Defenders says Idaho is allowing too many wolves to be killed.

[bearpaw]

Defenders says Idaho is allowing too many wolves to be killed.
Submitted by Rocky Barker on Thu, 02/23/2012 - 3:27pm

It didn't take long for the other side to weigh in on the Idaho wolf killing controversy.
 
First, ranchers and the Idaho Legislature pushed for more ways to kill wolves that eat their livestock and people's pets. Then the Idaho Department of Fish and Game responded with a press release outlining all the wolves it is paying the federal government to kill and all the wolves hunters are taking.
 
Now Defenders of Wildlife is weighing in with its view, suggesting that more than half of all the wolves have been killed in Idaho and that state management is a howling failure.

Here is its full press release:
 
Idaho Department of Fish and Game announced yesterday that it helped fund USDA Wildlife Services’ removal of 14 wolves in the Lolo zone of the Clearwater National Forest in northern Idaho. The federal action is part of an Idaho program to remove most wolves from a remote section of federal land in an attempt to boost elk numbers. An additional 28 wolves have been removed from this area through trapping, hunting, and previous aerial gunning.
 
Statewide, more than 400 wolves have been eliminated from Idaho’s population since the beginning of 2011. This represents a significant impact on the state’s wolf population, which was last estimated at 705 animals at the end of 2010. The participation of USDA Wildlife Services in state wildlife management is an inappropriate expansion of the federal role in non-endangered wildlife management under the Obama administration.
 
The following is a statement from Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife:
 
“It’s wrong to ask American taxpayers to subsidize the pointless killing of wolves in order to boost game populations. The removal of wolves in the Clearwater National Forest runs counter to science-based wildlife management and is an inappropriate use of limited resources that should be aimed at conserving wildlife. Hunters and trappers have already killed more than 20 wolves in the area in the last six months, and the season continues until the end of March. There’s no scientific evidence that the ecosystem is out of balance due to the return of wolves and thus no justification for having Wildlife Services kill more wolves to boost elk numbers.
 
“The decline of the Lolo elk herd was the result of multiple factors, including historic habitat changes, road-building, and over-hunting by humans. Killing wolves without addressing these other factors is misguided. Further, biologists do not have an accurate count of how many wolves are in the Lolo region, and Idaho has no formal plan in place to measure the impacts of killing wolves on the elk population. Targeting dozens of wolves could wipe most of them out of the area, defeating the purpose of restoring the species to its proper ecological role. Wolves are vital to maintaining nature’s balance and should not be eliminated so carelessly.

“Now that removal of wolves to boost elk herds has been allowed on the Clearwater National Forest, there’s nothing to stop wildlife managers from pursuing it elsewhere in the state. These actions validate our long-held concern that wolves were prematurely delisted based on inadequate state management plans that allow wolf numbers to be drastically reduced.
 
“It’s time to put a stop to these aggressive, unwarranted actions by the state. It’s also time for the Obama administration to stop allowing Wildlife Services to help states eliminate native wildlife.”

Read more here: http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2012/02/23/rockybarker/defenders_says_idaho_allowing_too_many_wolves_be_killed#storylink=cpy

[rasbo]

howling has folks telling everyone,poison can be used,and puppies are being taken from shelters and used as live bait.

[Special T]

This is Standard operating procedure.  I happen to think this is GREAT!  you might ask why i think so... The DOW pusing ID and MT hard may actually force the demise of the ESA. if however they slow play this and wait to infest MORE states like ours they would have a more devisating impact. GO DOW! Keep hunters pissed and fired up and we will get the ESA changed.

[Bigshooter]

I agree with special t.  DOW does nothing but fire up hunters.  And once enough hunters get pissed off about this the ESA will be changed.

[Elkaholic daWg]

While not far away...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MT_KALISPELL_WOLF_MTOL-?SITE=MTKAL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=ap_template.html

Lone wolf makes daytime run through Kalispell


KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) -- A Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist viewing a police dashboard camera has confirmed that a wolf trotted through the northwestern Montana town of Kalispell in daylight.

Erik Wenum says the wolf spotted about midmorning Saturday and that drew an impromptu group of wildlife watchers wore a radio collar, but biologists were unable to pick up a signal to determine its identity.

The Daily Inter Lake reported (http://bit.ly/zXfE2S ) the wolf traveled through the northwest part of town, cutting between houses but pausing to find its way out of the Kalispell Middle School football field fence.

Wenum says the wolf probably entered town at night in a creek bed and panicked in daylight. He described it as running scared in the police video.
The wolf ultimately headed west out of town.

[bearpaw]

I hope DOW keeps stacking the firewood.... 

I saw that story about the wolf in Kalispell, that's happening more and more fequently in MT/ID.

[Wenatcheejay]

It is hard in a world where there are no consequences to make people understand that economics matter. The North American Model is as much about economics as it is opportunity. I see this as a fund raising opportunity for DOW. If you take the PETA thread where it shows they kill the animals they take in. I was talking with an ultra liberal persuasion person and they are OK with their stance that PETA killing for no reason is acceptable but killing for food is bad because we don't need to do that. It doesn't have to make sense because it is how they feel. The arial killing of elk and deer are OK in California but the arial killing of wolves in Idaho is bad. It is OK for California to ignore the Federal ban on pot but a Game Commissioner who lawfully harvests a cougar in another State needs to be charged and/or fired because California law needs to be upheld. It's all about how they feel. Not us, them. It will all continue until people stand together and say NO More! I do agree that one day, one day the ESA will just go away with the stroke of a pen. The question is will the North American Model be completely dismanted before that happens or not?

[BOWHUNTER45]

  I would imagine that there are a few disappearing they do not know about 

[spookgus]

I think I read somewhere that Idaho was hoping to remove 800 wolves.

[dreamingbig]

Keep shooting and keep on making the DOW upset.  If they aren't complaining then we HAVE PROBLEMS!   

[Houndhunter]

I thought I read Idaho has around 1500 wolves yet the guy in the article said 700?

And hasn't man proved for the last 70 some years that we dont need wolves in the ecosystem? Yet now science tells us that they are crucial to balance the ecosystem, that's a bunch of bull $h!t

[Dhoey07]

I thought I read Idaho has around 1500 wolves yet the guy in the article said 700?

And hasn't man proved for the last 70 some years that we dont need wolves in the ecosystem? Yet now science tells us that they are crucial to balance the ecosystem, that's a bunch of bull $h!t

 

[Special T]

I guess what surprises me the most, is the ID has not made a major standdddddd for thier states rights. The people i know and met in ID werehard headed and independent. (slight understatment) So i'm just so supprised that they have not put the pressure to thier Govoner even more than they have... I wouldn't be surprised if the DOW got the season closed next year and that sparks off a huge FED Vs STATE issue. It seems that WY has faired much better than either ID or MT because they didn't give at first.

[Wenatcheejay]

The Idaho Summit makes no sense to me unless they want to be more like Washington. It seems their Game Department dreams of the day they will be more like us. It is quite clear all the people I talk to from Idaho want no part of being California, Washington (State) or to be controlled by the Fed's when it comes to Wildlife or GAME. However, it seems that is exactly what some in the Idaho Game Department wants. It is frustrating in our State and theirs when you talk to people in the Department and they tell you everything you want to hear only to do the exact opposite when it comes time to vote, set seasons, or make policy. 

They don't come out and say they have done away with the North American Model but it seems at every level that is what they have done.

[buckfvr]

WDFW s strong suit is deceit.......that and pursuing hidden agendas. They are a well oiled machine, highly polished on the outside, and rotten to the core inside.