Column: States keeping the heat on in wolf wars

[Go Big Red!]

Column: States keeping the heat on in wolf wars

By Kevin Naze • For Wisconsinoutdoorfun.com • February 26, 2011

Anti-wolf sentiment is spreading across the country as big game hunters and ranchers fed up with a federal protection system they see as broken are pushing for state management.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer even announced last week that he's directing his state wildlife officers not to prosecute ranchers who kill wolves that threaten livestock. He also directed the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to cull entire packs of wolves that have reduced elk populations in the Bitterroot Valley.

Schweitzer told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar he's frustrated and tired of waiting for a workable wolf management plan from the feds.

Earlier this month, federal officials signaled preliminary support for state plans to kill up to 60 wolves from packs occupying a 2,355-square-mile Lolo zone in Idaho.

Wolves have been removed from the Endangered Species Act protections on a number of occasions, only to be listed again by federal courts after anti-hunting groups filed lawsuits.

This week, a coalition of the nation's largest hunting and conservation groups thanked members of Congress for taking several steps in the right direction for wolf conservation.

Two Montana Senators introduced a bill to remove protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho. Two other measures before Congress would remove those protections nationwide.

The coalition — Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, the Boone and Crockett Club, National Rifle Association and Safari Club International — reminded Congress that all wolves in the Rockies and Great Lakes area are recovered and should now be managed by state biologists.

"The wolf is recovered biologically but population management is hung up in legal questions that judges call 'ambiguous,'" said Bob Model, chairman of government affairs for the Boone and Crockett Club and vice chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation.

"Lawyers and judges disagree on the law. But no one disagrees with the numbers. The strength of the large and growing wolf population is obvious, and the numbers meet and far surpass the established threshold for recovery."

Wolf populations in the Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes are at least five times larger than the federal recovery goals.

The coalition also supports interim steps to move toward these goals, in recognition of political realities that may delay or forestall a comprehensive remedy at this point in time.
Wolf depredations up

The number of farms with confirmed wolf depredations in Wisconsin last year soared to 47, up from 28 in 2009. In addition, at least 24 dogs were killed and 14 injured by wolves last year.

Once delisting occurs, Wisconsin's plan allows for lethal control of wolves depredating on livestock, and pets on private lands by government trappers and landowners.

The state did receive emergency authority last fall to kill the majority of wolves from a large Jackson County pack that was showing aggression toward humans.

Owners of livestock and hunting dogs are compensated for their losses. Total payments in 2010 for livestock and dogs exceeded $200,000 for the first time; nearly half went to dog owners and deer farm owners who lost hounds, pets or whitetails.

Wolves killed six deer at two game farms. They must have been valuable ones, because the state paid a total of $55,000 — $26K to one farm and $29K to the other.