Wolfseeker News 4/17/07 Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:48:04 -0500 (CDT) ------ Forwarded Message From: patmorris123 Reply-To: Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:19:39 -0000 To: Subject: [WolfseekerNews] Wolfseeker News 4/17/07 * Feds wonbt wait for Wyoming wolf plan (MT) * One Of Original Wolves Reintroduced 12 Years Ago Found Dead (ID) * Car kills protected wolf near Fort Shaw (MT) * Two wolves shot near Sun Valley (WA) * Federal official defends removal of wolves from endangered list (MI) _______________________________________ Feds wonbt wait for Wyoming wolf plan By BEN NEARY Associated Press Writer CHEYENNE, Wyo. b" The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says itbs prepared to leave Wyoming behind as it drafts regulations spelling out how the wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains will be removed from federal protection under the Threatened and Endangered Species Act. Mitch King, regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wrote to Freudenthal today saying that if the state canbt submit a new wolf-management plan by May 1, the federal agency wonbt be able to include the state in its ongoing rulemaking aimed at removing wolves from federal protections by next February. That would leave only Montana and Idaho in the process. bLet me again stress this is not our preferred option,b King wrote to Freudenthal. bHowever, we still intend to complete the delisting of all the significant portions of the range with adequate regulatory mechanisms by February 2008, with or without Wyomingbs inclusion.b Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank said today that the federal agencybs proposal to remove protections from wolves in Montana and Idaho while leaving them in effect in Wyoming makes no sense. Crank said federal officials clearly know Wyomingbs position on wolf management because the state Legislature this spring approved new wolf-management legislation. bIbm perplexed about why itbs such a big deal why we have a new management plan out by May first,b Crank said today. bAnd for them to go forward without including Wyoming would just be crazy, in my opinion.b Wyomingbs lack of a wolf-management plan acceptable to federal officials has slowed the removal of federal protections from wolves in all three states for several years. Fish and Wildlife Service officials already have accepted Montanabs and Idahobs wolf plans, but rejected an earlier Wyoming effort that called for classifying the animals as predators that could be shot on sight in many areas. Wyoming is still litigating over that rejection. Freudenthal wrote to King early this month stating it would be virtually impossible for the state to submit a new wolf-management plan to the federal government by May 1. The new state wolf law that Freudenthal signed into law will expire next February if the federal government hasnbt by then removed wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act and given Wyoming the authority to manage wolves in the state. In his letter to Freudenthal today, King responded that his agency must have the state management plan by May 1 to meet its own administrative and legal requirements for meeting the February 2008 deadline contained in Wyomingbs new law. Under the law Freudenthal signed in March, his administration has authority to negotiate with the federal government the boundaries of a permanent wolf-management area in northwestern Wyoming. But while Freudenthal and legislative leaders have emphasized that while theybre prepared to try to reach a settlement with federal officials, theybre also still interested in pursuing the statebs ongoing lawsuit against the Fish and Wildlife Service over the agencybs rejection of the statebs first wolf plan. Crank questioned why the federal agency canbt proceed with its rulemaking proceeding by using Wyomingbs new law as a firm indication of where the state stands on the issue. bYou know what Wyoming law is going to be, if they meet the preconditions in that law, so just write the rule as if the plan was going to be in effect,b Crank said. bI have no idea what theybre doing; it just doesnbt make sense to me.b Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, is chairman of the House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee. He was among the legislators to push for wolf-management legislation in the past session. Childers said today that he agrees with Freudenthal that therebs no way Wyoming could complete a management plan by May 1. bItbs not feasible,b Childers said. bNumber one, our statutes are thoroughly clear what we will do.b Ed Bangs, the federal wolf-recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, said today that his agency canbt include Wyoming in the rulemaking process with only the statebs wolf-management law in hand. bThe bottom-line is this isnbt the service doing things for the state, in terms of us saying bthis is how the state is going to manage wolves,bb Bangs said. He said the rulemaking process includes looking at the relationship between the law of the various states and their respective wolf-management plans. He said the Fish and Wildlife Service looks at the management plans as the state professional wildlife managersb commitment of how theybre going to manage wolves. Bangs said his agency canbt bsomehow dream up how the state might somehow manage wolves. Thatbs the statebs job, to tell us how theybre going to manage wolves.b http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/NEWS01/ 70416007/1002 ________________________________________ One Of Original Wolves Reintroduced 12 Years Ago Found Dead Posted: 11:08 AM, Apr. 17, 2007 BOISE, Idaho (AP) - State fish and game officials say one of the first wolves reintroduced to Idaho 12 years ago has died. Biologists say the carcass of a female, gray wolf labeled B-16 was found recently near Sabe Creek and the Salmon River. Evidence suggests the wolf died sometime last fall or summer. At best guess, she was about 13 years old. After being captured from her original homeland in Alberta, Canada, B-16 was among the first to be released in Idaho as part of a federal government program. Since then, her pack has roamed the rugged and remote heart of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. Her pack was one of the first to produce pups in the state. http://www.localnews8.com/story.cfm?nav=news&storyID=2334 _____________________________________ Car kills protected wolf near Fort Shaw By MICHAEL BABCOCK Tribune Outdoor Editor What authorities believe was an adult wolf has been hit and killed by a car on Highway 200 about a mile west of Fort Shaw. The accident on Friday came as federal