed by a wolf in Ontario with puncture marks found they appeared remarkably similar to the puncture that appears in photos of Hepp's neck.
 
Experts said Thursday they may never sort out what happened.
 
[Note: story is behind a "pay wall" - hat tip to WC.]
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Gun and ammunition sales boost Montana wildlife projects
 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS March 23, 2013
 
MISSOULA, Montana — Increased sales of guns and ammunition have resulted in more money coming into Montana through federal excise taxes that can be used for wildlife restoration and sport fishing programs, state officials say.
 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says Montana received $13.8 million in wildlife grants from 2012 receipts. The state also received $8.5 million from sport fish grants.
 
In all, the federal government distributed $882.4 million to all 50 states through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration programs. The agency said excise taxes on guns and ammunition was up 33 percent over the previous year.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/ble5s2m

[bearpaw]

March 24, 2013
 
Idaho gets $16M in fish, wildlife restoration cash
 
MARCH 24, 2013 Associated Press
 
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho is poised to get more than $16 million in excise tax revenue that will be used on fish and wildlife restoration and recreation projects.
 
Idaho's share comes from a $882 million pot of tax revenue generated nationally last year by sportsmen through the sale of sporting firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, fishing gear and fuel taxes paid by recreational boaters.
 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the disbursements last week to fish and game agencies in all 50 states.
 
For the state, Idaho's Department of Fish and Game is getting more than $9.8 million for wildlife restoration projects this year and another $6.3 million for fish projects.
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Rural residents seek to ease restrictions on wolf killing
 
March 24, 2013 Yakima Herald
 
How Washington’s rural residents can legally defend their family, pets and livestock from state-protected gray wolves has been a sticky issue since the first pack showed up in the Methow Valley five years ago.
 
Under the state’s wolf management plan, only with a state-issued “kill permit” could livestock producers shoot a wolf in the act of going after their sheep or cattle — and only two such permits have been issued.
 
Proposed legislation enabling anyone to shoot an attacking wolf has died in committee, its supporters blaming the failure on the political and philosophical differences dividing urban and rural.
 
Two weeks ago, though, a wolf attack on a Methow Valley man’s pet dog may become a tipping point of sorts in this emotionally charged political arena.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/c4m7ayv
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Testimony On Wolf Bill Includes Story Of Attack
 
By Steve Jackson March 22, 2013 NWPR
 
A public hearing Wednesday on a bill to allow people the right to protect livestock and pets from wolf attacks included the story of a very close wolf encounter near the town of Twisp.
 
Senate Bill 5187 would let owners of livestock or pets kill a wolf without a permit if the predator is in the act of attacking or posing an immediate threat to their animals.
 
Among those who testified at a House Agriculture and Natural resources committee hearing was John Stevie who lives on 40 acres near Twisp.
 
Earlier this month, Stevie was awakened by a loud noise on his front porch. It was the sound of his Siberian Husky, Shelby, being attacked by a wolf:
 
Stevie: “I pulled the doors open, and about two feet in front of me when I stepped out on the deck, this wolf he was a hundred pounds plus, it had her by the head on the porch, and I wasn’t exactly sure what it was and it looked up at me, and it still had her head in its mouth looking at me”
 
Continued:
http://www.nwpr.org/post/testimony-wolf-bill-includes-story-attack
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DNA sample confirms ‘wolf’
 
March 23, 2013 Daily Journal
 
Last fall, a hunter in Howard County shot what has been recently confirmed by the Missouri Department of Conservation to be a wolf. According to MDC Resource Scientist and Furbearer Biologist Jeff Beringer, tissue samples from the 81-pound male animal, mistaken as a coyote by the hunter, were sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for genetic testing. Recently received DNA test results confirm that the animal was a gray wolf from the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan. Beringer added that the animal did not have ear tags, tattoos, other identification or physical signs that indicated it was a captive animal.
 
Also known as timber wolves, gray wolves once inhabited northern Missouri but were gone from the state by the late 1800s due to hunting and habitat loss.
 
Beringer said that there is no evidence of a breeding population in the state, but wolves occasionally wander into Missouri from northern states. He added that MDC has never stocked wolves and has no plans to restore this once-native species.
 
A previous case of mistaken identity happened in late 2010 with the shooting of what also appeared to be an unusually large coyote in Carroll County. DNA test results of the 104-pound canine linked the animal to timber wolves from Great Lakes states.
 
While wolf sightings in Missouri are very rare, another past case occurred in 2001. It involved an 80-pound timber wolf killed by a landowner in Grundy County. The man also mistook the wolf for a coyote, but discovered his mistake when he found the animal wore a radio collar and an ear tag linking it to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, more than 600 miles away. He notified MDC, which was able to confirm its origin with Michigan officials.

[bearpaw]

LOBO WATCH                             
Sportsmen Taking Charge of Predator Problems 
Editorial News/Press Release                             
March 25, 2013

New Montana Legislation SB397 Looks To Establish Provisional Hunting Seasons To Reduce Predator Numbers

   No where in the text of Senate Bill 397 will you find the word "emergency".  Still, taking care of a somewhat "natural disaster" is what this bill is truly all about.  The newly drafted legislation, which is headed for a Senate Fish and Game Committee hearing this week, would establish provisional hunting seasons, hunt areas and hunting regulations which are aimed at accomplishing two things.  First, if enacted, this bill would greatly reduce the number of wolves, bears and mountain lions roaming much of Western Montana.  Second, to do so would greatly reduce the loss of elk, moose, deer and other big game to a gross over population of these apex predators.

   Sportsmen who have grown weary of watching once great elk herds, pockets of moose, and an abundance of deer dwindle away over the past fifteen years, while predator populations have steadily grown, are now pointing the finger of blame at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.  The very same agency which has been mandated by the Montana Constitution to insure an abundance of game seems to have chosen to insure greater predator populations over huntable numbers of prey game species.  Throughout most of Western Montana, elk herds are barely 20-percent of what they were twenty years ago, moose have totally disappeared in many areas where they once thrived, and now deer populations are beginning to plummet.

   Wolf, bear and lion depredation has clearly taken its toll on big game herds, resulting in the tremendous loss of big game hunting opportunities for Montana residents.  The goal of SB397 is to reverse that trend.

   Robert Fanning, founder of the group known as Friends of The Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd, has watched that herd implode from more than 20,000 elk, before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduction of a non-native gray wolf subspecies from central Alberta in 1995 and 1996, to fewer than 4,000 today.  That loss can all be directly tied to excessive predator numbers.

   He says, "Hunting in Montana , which was described in a USFWS 2001 study, used to be a $237.6 million industry and the number one hunting culture in all 50 states, has been harmed by extreme predator densities.  SB 397 is an attempt at fairness and equity in broadening the menu of huntable animals, raising the probability of hunter success and addressing predator control within the parameters of existing Montana Code Annotated."

   MT FWP has long been criticized for enforcing methods of take that are far too restrictive to permit hunters to take sufficient numbers of wolves, mountain lions and bears.  Likewise, inadequate limits or quotas have hampered sufficient harvests of these predators, insuring that come the next birthing season there would be still more predators putting even more pressure and greater negative impact on other wildlife resources. 

   Introduced by Montana State Senator Scott Boulanger (R-Darby), SB397 calls for changes which would establish provisional predator seasons in those hunt districts which have seen elk and other big game populations fall well below objective levels, resulting in far fewer hunting licenses now issued, along with  more restrictive hunting regulations.   These are the units, or districts, which have been impacted the hardest by too many wolves, too many lions and too many bears.  In order to sufficiently reduce predator populations, allowing big game numbers to rebound, this bill eliminates many of the FWP methods of take restrictions which have prevented hunters from properly controlling predators.  This legislation also significantly reduces the costs of non-resident licenses for hunting these predators, pretty much eliminates quotas, expands limits, and calls for extremely long seasons - in the affected hunt districts only.  The purpose of these provisional hunts is to make a dramatic reduction in predator populations.

