BOISE, Idaho — A draft plan for controlling Idaho wolves once federal protections are lifted lays the groundwork for hunting wolves in areas where the predators clash frequently with livestock and have made significant dents in big game populations.
The proposed management plan, issued this week by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, requires the state to maintain a minimum of 15 breeding pairs and recommends allowing wolves to persist where they do not cause excessive conflict with human activities.
But it also recommends using a regulated seasonal hunt as the tool of choice for managing, and in some cases, thinning, the number of wolves in the state.
“Our intention is to manage above the minimum of 15 breeding pairs … and wolves will persist where they are not causing conflicts,” said Steve Nadeau, large carnivore coordinator for the agency.
“They will be managed in some areas similar to the way we do big game now. And we will be reducing populations in some of these areas of high conflict.”
In recent years, Idaho’s wolf population has been growing at an annual rate of 20 percent, according to agency figures. In 2006, biologists estimated Idaho’s wolf population at 673, with 41 breeding pairs and 72 packs, though Nadeau says he expects the 2007 census to exceed 800 animals.
Based on similar growth in Montana and Wyoming, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is on track to remove wolves from Endangered Species Act protections early next year and hand management duties over to the states. Plans submitted by Idaho and Montana for conserving and managing wolves were approved by the federal government in 2002; Wyoming won approval earlier this year.
The blueprint released this week provides more detail on how Idaho’s Fish and Game would manage, conserve and regulate wolves across the state.
Goals include maintaining a healthy population capable of sustaining itself over the long term and protecting the natural corridors that allow Idaho wolves to intermingle with populations in neighboring states.
In a letter attached to the document, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter emphasizes that wolves are in Idaho to stay and it’s up to the state to ensure their long-term presence.
“The wolf population in our state is part of Idaho’s landscape, and it is time they are managed like other resident wildlife,” writes Otter, who drew national attention last year by saying he intended to be first in line to bid for an Idaho wolf hunting permit.
The plan also makes clear that the state has a role in controlling wolf numbers in the same fashion it does black bears, cougars and mountain lions, and recommends criteria for controlling and, in some areas, reducing populations, predominantly through hunting.
Specific wolf hunting rules, including dates, bag limits and methods, will be established by the state at a later date.
Borrowing from agency approaches to managing elk and deer, the draft suggests dividing the state into 14 separate wolf management zones. The zone system gives wardens flexibility to treat wolves in each zone separately, Nadeau says, depending on livestock conflicts, effects on game or the economics of hunting.
It also recommends suspending all wolf hunting activity when there are 20 or fewer breeding pairs left in the state.
“We’re focusing on managing conflicts with this plan,” Nadeau said. “And clearly, that means population reductions in some areas. Other areas, we’ll be looking to stabilize.”
But to wolf supporters, the plan gives the state too much muscle to roll back wolf numbers, risking the species’ viability.
Suzanne Stone, of Defenders of Wildlife in Boise, says Idaho should re-examine the initial wolf conservation and management plan approved by the 2002 Legislature, then later approved by the federal government.
Stone argues that Idaho is opting to manage wolves too close to the bare minimum required by the federal government, a threshold that threatens wolf progress over the last decade.
“This is a case of the state saying we’re going to manage wolves at the very edge, and from a biological standpoint, that doesn’t make any sense,” Stone said. “Idaho’s plan is all about controlling wolves, maintaining a strict control. Allowing them to thrive is the proper way to manage the species.”
The agency will organize a series of hearings on the plan across the state and will accept written comments until Dec. 29.
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