officials were trying to determine whether Montana currently has enough wolves to take them off the Endangered Species List. "There was an adult female wolf that by outward appearances was a wild gray wolf that was hit by a car," said Carolyn Sime, the statewide wolf coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. "The protocol is that all wolves that die in Montana must go to a lab until a necropsy determines the cause of death," Sime said. "At this point, we believe it was a vehicle striking it, but we won't know until then." Bruce Auchly, information officer for Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Great Falls, said game warden Dave Holland of Fort Shaw found the animal on routine patrol and picked up the carcass, which weighed about 80 pounds. On Monday, a woman reported to FWP in Great Falls that she believed she hit a wolf at that location on Friday. Sime said there is no known wolf pack in the area but it is not unusual for wolves to strike off and begin dispersing from packs at this time of year. "Wolves have been moving north and south along the east Front for about 20 years," Sime said. "We did collar a wolf in the Dearborn Country, but that is quite a ways away and I don't think the two are related." On Saturday, a Fort Shaw area rancher reportedly saw what he thought was a wolf in his stockyard, but the Tribune was unable to reach the rancher to confirm the report. "This time of year is when wolves are denning and reproducing," Sime said. "It could be possible there is a new pair out there. We don't know. They are amazing travelers, and you never know where one is going to pop up." The population of wolves in Montana has increased over the last two decades to the point that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act list of endangered animals. Public hearings have been held throughout Montana on the subject and a period to comment has been extended to May 9. The Montana wolf population increased from 2005 to 2006 by 19 to 20 percent and some of that growth is due to wolves moving into Montana from Idaho, according to Sime. But she said much of the increase was in the area north of the Missouri River and west of the Continental Divide that is classified by the federal government as endangered. "Some of that growth was within Montana b" Montana radio-collared wolves leaving their home pack, and we find a new wolf or a pair that is now starting its own pack. We have documented five dispersal pairs in Montana. " Sime said one wolf that left a pack north of Helena was missing for a couple of years but was found with another wolf in the Middle Fork of the Flathead drainage. She said other examples occurred in northwest Montana. Sime also said that near the end of 2006, FWP verified a new pack in the Blackfoot River drainage. That pack is called the Elevation Mountain Pack and contains four to five wolves. Their territory is in the Garnet Mountains near the Clearwater Junction. All but wiped out in Montana in the 1930s, wolves were added to the Endangered Species List in the 1970s. Their removal would turn management over to the states. The plan covers 89 breeding pairs and 1,243 wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Most of them are in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. The recovery area also includes portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah. http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070417/NEWS01/ 704170302/1002 ____________________________________________ Two wolves shot near Sun Valley The Associated Press Two wolves suspected of killing cattle near Sun Valley have been shot by workers with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. The Olympian - Click Here The male wolves were shot Friday by the federal agents from a plane as the animals were harassing cattle at a ranch near Carey. "This is the first year we've had any problems in that area. It's very unusual," said Steve Nadeau, state wolf coordinator with Wildlife Services. A female wolf was killed by a rancher near Picabo about five weeks ago. All three wolves are believed to be responsible for at least four cattle deaths in the region. Ranchers are permitted by law to shoot wolves that target cattle or sheep. It is illegal to hunt wolves in Idaho, but the state is awaiting a federal decision to remove wolves from Endangered Species Act protections. If that happens, the state may legalize wolf hunting. At last count, there were about 670 wolves in the state. Nadeau said his agency confirmed 63 cases of wolf-caused livestock depredation in 2006, including 41 cattle, 237 sheep and four dogs. http://www.theolympian.com/130/story/83379.html _______________________________________________ Federal official defends removal of wolves from endangered list 4/17/2007, 4:08 p.m. EDT The Associated Press TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) b" The federal government is satisfied that state agencies will protect gray wolves in the Great Lakes region from returning to the point of extinction, an official said Tuesday in response to a lawsuit. Three environmentalist groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its decision in March to remove wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin from the endangered species list, turning management responsibilities over to the states and Indian tribes. Georgia Parham, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agency had not reviewed the suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. But she said the service had acted only after studying state management plans to ensure they would keep wolf numbers at sustainable levels. The federal agency is required to monitor the states' management for at least five years and can return the wolf to the federal endangered list "if it ever came to the point where there was a question about their future viability," Parham said. The lawsuit was filed by The Humane Society of the United States, Help Our Wolves Live, and the Animal Protection Institute. Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of litigation for the Humane Society, said the state plans were inadequate and could lead to hunting, trapping and significant reductions in wolf numbers. "Under state management, the species declined almost to extinction," he said. The wolf was placed on the federal endangered list in 1974. Minnesota now has 3,020 wolves. Nearly 1,000 more live in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Michigan's latest census turned up more than 430 wolves. http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/base/news-43/117684085430 8220.xml&storylist=mibusiness ________________________________________________