   Keith Kubista, president of Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife says,  "It is very encouraging to see a legislator who understands the predator prey relationship and negative effects of past failed predator policy.  Senator Scott Boulanger has created a solution to recover ungulates and ultimately restore big game hunting opportunities by introducing Senate Bill 397.  All legitimate sportsmen and organizations should be beating down the doors of the Capitol and attend the Senate Fish and Game Committee hearing on Tuesday 3-26 in room 422 to testify in support of SB 397.  Senator Boulanger has an extensive hunting history, involvement in the Bitteroot elk working group and other activities that enabled him to formulate a mechanism, SB 397, that will finally turn things around for the hunting community."

   More specifically, within the designated provisional hunt areas,  SB397 would allow hunters to use bear hunting scents, and would permit baiting for bears.  The bill would also legalize bear hunting with dogs during the spring season, and during these hunts during a provisional season, hunters would not be required to keep the meat from a bear, just the head and hide.  Hunters taking a lion in districts designated as a provisional hunt unit would not be required to purchase a trophy license to possess and transport a lion harvested.  During the wolf hunts in these districts, trapping would also be allowed, including the use of snares.  The proposed provisional wolf hunting and trapping season would run from September 1 to June 30.   The cost of a non-resident wolf, bear or lion tag for hunting the provisional hunt areas would be reduced to $50 each.

   Other provisions in the bill call for the closing of the wolf season should the statewide population fall below 200.  It also establishes the cost of a bear baiting permit and for a permit to run dogs for bear and lion. The text of  SB397 also lays out the parameters for the hunting of grizzly bears, which contribute greatly to the extreme losses of elk calves every spring and summer, destroying the recruitment of future generations of elk.  Montana sportsmen now fully realize it has been the "Perfect Storm" of predator impact, from wolves, lions and bears which has resulted in the devastation of big game herds in Western Montana.  While grizzlies make a much greater impact on game populations, especially the young of the year, black bears also take a high number of elk and moose calves, and deer fawns.

   "Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has failed miserably when it comes to controlling predator numbers in this state.  The agency has put way too much emphasis on managing for these predators as 'big game', and has totally forsaken the 'big game' species for which sportsmen buy the vast majority of licenses to hunt - namely elk and deer.  This has resulted in hunters buying fewer licenses, which means less funding for FWP.  The loss of the once thriving elk herds up and down the Western one-third of this state, along with a severe drop in deer numbers, all due to predator impact, is now costing the State's economy more than a hundred million dollars annually.  Most impacted are the small communities where game numbers have been hardest hit, where FWP's 'management' of major predators has literally destroyed what were once some of the greatest game herds in America.  Before that agency can 'manage' predators, it first must gain control of predator populations...and we're now years from ever accomplishing that.  Emergency measures must be taken right now, or we will see the total loss of elk, moose and deer in much of Montana.  The only hope we have of saving the remnant populations of these great game animals is to first dramatically reduce predator numbers.  Passage of Senate Bill 397 would truly be the first step in the right direction toward rebuilding these wildlife resources,"  comments Toby Bridges of LOBO WATCH 

   The end of the recent 2012 wolf season stands as testimony to the failure of MT FWP truly taking charge or control of the predator situation - and once again the agency is falsely claiming the hunt to be a "success".  A total of 225 wolves were taken between September 1, 2012 and February 28, 2013.  Hunters took 128 wolves, and trappers accounted for 97 wolves.

   Had certain methods of take been relaxed by the FWP Commission last spring, the wolf harvest could have been significantly higher.  At Commission meetings, and regional FWP meetings around the state, concerned sportsmen repeatedly shared that it would take the legalization of snares during the new wolf trapping season to make any real impact on wolf numbers.  The Commission ignored that input and ruled snares illegal.  Many other sportsmen attending those meetings also said that electronic game callers needed to be allowed.  The Commission agreed, but it took the passage of House Bill 73 more than six months later, just two weeks before the end of the season, before such callers could be used.  Had snares and electronic calls been allowed during the entire season, the wolf harvest could have been significantly higher, maybe closer to 325 to 350 wolves.  Since EACH wolf is now known to kill close to 50 big game animals annually, that additional harvest could have saved 5,000 to 6,000 elk, moose, deer and other big game species from being lost to just one species of predator - the gray wolf.

   One questionable sportsman group which has already announced that it will oppose SB397 is the somewhat shady Montana Sportsmen Alliance.  The group is a sportsman "organization" by name alone.  In reality, it has simply been a political activist front for Senator Jon Tester.  This is the group which ran all of those negative attack ads against Denny Rehberg during his run for Tester's seat in the U.S. Senate during the 2012 elections.  Altogether, Montana Sportsmen Alliance spent more than a million dollars to insure that Tester held onto his Senate seat - a million dollars of non-disclosed funding.  Much of that funding likely came from environmental groups, which tend to favor expanded predator populations and fewer hunting opportunities for Montana's true sportsmen.

   Another spurious sportsmen organization expected to oppose SB397 is the so-called Montana Hunters & Anglers Action, or whatever they're calling themselves these days.  This group tends to be little more than a facade of a sportsman based organization for the Montana Wildlife Federation.  One of the founders of this bogus sportsman group is Land Tawney, of Missoula - who just also happens to be a Senior Manager for the National Wildlife Federation, working out of the organization's Missoula regional office.  Montana Wildlife Federation is simply a state chapter of the National organization, which is a major proponent of expanding the numbers and range of wolves and grizzly bears.

   MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks is often accused of working way too closely with these groups, which do not represent the wants and needs of the state's sportsmen.  Nor has the state wildlife agency really placed any priority on ever taking control of the predator problem.  Senate Bill 397 would establish that priority for FWP, concentrating on the needed reduction of wolves, bears and lions in order to halt the continued decline of big game populations, and begin the recovery of wildlife in those hunt districts which are now in dire need of emergency measures.  The provisional seasons and less restrictive regulations governing these hunts may be the only salvation for bringing back huntable numbers of big game throughout most of  Western Montana.

   On Tuesday, March 26, SB397 is scheduled to be scrutinized at a Senate Fish and Game Committee hearing at the State Capitol in Helena.  A large turnout of both proponents for and opponents of the bill are expected to be on hand to testify.  Things could get more than a little heated.  Hanging in the balance of whether SB397 passes or not is very likely the future of big game hunting in Montana.
- End-



SB 397 will be heard in the Senate Fish and Game Committee  hearings on Tuesday afternoon, March 26, Room 422 in the State Capitol Building, at 3 PM

LOBO WATCH encourages all sportsmen who can attend to make every effort to be on hand to testify in favor of this legislation...even if you only walk up to the microphone and state your name and place of residence and say..."I'm tired of the continued loss of Montana's big game, I am in favor of more stringent predator control, and I'm for SB397 and the emergency provisional hunts and regulations!"

The enemies of sportsmen and the Montana outdoor way of life will be there to shoot this control measure down...and there must be a force on hand to shoot down their efforts to allow the destruction of wildlife resources to continue...and to discredit their goals and agenda.  -  Toby Bridges, LOBO WATCH


Following Are Members Of The Senate Fish and Game Committee...if you cannot attend the hearing in Helena...go to their on-line message form and let them know how you feel.  Google "Montana Legislature"... Then click on "Contact a Legislator"

John Brenden (R-Scobey) ;  Rick Ripley (R-Wolf Creek); Debby Barrett (R-Dillon); Tom Facey (D-Missoula); Jennifer Fielder (R-Thompson Falls); Bradley Hamlett (D-Cascade); Larry Jent (D-Bozeman); Jim Peterson (R-Buffalo); Fred Thomas (R-Stevensville); Kendall Van Dyk (D-Billings)

For More About LOBO WATCH Go To:  www.lobowatch.com   

LOBO WATCH
100 Parker Court
Missoula, MT 59801                                   
Ph. - (406) 542-9751               
E-mail - lobowatch1@gmail.com

[bearpaw]

March 25, 2013
 
Montana curbs increase of wolves
 
March 24, 2013 The Spokesman-Review
 
Montana wildlife officials say hunting and other measures have turned the tide on the growth of gray wolf populations increasing since the 1900s.
 
At least 625 wolves inhabited Montana at the end of 2012, state Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials said Thursday.
 
Montana’s annual verified minimum wolf count decreased 4 percent in 2012 compared to a 15 percent increase in 2011 and an 8 percent increase in 2010.
 
The 625 wolves are in 147 packs with 37 breeding pairs that will produce pups next month.
 
The 2012 calculation does not include 95 wolves killed by hunters and trappers from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28 this year.
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See also:
 
Montana wolf numbers down slightly
 
by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks March 24, 2013
 
http://www.pinedaleonline.com/news/2013/03/MTwolfnumbersdownsli.htm
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Bitterroot Valley of Montana home to 13 packs of wolves
 
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online! March 24, 2013
 
Montana's Bitterroot Valley is home to 13 packs of wolves. That's up two packs from the year before.
 
To read the details, click on the link below.
 
Ravalli Republic
http://tinyurl.com/a659wbu
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New Montana Legislation SB397 Looks To Establish Provisional Hunting Seasons To Reduce Predator Numbers
 
Editorial News/Press Release March 25, 2013 by Toby Bridges Lobo Watch
 
No where in the text of Senate Bill 397 will you find the word "emergency". Still, taking care of a somewhat "natural disaster" is what this bill is truly all about. The newly drafted legislation, which is headed for a Senate Fish and Game Committee hearing this week, would establish provisional hunting seasons, hunt areas and hunting regulations which are aimed at accomplishing two things. First, if enacted, this bill would greatly reduce the number of wolves, bears and mountain lions roaming much of Western Montana. Second, to do so would greatly reduce the loss of elk, moose, deer and other big game to a gross over population of these apex predators.
 
Sportsmen who have grown weary of watching once great elk herds, pockets of moose, and an abundance of deer dwindle away over the past fifteen years, while predator populations have steadily grown, are now pointing the finger of blame at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The very same agency which has been mandated by the Montana Constitution to insure an abundance of game seems to have chosen to insure greater predator populations over huntable numbers of prey game species. Throughout most of Western Montana, elk herds are barely 20-percent of what they were twenty years ago, moose have totally disappeared in many areas where they once thrived, and now deer populations are beginning to plummet.
 
Wolf, bear and lion depredation has clearly taken its toll on big game herds, resulting in the tremendous loss of big game hunting opportunities for Montana residents. The goal of SB397 is to reverse that trend.
 
Continued:
http://www.lobowatch.com/adminclient/Legislation13/go
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WY wolf lawsuit grows
 
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online! March 24, 2013
 
The Wyoming Wolf Coalition has been granted intervenor status in the federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to delist wolves in the state. Meanwhile, a coalition of hunting advocates are awaiting word whether they will be allowed to intervene as well.
 
Click on the link below for the story.
 
Associated Press article
http://tinyurl.com/cb7va2e
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Lab tests may determine whether it was wolf that attacked pet dog in Eastern Oregon
 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS March 25, 2013
 
BAKER CITY, Oregon — A state biologist says lab tests may tell whether it was a wolf that attacked a pet dog about 10 miles west of Baker City.
 
The dog's owner, Jay Ogg, says he fired several rounds from a 10 mm Glock pistol to chase the animal away Sunday morning.
 
He told the Baker City Herald (http://bit.ly/ZlRpqH ) the animal had the head of the 30-pound pet named Taz in its mouth but let go.
 
The home is at the base of the Elkhorn Mountains. District wildlife biologist Brian Ratliff says the agency hasn't confirmed that wolves are in the range, but they could be.
 
Ratliff says he found tracks from two animals in nearby woods. He's sending feces and hair he found for DNA testing and expects results in about two weeks.
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Man backing wolf laws brings badly hurt dog
 
By Jim Camden The Spokesman-Review March 21, 2013
 
OLYMPIA – The key witness at a hearing Wednesday on whether Eastern Washington needs new laws on wolves didn’t say a word.
 
Shelby, a 6-year-old Siberian Husky mix, sat or lay quietly while county commissioners, cattlemen and wildlife officials warned about the growing danger posed by wolves in Eastern Washington. Then she followed her owner John Stevie to the witness table, where he explained how the 60-pound dog knows about wolves firsthand.
 
One attacked her on the porch of Stevie’s home outside Twisp 10 nights earlier.
 
Continued:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/mar/21/seeking-solutions/

____________________________________________________________


March 26, 2013
 
Bills would provide money for wolf control, compensation
 
By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press March 26, 2013
 
BOISE -- Two bills that would make more money available to control wolves and compensate producers in Idaho who have lost cattle to the predators are moving through the Idaho Legislature.
 
One is on the verge of passing while the other is under the gun with the session set to end March 29.
 
A bill introduced March 25 by Rep. Judy Boyle, a Republican rancher from Midvale, would increase the price of wolf tags in Idaho by $4 and use the money to create a fund that would compensate producers for losses suffered to wolf depredation.
 
Boyle expects the fund would raise about $175,000 annually. Wolf tags are currently $9.75.
 
Continued:
http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/SE-wolf-help-032913
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Hatch, fellow senators petition to end gray wolves' protected status
 
By Ben Lockhart March 25th, 2013 KSL News
 
SALT LAKE CITY — Led by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, 72 senators and representatives formally asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Monday to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.
 
The request in a letter sent to the agency argues that the gray wolf is no longer an endangered species and that uncontrolled gray wolf population growth is a threat to other indigenous wildlife as well as the hunting and ranching industries. Recovery efforts in the United States began in 1973 after the species nearly went extinct, and were so successful that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has delisted the species in its Great Lakes and Northern Rockies regions in recent years.
 
“The full delisting of the species and the return of the management of wolf populations to state governments is long overdue,” the letter states. “State governments are fully qualified to responsibly manage wolf populations and are able to meet both the needs of local communities and wildlife populations.”
 
Sixty-five Republicans and seven Democrats signed the request, including every congressman from Utah. Hatch told KSL News that delisting the gray wolf nationally is partly a matter of reducing federal bureaucracy.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/cjklwuh
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Environmentalists oppose push to end federal wolf protections to prevent expanded range
 
By BEN NEARY - Associated Press March 26, 2013
 
CHEYENNE, Wyoming — Western environmental groups say they're alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in areas where the animals no longer exist.
 
The groups say ending federal protections would keep wolves from expanding their range back into states that could support them, including Colorado and California.
 
The federal agency intends to announce this spring whether it will propose a blanket delisting of wolves in the lower 48 states. Wolves in the Northern Rockies and around the Great Lakes, where reintroduced populations are well-established, are already off the Endangered Species List.
 
The prospect of the national delisting has prompted members of Congress on both sides of the issue to lobby the Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe.
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Origin of eastern Washington wolf hard to determine
 
March 25, 2013 By Rich Landers - The Spokesman-Review
 
Among the many wolf sightings reported in the region, some are more credible than others, including the black wolf wearing a radio collar and running with another wolf west of St. John, Wash., in recent months.
 
Washington Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed the wolf was not collared in Washington.
 
"The wolf could be from either Idaho, Montana or even B.C.," said Jim Hayden, Idaho Fish and Game wildlife manager in Coeur d'Alene.
 
"All of us have plenty of collars that have gone off the air, or dispersed out of range where we're flying," he said, noting that GPS collars that can be followed by satellite are more expensive and used more sparingly.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/cmslzc6
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Oregon homeowner suspects a wolf in dog attack
 
Associated Press March 25, 2013
 
BAKER CITY, Ore. -- DNA samples may tell whether it was a wolf that attacked a pet dog about 10 miles west of Baker City and was chased off by gunfire from the dog's owner.
 
Jay Ogg said he had just let out the family's two dogs on Sunday morning when he heard one squeal.
 
Ogg told the Baker City Herald (http://bit.ly/ZlRpqH) said he looked outside and saw what he described as a wolf, about 20 to 30 feet from the back porch.
 
Continued:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20130325/NEWS03/703259861
-- --
 
See also (more info):
 
Possible wolf sighting near Baker City
 
by Jayson Jacoby March 25, 2013 Baker City Herald
 
http://tinyurl.com/cfof5c4
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Oregon’s wolf program works
 
March 25, 2013 Nancy Shinn Coos Bay
 
Oregon is not getting enough press on their wildlife wolf policies, and we are doing better than anyone in the country.
 
Wildlife biologists will tell you there are studies that indicate elk populations flourish in areas where there are wolves.  Wolves instinctively prey on the weak; the lame, the infirm and keep the herds moving, so that trees along riverbanks grow instead of being browsed, which keeps streams cool, fish and birds healthy and the ecology diversified and strong. Oregon is doing all the right things so far.
 
Keeping our fledgling population of wolves safe, unlike Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Minnesota, where all the protections were lifted and shooting, trapping, gassing of dens and poisoning have destroyed over 1,000 wolves. Rampant wolf killing generates conflict, controversy and headlines. But Oregon is quietly writing a different story. Our total state population is around 45 and legislation introduced to try to hunt them here has stayed with a court injunction so far.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/bpyd28r
 
[Note: Coos Bay is on the west coast of Oregon.]
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Hybrid wolf-dog spotted in southwestern NM
 
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press 03/26/2013
 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Federal wildlife managers have been working to return the endangered Mexican gray wolf to the American Southwest for the past 15 years. Every now and then, there's a genetic hiccup.
 
It happens when a wolf breeds with a domestic dog, producing a litter of hybridized pups.
 
Just last month, an animal that looked like a wolf was spotted in the mountain community of Reserve near the Arizona-New Mexico border. Experts with the wolf management team say the uncollared animal was most likely a wolf-dog hybrid.
 
While it doesn't happen often, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says hybridization is a concern. Having a genetically diverse - yet pure - population has been identified by biologists as one of the keys to successfully reintroducing Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Scientists say Isle Royale wolves had no pups, may have stopped reproducing
 
By JOHN FLESHER - AP Environmental Writer March 25, 2013
 
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan — The gray wolves in Isle Royale National Park in northern Michigan are increasingly threatened, scientists said Monday, with no pups spotted during the past year and concern growing that the animals may have stopped reproducing.
 
The wolves have long been a symbol of the wilderness character of the island chain, one of the least-visited national parks because of its remote location in western Lake Superior.
 
Only eight remain, down from 24 just five years ago, according to a summary of a Michigan Technological University study obtained Monday by The Associated Press before the full report's public release. There were nine wolves last year, and scientists said the entire population could die out soon if the animals don't reproduce. Wolves usually live only four to five years.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/ca7pyjd
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Group Opposed to Wolf Hunt Says It Can Force a State Vote
 
Mar 26, 2013 Associated Press
 
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A coalition opposed to hunting gray wolves in Michigan says it has gathered more than enough petition signatures to force a statewide referendum on the issue.
 
The Legislature approved a bill in December authorizing state wildlife regulators to organize a hunting season in the Upper Peninsula, where the wolf population has reached around 700. The Michigan Natural Resources Commission is expected to make a decision as early as May.
 
But a group called "Keep Michigan Wolves Protected" says it will present 240,000 signatures Wednesday to the secretary of state's office calling for the law to be repealed.
 
If at least 161,305 of the signatures are found to be valid, the law will be put on hold until a statewide vote which would take place during the November 2014 general election.
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[CementFinisher]

Oregon’s wolf program works
 
March 25, 2013 Nancy Shinn Coos Bay
 
Oregon is not getting enough press on their wildlife wolf policies, and we are doing better than anyone in the country.
 
Wildlife biologists will tell you there are studies that indicate elk populations flourish in areas where there are wolves.  Wolves instinctively prey on the weak; the lame, the infirm and keep the herds moving, so that trees along riverbanks grow instead of being browsed, which keeps streams cool, fish and birds healthy and the ecology diversified and strong. Oregon is doing all the right things so far.
 
Keeping our fledgling population of wolves safe, unlike Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Minnesota, where all the protections were lifted and shooting, trapping, gassing of dens and poisoning have destroyed over 1,000 wolves. Rampant wolf killing generates conflict, controversy and headlines. But Oregon is quietly writing a different story. Our total state population is around 45 and legislation introduced to try to hunt them here has stayed with a court injunction so far.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/bpyd28r
 
[Note: Coos Bay is on the west coast of Oregon.]



IF THAT WAS NOT SO PATHITICALY SAD IT WOULD BE FUNNY. fREEKING WHACK JOBS!

[NoImpactNoIdea]

Thank you BearPaw for posting all these.

[bearpaw]

March 27, 2013
 
Idaho Bill: Wolf Hunters Would Help Cover Livestock Loss
 
March 27, 2013 - Northwest News Network
 
A bill headed for the floor of the Idaho House would tap into the interest in hunting wolves to raise money for ranchers who lose livestock to those wolves. A legislative committee approved the measure Tuesday, despite legal concerns.
 
Idaho lawmakers who represent ranching country say it’s now up to the state to cover losses caused by wolves. Federal compensation funds are another casualty of the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester.
 
The House bill would raise the cost of a wolf hunting tag by $4 and send $8 from each tag sold to a “Wolf Depredation Account.” It would both reimburse ranchers and fund state efforts to rein in the wolf population.
 
But the Idaho Department of Fish and Game opposes the bill, as deputy director Sharon Kiefer testified.
 
“I believe most hunters want to be a part of the solution. But I don’t think they want their funding to be the only solution,” Keifer told lawmakers.
 
Kiefer said the move may also violate an agreement with the federal government to use fees from hunting tags and licenses to preserve and propagate wildlife.
 
But Rep. Judy Boyle, the bill’s sponsor, said she was confident it would pass legal muster.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
New wolf pack found near Wenatchee
 
by GARY CHITTIM - KING 5 News March 27, 2013
 
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife cameras have captured images of a pair of wolves in the Entiat Mountains of Chelan County.
 
Biologists were able to determine that the wolves were part of a newly formed pack that is probably related to the nearby Teanaway pack near Cle Elum. That brings the number of confirmed packs in the state to 10, with two more suspected packs.
 
It also represents the second confirmed pack to form in a more central location. Most inhabit the north and northeast part of the state.
 
The new pack has been named the Wenatchee pack and so far it has only two confirmed members.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Wash. investigates whether wolves killed cow
 
March 27, 2013 The Associated Press
 
WENATCHEE, Wash. — State wildlife biologists are investigating the death of a pregnant cow on a ranch south of Wenatchee — and they got a glimpse of a wolf while they were working.
 
It's the same ranch where pictures of two gray wolves were captured on Sunday. The Wenatchee World reports that state wildlife officials named the wolves the Wenatchee Pack on Tuesday. Later that same day, the officials were at the Hurd family ranch investigating a dead cow.
 
"This is all happening so fast," said Dave Volson, a wildlife biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
 
The state agency has not yet determined how the cow died.
 
Rancher Ross Hurd said he doesn't want to create hysteria about the wolves, but wants people to know the wolves are in the area and people may have to adapt.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/cd3vnhk
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Wandering wolf OR-7 feeding on dead elk in southwestern Oregon
 
By MARK FREEMAN - Associated Press March 27, 2013 
 
MEDFORD, Oregon — Wandering wolf OR-7 is spending his second week back from California in Jackson County, where he's been feeding on a dead elk as he continues his apparent search for a mate.
 
The 4-year-old wolf crossed the Cascade crest into Jackson County on March 19, his first trip back here since he left April 1, 2012, on the way to a much-publicized tour of Northern California.
 
Since his return, he's wandered along the western Cascades east of Butte Falls and Prospect and has shared meals on a dead cow elk with at least one coyote and some ravens, says Mark Vargas, Rogue District wildlife biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
 
Vargas last week used a VHF receiver to follow the radio-transmitter that has been fitted on OR-7's collar. Vargas was able to get close enough to register a strong signal, but he never actually saw the only confirmed wolf in Western Oregon since 1937.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/d2gn2he
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Wolf hybridization concerns federal wildlife managers
 
By Susan Montoya Bryan - The Associated Press Tuesday, March 26, 2013
 
ALBUQUERQUE — Federal wildlife managers have been working to return the endangered Mexican gray wolf to the American Southwest for the past 15 years. Every now and then, there’s a genetic hiccup.
 
It happens when a wolf breeds with a domestic dog and produces a litter of hybridized pups.
 
Just last month, an animal that looked like a wolf was spotted in the mountain community of Reserve near the Arizona-New Mexico border so experts with the wolf management team had to investigate. They determined that the uncollared animal was most likely a pet that showed some signs of northern gray wolf heritage.
 
While it doesn’t happen often, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Tom Buckley said Tuesday that hybridization is a concern.
 
Continued w/more info:
http://tinyurl.com/dxobafe
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Lawmakers Decry Proposed Cut in Wolf Hunt Permit Fee
 
Ann-Elise Henzl WUWM NEWS - Mar 26, 2013
 
State Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp appeared Tuesday before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, to talk about Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal.
 
Lawmakers on the panel were critical of the provision that would cut the price for a wolf hunt permit from $100 to $47.
 
Republican state Rep. John Nygren of Marinette chastised Stepp for the proposal. He pointed out that the Legislature set the $100 fee, in the bill that created the wolf hunt.
 
Stepp told lawmakers that Walker wants the lower fee, in order to remove obstacles to hunting wolves. She also said the price reduction would bring wolf hunting permits more in line with the $49 permits for hunting bears.
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[bearpaw]

March 28, 2013
 
Idaho Senate defies F&G Commission, passes wolf control funding bill
 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS March 27, 2013 
 
BOISE, Idaho — The Senate voted 26-8 to divert money from a Department of Fish and Game hunter-access program to wolf control, an effort backed by the state's livestock industry.
 
Wednesday's vote came over objections from Idaho's wildlife agency, whose Fish and Game Commission opposed the measure.
 
Supporters of shifting funding from the Sportsmen's Access Yes! program to Idaho's animal damage control account argued the cash would reduce predators, helping ranchers as well as big-game hunters angry that wolves eat too many elk.
 
Foes included Pocatello Sen. Roy Lacey, who said he was among residents eager to see wolves eradicated.
 
Lacey suggested they might attack him while he rides his bike near Island Park.
 
Even so, Lacey said this bill amounted to raiding Fish and Game money.
 
The measure has passed the House.
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Successful wolf recovery requires attention to community values
 
By PHIL ANDERSON For the Capital Press March 28, 2013
 
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently conducted three well-attended meetings in Northeast Washington to discuss wolf management with ranchers and other residents of the communities that are on the front line of wolf recovery in our state.
 
Gray wolves are listed by the state as an endangered species, and wolf recovery is the fundamental goal of the state's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. So far, wolves are recovering rapidly. Washington's wolf population nearly doubled in 2012, and these numbers will continue to grow.
 
But long term, sustainable wolf recovery won't succeed unless the state -- and WDFW -- can address the legitimate concerns of livestock operators and the people who live in rural areas where wolves are recolonizing, and the impacts on game animals such as deer, elk and moose.
 
We heard several clear messages during our meetings in Colville, Cusick and Okanogan.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/cr9wg6h
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Wolves didn’t kill cow, state says
 
March 28, 2013 By Michelle McNiel Wenatchee world
 
WENATCHEE — State wildlife experts have concluded that a pregnant cow found dead south of Wenatchee on Tuesday was not killed by a wolf.
 
However they are still worried about the two gray wolves that appear to be establishing territory on or near a cattle ranch in Pitcher Canyon.
 
“We’re just kind of on pins and needles hoping that this livestock operator doesn’t have any more issues with dead cows,” said Matt Monda, regional wildlife program manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Once wolves learn that livestock is a meal, then we will have to go in and take action.”
 
In extreme cases, the action may require killing wolves, which are protected under federal and state endangered species laws.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/btbon4h
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Lowest wolf count on Isle Royale
 
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online! March 27, 2013
 
The most recent annual report of ecological studies of wolves on Isle Royale reveals that there are only eight wolves left in this unique population.
 
Here's the report summary:
 
"From mid-January to late February 2013, we conducted the fifty-fifth annual Winter Study of wolves and moose on Isle Royale. Between January 2012 and January 2013, the wolf population declined from 9 to 8, the lowest number of wolves ever observed in the population. During the past year, mortality rates were low (11%), with just one wolf dying. There was no evidence of any reproduction during the past year. This is the first year in the project’s history that we have been unable to document reproduction. Analysis of DNA extracted from wolf scat collected in January and February 2012, and the pattern of mortality during the past year, indicate that the population is comprised of between three and five females. The lack of reproduction is not due to a shortage of females."
 
Click on the link below for more information.
 
Isle Royale Wolf & Moose studies
http://www.isleroyalewolf.org/
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Lawsuit Filed to Protect Border-crossing Wolves Entering Arizona, New Mexico From Government Traps
 
March 28, 2013 Center for Biological Diversity
 
SILVER CITY, N.M.— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today challenging a permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that will allow federal and state agencies to capture wolves that enter Arizona and New Mexico from either the north or the south and keep them in captivity indefinitely. Mexico has an ongoing program to reintroduce endangered Mexican gray wolves in the Sierra Madre, and wolves from the northern Rockies could move into the Southwest at any time.
 
http://tinyurl.com/cja93ao
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San Diego’s Efforts To Boost Mexican Gray Wolf Population Threatened
 
Thursday, March 28, 2013 By Susan Murphy - KPBS
 
More than 70 members of Congress wrote to the Obama Administration last week requesting that the gray wolf be removed from the endangered species list, including Arizona and New Mexico, where a subspecies of 75 critically endangered Mexican gray wolves live.
 
Some of the Mexican gray wolves in region, called the Blue Range Wolf Reintroduction Area, have come from the California Wolf Center, a 50-acre conservation and research facility in Julian.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/ck9wmss

[bearpaw]

March 29, 2013
 
Bill to fund wolf control efforts dies in Idaho House
 
By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press Friday, March 29, 2013
 
BOISE -- A bill that would increase wolf tag prices and use the money to control problem wolves and compensate livestock producers for wolf losses has died in the House of Representatives.
 
The bill had been approved by the House ag committee March 26 despite opposition from the Idaho Fish and Game Department.
 
However, it was narrowly killed two days later on a 35-33 vote by House lawmakers opposed to using hunting fee revenue to compensate livestock producers.
 
Debate over the bill during a public hearing resulted in one lawmaker reminding fish and game that the legislature, not the department, sets state policy.
 
Sharon Kiefer, the department's deputy director for programs and policy, told lawmakers the bill could erode the department's ability to monitor wolves and possibly result in a loss of some federal wildlife management funds.
 
The fish and game commission did not get to review the bill, she said, and wants lawmakers to hold it.
 
"We are a bit disappointed with the haste and lack of discussion about this bill and its possible consequences," Kiefer said.
 
Continued:
http://www.capitalpress.com/idaho/SE-wolf-tags-040513
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Idaho extends wolf hunting through June
 
by Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review March 28, 2013
 
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission today (March 28) voted to extend the current wolf hunting season in the Middle Fork and part of the Dworshak-Elk City wolf management zones.
 
The commission extended the wolf hunting season through June 30 in the Middle Fork units 20A, 26 and 27 and in the part of the Dworshak-Elk-City Zone's Unit 16 north of the Selway River.
 
These seasons were scheduled to end Sunday.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Fed move would end wolf protections in places where there are no wolves
 
Mar 28, 2013 - The Associated Press
 
CHEYENNE -- Western environmental groups say they're alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in vast areas where the animals no longer exist.
 
The groups say ending federal protections would keep wolves from expanding their range back into states that could support them, including Colorado and California.
 
"As a matter of principle, I just think it's wrong," said Jay Tutchton, a Colorado lawyer with the group WildEarth Guardians.
 
Tutchton's group has sued over recent action to end federal protections for wolves in Wyoming. Wolves in most of the "Cowboy State" are classified as unprotected predators and scores have been killed since federal protections ended last fall.
 
"The Endangered Species Act was designed to protect species, including in places where they no longer reside," Tutchton said. "You were supposed to try to recover them, not throw in the towel."
 
The Fish and Wildlife Service could announce as soon as this spring whether it will propose a blanket delisting of wolves in most of the lower 48 states. Wolves in the Northern Rockies and around the Great Lakes, where reintroduced populations are well-established, are already off the Endangered Species List.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Wolf permit spurs lawsuit by environmentalists
 
By The Associated Press 03/29/2013
 
ALBUQUERQUE - Environmentalists are challenging a permit they say would allow federal and state wildlife managers to capture and hold captive certain wolves that find their way into the American Southwest from the north and from Mexico.
 
The Center for Biological Diversity filed its lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday. The agency did not immediately respond.
 
The group says it's seeking the protection of wolves found outside the area in New Mexico and Arizona where the federal government has been reintroducing endangered Mexican gray wolves.
 
Friday marks the 15th anniversary of the first release of captive-bred Mexican wolves as part of the reintroduction program.
 
There are now at least 75 of the predators in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona. Environmentalists argue that's far below what's needed for the population to be sustainable.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Mexican gray wolf celebrates 15 years in the Southwest
 
By Dennis Lambert 03/29/2013 KJZZ
 
Today marks the 15th anniversary of the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf in the Southwestern U.S., but wildlife advocates say more needs to be done to ensure the wolves’ long-term survival. 
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/cte3m9u
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Wolf-hunting decision will likely go to voters next year
 
The petition to stave off wolf hunting has earned enough signatures; now supporters must wait for public vote.
 
by Allison Arnold Friday Mar 29th, 2013 The Rapidian
 
In an effort to stop legislation allowing a wolf hunting season in Michigan, the group Keep Michigan Wolves Protected sponsored a petition to place the issue on a state ballot in 2014. The petition recently surpassed the 161,000 signatures needed by March 27, with a total of 253,705.
 
“Mounting a petition drive in the dead of winter and collecting a quarter of a million signatures in 67 days has been a monumental feat. We look forward to giving Michigan voters—not the politicians—the opportunity to decide whether to keep wolves protected or to allow sport hunting and trapping of these rare creatures just beginning to recover from the brink of extinction,” said Jill Fritz, Director of Keep Michigan Wolves Protected.
 
Continued:
http://therapidian.org/next-steps-suspending-wolf-hunt-michigan

[bearpaw]

March 30, 2013
 
Researcher blasts Swedish wolf hunt
 
March 30, 2013 (UPI)
 
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A French researcher says a wolf hunt in Sweden intended to reduce inbreeding will have no effect on inbreeding and is "an abuse of science."
 
The Swedish government authorized the wolf hunt, targeting 16 wolves from the most inbred packs, The Local.se reported Friday.
 
However, Guillaume Chapron, an ecologist who has studied wolves in France and Sweden, said in a letter to the Science journal it is "nonsense to kill animals in order to reduce inbreeding."
 
"Would we do the same if it had been about woodpeckers? Of course not," Chapron wrote. "People would think you were crazy.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/bvejg9j

[bearpaw]

March 31, 2013
 
Wolf Control Bill Fails In Idaho House Of Representatives
 
By Brandon Redmond Mar 31, 2013 KMVT-TV / KTWT-TV
 
Boise, Idaho - The Idaho House of representatives voted thirty five to thirty three against shifting money from hunting licenses to compensate ranchers for livestock losses and fund state efforts to kill wolves.
 
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game along with hunters had objections against the bill. The bill would have raised hunting tags for wolves by five dollars and twenty five cents making wolf hunting tags fifteen dollars.
 
Eight dollars of that would have gone into a wolf depredation account. Half of the money would have gone to wolf control and the other half to livestock owners who lost animals due to wolf attacks.

[bearpaw]

April 1, 2013
 
Local YP Wolf Report
 
April 1, 2013
 
A report of wolf tracks on Profile summit on Friday March 29th. It looked like the wolves were coming out of Big Creek towards Yellow Pine down Profile Creek.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Members of Congress Urge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Delist the Gray Wolf From the Endangered
 
A bipartisan group of 72 Members of Congress have written to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to urge that the Agency delist the gray wolf from the (ESA) in the Continental United States.
 
PoliticalNews.me - Apr 01,2013
 
72 Members of Congress Urge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Delist the Gray Wolf From the Endangered Species Act
 
A bipartisan group of 72 Members of Congress have written to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to urge that the Agency delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the Continental United States. The letter was spearheaded by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and John Barrasso (R-WY), and Reps. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Doc Hastings (R-WA), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
 
In the letter, the Members of Congress write that “[w]olves are not an endangered species and do not merit federal protections. The full delisting of the species and the return of the management of wolf populations to State governments is long overdue. As you know, State governments are fully qualified to responsibly manage wolf populations and are able to meet both the needs of local communities and wildlife populations.”
 
Continued:
http://politicalnews.me/?id=22534&keys=GRAY-WOLF-ENDANGERED-REMOVE
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Wolf expert to speak
 
April 1, 2013 Billings Gazette
 
CODY, Wyo. — Gray wolves past, present and future will be the topic of a noon lecture Thursday at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Draper Museum of Natural History.
 
The lecture will be delivered by Mark Bruscino, large-carnivore supervisor with the Wyoming Fish and Game Department.
 
The last breeding population of gray wolves was exterminated 70 years ago. In a move that is still controversial, they were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995.
 
They have thrived since in Wyoming, and were recently removed from the state's list of threatened and endangered species.
 
The program, part of the Draper Museum's Lunchtime Expeditions, is free. It will be in Coe Auditorium.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 
Greens Fight Uncle Sam Over Gray Wolves
 
By TIM HULL Monday, April 01, 2013 Courthouse News
 
TUCSON, Ariz. (CN) - Endangered wolves that wander into Arizona and New Mexico from the north and south risk indefinite capture under research permits the federal government issued illegally, the Center for Biological Diversity claims in court.
 
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Federal Court.
 
The Tucson-based environmental group claims the defendants approved a permit in 2011 under which "endangered wolves that enter Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico or the Northern Rocky Mountains population can be captured or trapped and relocated to the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (where they will be treated for all purposes as part of the nonessential experimental population), returned to Mexico, or placed indefinitely in a captive breeding facility." (Parentheses in complaint.)
 
Essentially, any wolf found in those states, outside the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in the Apache National Forest of Arizona and the Gila National Forest of New Mexico, is subject to trapping under the permit, the complaint states.
 
Continued:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/04/01/56236.htm

[bearpaw]

April 2, 2013
 
Idaho reports 11 percent decrease in wolves during 2012
 
by Rich Landers April 2, 2013 The Spokesman-Review
 
Idaho's gray wolf population at the end of 2012 was at least 683, a decrease of 11 percent from 2011, according to the federally required annual state wolf monitoring report (http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/wildlife/wolves/) posted online today by the Idaho Fish and Game Department.
 
Humans killed 418 of the 425 wolves known to have died in the state last year by hunting, trapping and state and federal agency control efforts to protect livestock, the report says.
 
However, the number of documented packs had increased and wolves were occupying territories throughout the state.
 
Montana also has reported a decrease in wolves in its 2012 annual report, the first decrease since 2004.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/cw4bctj
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Minnesota Court of Appeals to Hear Argument on Lawsuit Challenging Wolf Hunting and Trapping
 
Media Advisory, April 2, 2013 Center for Biological Diversity
 
What: The Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear argument tomorrow in a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources challenging the agency’s failure to provide a formal opportunity for public comment on rules establishing wolf hunting,  trapping and snaring.
 
When: Wednesday, April 3 at 10 a.m.
 
Where: Courtroom 100, Minnesota Judicial Center, 25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, St. Paul, Minn.
 
Minnesota’s 2001 wolf-management plan provided that wolves would not be hunted or trapped for five years after removal of their Endangered Species Act protection, but the state legislature eliminated those safeguards by attaching a rider to a 2011 budget bill authorizing the Department of Natural Resources to open wolf hunting if the agency first provided an opportunity for public comment. In January 2012 the wolves’ federal protection was removed; but instead of opening a formal public comment period, the department offered only an online survey.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/cz9792u
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Wolves Teach Scientists Their Limitations
 
April 1, 2013, By Paul Voosen - The Chronicle
 
The gray wolves of Michigan’s Isle Royale may soon go extinct. But before they do, they’re offering an important lesson for scientists: Have a little humility.
 
For more than 60 years, after their intrepid ancestors scrambled 14 miles across an ice bridge, packs of heavily inbred wolves have stalked the snow and evergreens of Isle Royale, a remote 850-square-mile archipelago in northwestern Lake Superior. For all that time, the wolves, normally known for their catholic prey selection, have feasted and famished off a single species, the yin to their predatory yang. They have hunted moose.
 
We know this because for as long as the wolves have stalked the moose, they have been tracked by a pack of Michigan scientists, in what has become a classic, 55-year-old study of the dynamics between a predator and its prey. In an age when much research lasts no longer than a graduate student’s labors, the study is an anomaly. Forget Big Data. This is Long Data.
 
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[bearpaw]

April 3, 2013
 
Hunting, trapping slow to balance Idaho wolf numbers
 
by Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review April 3, 2013 Idaho's 2012 wolf monitoring report released Tuesday indicates the state is struggling to get 14 years of burgeoning wolf populations into some sort of sustainable balance with prey and social acceptance.
 
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game reports 683 wolves at the end of 2012, down from 746 wolves in 2011 — an 11 percent decrease. 
 
But the total number of packs has increased from 104 in 2011 to 117 in 2012. Wolves are moving in and out of the state, and a new crop of wolves is being born in dens across the state this month.
 
State wildlife officials attribute both the overall population downsizing and the increase in packs to continued pressure through hunting, trapping and agency control methods.
 
Continued with Idaho Wolf Pack Map:
http://tinyurl.com/cltb2cw
 
[Note: It looks like there is a new Caton Creek Pack named in our area.]
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Idaho wildlife officials report 11 percent decline in state's wolf population in 2012
 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS April 03, 2013 
 
LEWISTON, Idaho — The latest population tally shows an 11 percent decline in the number of wolves roaming Idaho.
 
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game reports 683 wolves in 117 packs at the end of 2012. That total is down from 746 wolves in 104 packs in 2011.
 
"It's encouraging to see the trend going down, and we are certainly committed to managing wolves to reduce impacts with livestock and big game (animals), and that means we will continue to focus on increasing harvest, particularly in problem areas," said Jon Rachael, big game manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Boise.
 
State wildlife officials attribute the downsizing to continued pressure through hunting, trapping and agency control methods. Humans killed 418 of the 425 wolves known to have died in the state last year.
 
Officials say wolves killed 73 cattle, 312 sheep and two dogs in 2012.
 
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See also:
 
Idaho wolf population decreased by 11 percent in 2012
 
Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review April 3, 2013
 
http://tinyurl.com/cejkacw
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Wolf hunting ends in most of state
 
Some zones to close June 30
 
by Katherine Wutz Idaho Mountain Express April 3, 2013
 
Wolf hunting ended in most of the state Sunday, but the Idaho Fish and Game Commission decided last week to expand the current season on parts of northern Idaho.
 
The commission met Thursday, March 28, to extend the wolf hunting season in the Middle Fork and part of the Dworshak-Elk City wolf management zones. Those seasons had been scheduled to end on March 31 but were extended to match the ending dates of neighboring zones.
 
The Lolo and Selway zones, which border those areas and are located on the Idaho-Montana border, already had seasons sending June 30. Hunting for the 2013-14 season will begin Aug. 30.
 
Hunting has closed in the Southern Mountains Zone, the area that encompasses much of the Big Wood and Little Wood river basins. The Southern Mountains Zone had a harvest quota of 40 wolves, only eight of which were killed.
 
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Governor, FWP to meet with members of Montana wolf advisory group.
 
The Montana Wolf Management Advisory Council hasn't met for years, but Gov. Steve Bullock and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Jeff Hagener have invited the 12 members back to Helena for a meeting on April 12.
 
Billings Gazette; April 2, 2013
 
http://tinyurl.com/cxumeoh
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Montana's Wilderness Areas Are Not What They Are Cracked Up To Be!
 
Editorial by Toby Bridges of Lobo Watch - April 2, 2013
 
Montanans, and those who visit the State of Montana, are blessed with a bounty of beauty. Only a few other areas of the United States come even close to matching the Treasure State's abundance of mountain vistas, crystal clear rivers and lakes, or wide open grasslands that roll out as far as the eye can see...then some.
 
Vast stretches of public owned land make up much of what makes Montana such a great place to live or visit. There are right at 17,000,000 acres of National Forest and another 8,000,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management administered lands within the state's borders. All of Glacier National Park's 1,012,837 acres are situated in Montana, while about 67,000 acres of Yellowstone National Park and another 60,000 acres of the Bighorn National Recreation Area extend north out of Wyoming into the state. Altogether, there are more than 5,000,000 acres of "State of Montana" owned lands, including many state administered wildlife management areas and public hunting and fishing areas. Tribal lands also make up roughly another 5,000,000 acres, on much of which non-tribal members are allowed, for a price, to outdoor recreate - hunt, fish, hike, camp, etc. To all of this state, federal and tribal owned lands, you can also add the more than 1.1- million acres of Montana that are administered as National Wildlife Refuges by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
 
Due to the very natural and diverse land features of Montana, primarily the many major and secondary mountain ranges and the deeply cut canyons of the Missouri Breaks, nature had already carved out many areas that would remain wild long after the first white settlers arrived in Big Sky Country. The state is the fourth largest in the country, and statewide only topped 1- million residents in the past couple of years. Cities with populations larger than 50,000 remain few and far between, generally separated by distances of 100 to 120 miles. To cross the state on interstate highway from east to west is more than a 700-mile drive - fortunately with lots of beautiful scenery.
 
Continued:
http://www.lobowatch.com/adminclient/WolfImpact10/go

[bearpaw]

Shucks! Idaho Isn’t Controlling Wolves Enough
 
April 4, 2013 by Tom Remington
 
On January 21, 2009 I wrote that when and if the gray wolf in the Northern Rocky Mountains were ever taken off the Endangered Species Act list of protected species and put in the hands of the states, the states would be clueless as how to “manage” the animal. It seems I can rest my case and say, “I told you so.”
 
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) believed themselves to be ahead of the curve by laying out rules and regulations that would govern a wolf hunt should there ever be one. It became clear that IDFG was more interested in seeing how much money they could make selling wolf hunting tags than managing and controlling the large predators so that other game species, i.e. elk, moose and deer, wouldn’t be destroyed from an overgrown and out of control wolf population. They failed! In addition the rules set aside for wolf hunting were so restrictive to the hunter, the odds on harvest success were reduced considerably. Essentially that first hunt provided for a man and gun and a short period of time to tag his harvest; nothing else to assist him.
 
Some argued that erring on the side of caution would be the prudent thing to do out of fear that too many wolves would be killed and the wolf would be put back under federal protections. This showed the real ignorance of game managers who both had no idea of how to control this creature nor did they seem interested in learning how to do it from countries that have had to deal more with savage and disease-ridden wolves than Idaho.
 
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Wolf recovery not taking heavy toll on big game so far, Washington officials say
 
April 04, 2013 Oregon Live
 
Washington's moose, elk and deer herds do not yet appear to be suffering heavy losses from the revival of gray wolves, so far, to the best of the Fish and Wildlife Department's knowledge.
 
Indeed, wildlife managers used qualifiers liberally last week in a contentious Colville meeting regarding wolves and their impact on Washington big game.
 
Wolf recovery is still in early stages statewide, they said, and the agency lacks funding for widespread, reliable big-game monitoring.
 
But they're doing the best they can under state laws, said Dave Ware, state game manager based in Olympia.
 
While pertinent questions were asked from the 250-plus people attending, many of those handed the microphone were bent on lecturing or scolding the three wildlife experts who made presentations.
 
Continued:
http://tinyurl.com/dxnfs44
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Gray wolf’s California quest comes to an end
 
Michael Condon - Plumas County News 4/4/2013
 
A rather unique and intriguing visitor recently brought his stay in California to an end.
 
After more than a year of wandering through northern California, presumably in search of a mate and a new territory, a gray wolf known as OR-7 left the Golden State and returned to Oregon on March 13. OR-7 wandered throughout northeastern California but spent most of his time in Plumas and Tehama counties.
 
Originally from northeastern Oregon’s Imnaha pack, OR-7 was fitted with a radio collar in February 2011 when he was just a pup. The nomadic gray wolf dispersed from his pack in the fall of that year to begin an epic walkabout.
 
Continued w/map:
http://tinyurl.com/crz3sq5
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Wildlife Services employee investigated in wolf death
 
By Rene Romo - ABQ Journal Thu, Apr 4, 2013
 
LAS CRUCES – Federal officials have confirmed that a Wildlife Services employee is the subject of an investigation into the killing of an endangered Mexican gray wolf in January in the southwest corner of the state.
 
Few details about the killing have been disclosed, with spokesmen for Wildlife Services, an arm of the USDA, and Fish and Wildlife Services, which oversees the wolf recovery project, saying that the case is under investigation.
 
However, a brief statement from Wildlife Services indicates the employee asserted the killing was a case of mistaken identity.
 
The employee, described as a specialist, was investigating a possible wolf depredation of livestock in January when the incident occurred, wrote Carol Bannerman,  a Maryland-based spokeswoman for Wildlife Services. “While on-site he lethally removed a canine, which was then identified as possibly a Mexican wolf.”
 
Bannerman wrote that the Wildlife Services employee “immediately reported the take” to the agency’s management and to the recovery project’s Interagency Field Team, a group of federal, state and tribal officials who work collaboratively on the wolf program.
 
Asked specifically about the rumored killing of a wolf by a Wildlife Services employee, Sherry Barrett,  the Mexican wolf recovery coordinator for Fish and Wildlife, said she was unable to comment and referred questions to a spokesman.
 
Nick Chavez,  special agent in charge of Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement for the region, said that a “canine mortality” was being investigated. “I’m not confirming or denying it,” Chavez said when asked about the killing of a wolf by a Wildlife Services employee. “It’s under investigation.”
 
The killing of the lobo, one of only 75 known to roam national and tribal forest lands in a designated recovery zone in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico, by a federal employee would mark another setback to the hotly debated program.
 
The illegal poaching of wolves has been the biggest cause of wolf mortality since lobos were released to the wild, but the January incident would mark the first known case of a federal employee having killed a wolf not formally designated for removal or capture.
 
Last week, on March 29, the Fish and Wildlife Service noted the 15th anniversary of the date when eleven wolves were released in Arizona to the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. Those wolves were the descendants of the last known Mexican gray wolves, seven in all, which were captured in an effort to revive the species after ranchers and a previous incarnation of Wildlife Services trapped, hunted and poisoned the Mexican gray wolf to near extinction in the U.S. and Mexico.
 
Neither Wildlife Services nor Fish and Wildlife disclosed the exact date or location where the killing occurred, and would not identify the employee involved.
 
[Note: this story is behind a pay wall, hat tip to "R" for sharing.]
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Return of the Wolf God
 
A recently identified wolf subspecies ranges far wider than first imagined: across Africa.
 
By Cheryl Lyn Dybas - Natural History April 4, 2013
 
Woollff! shouted Lajos Nemeth-Boka, lead naturalist and tour leader at GreenEye Ecotours. It was November of 2007. Nemeth-Boka was driving slowly along the west bank of the Nile River between Luxor and Aswan. “An animal crossed the road in front of us, coming from the Nile’s shore and running toward the Sahara sands,” he says. “I’ve seen jackals and I’ve seen wolves, and there is a big difference between the two. This was clearly a wolf.”
 
As it turned out, he was right. The first clues had come thousands of years earlier. But the wolf in jackal’s clothing wasn’t proved to be such until 2011, four years after Nemeth-Boka’s sighting. In the fifth century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus reported that there were wolves in Egypt, describing them as no bigger than foxes. A century later, Aristotle reiterated that these Egyptian wolves were smaller than those of his homeland. And in the first century BC, the Greek historian Diodorus recounted a story that once a Nubian army, invading Egypt from the south, had been repelled by packs of wolves. The wolves drove the army all the way south from the town of Asyut to the then border, earning the town the Greek name of Lycopolis, “city of the wolf.”
 
Continued:
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