Policy in the works to start wolf harvest - you can stop it!
The below story is part of a much bigger problem: the Federal Government has started the wheels turning to remove the wolves from the list of federally protected endangered and threatened species.
The Defenders of Wildlife campaign is urging citizens to contact the Dept of the Interior! We also want to urge you, no matter where you live in the U.S., to contact them as well!
Who:
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne
How:
Call 'em: (202) 208-7351
Email:
exsec@ios.doi.govThe following alert comes from Lynne Stone at the Boulder-White Clouds Council:
The Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game has released its wolf "population" plan that could remove hundreds of gray wolves from Idaho through hunting and trapping.
COMMENTS ARE NEEDED BY DEC. 31, 2007. The plan's most blatant problems are detailed below. I apologize for the length, but please use any or all the information to write a letter, long or short. Pass this e-mail on to other wolf supporters. I realize it's the holidays, but the best Christmas gift you could give wolves right now is to speak up and write on their behalf!
"Governor Otter sees wolves as a nuisance that must be culled. Over the past 10 years, Idaho’s wolves have shown a stunning capacity to recover. Over the next four years, their future rests with Otter -- a troubling prospect”. (Idaho Statesman 12.21.06)
How You Can HelpWrite by December 31, 2007 and protest IDFG’s hunting plan. Ask IDFG to start over with a plan that represents the interests of all Idahoans, rather than a minority consisting of ranchers, outfitters and trophy hunters who have convinced Governor Otter that Little Red Riding Hood was not a fairy tale. Join with Boulder-White Clouds Council and the Wolf Recovery Foundation in our efforts on educating the public on the value of wolves to the natural landscape. Write a letter to your local newspaper and others in support of wolves and opposing IDFG's wolf killing plan.
WHERE TO WRITE
E-mail:
idfginfo@idfg.idaho.gov (Put “Wolf Plan Comments” in the subject line). If you have trouble with this address, try sending again.
Mail: IDFG, Wolf Plan Comments, P.O. Box 25, Boise ID 83707
Fax: IDFG, Wolf Plan comments: 208-334-2148 or 208-334-2114
The Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game (IDFG) has released its Draft Idaho Wolf Population Mgt Plan. This is actually a hunting plan based on Idaho Governor Butch Otter's politics, rather than biology, ecology or science, and assumes most Idahoans would prefer wolves hunted with bullets rather than cameras.
The plan is on line at
Fish & Game.Background:
This is a HUNTING PLAN that could remove all but 15 breeding pairs (two adults and two pups = breeding pair) from Idaho. The plan’s minimum objective is 104 wolves. Currently there are between 700 and 800 wolves in the state. And despite what IDFG claims, there’s room for far more wolves to exist.
Are wolves really eating all the elk? Elk numbers are so high in many areas that IDFG holds elk “depredation” hunts because of rancher and farmer complaints. Elk seasons last from Labor Day to December. Idaho has over 125,000 elk and hunters killed 21,000 in 2005, the 8th largest number ever. Wolves move elk around, benefiting and healing overused foraging areas. Only two areas in Idaho are not meeting or exceeding IDFG elk number objectives and that’s due to habitat issues, not wolves.
Wolves are in for a tough and deadly time in Idaho, Montana & Wyoming if delisted from the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s delisting decision is expected in February 2008. Wolf advocacy groups will litigate on the grounds that Delisting as proposed at this time is illegal and jeopardizes gray wolf survival in the Northern Rockies. Successful litigation could buy wolves some time until the anti-wolf Bush and Butch Administrations ride off into the sunset.
POINTS TO MAKE ON THE PROPOSED IDAHO WOLF MGT PLAN:
The hunting plan robs Idahoans of opportunities to see wolves. Wolves are one of the main attractions in Yellowstone Park and wolf watching brings over $60 million into the Yellowstone area economy. Few Idahoans will ever see a wolf if IDFG’s faulty plan goes into effect. IDFG has thrown a bone to wolf supporters saying they might consider one or two non-permanent “wolf viewing areas” as long as outfitters and ranchers agreed and were paid by non-government sources for any “losses” caused by wolves. With that type of thinking, let’s ask IDFG for reimbursement for lost wildlife viewing because of livestock use or outfitter hunting. Why is Idaho rushing into a full-scale wolf hunt, while Minnesota with over 3000 wolves, has no wolf hunt? Politics, politics - pressure from public land livestock grazers, big game outfitters, anti-predator groups and the Governor.
The Plan fails to advocate for non-lethal methods of keeping wolves and livestock apart. Wolves can learn to stay away from sheep and cattle by use of proven pro-active, non-lethal methods. Because of powerful ranchers and their ties to Wildlife Services (formerly Animal Damage Control), wolves are now rarely given a second chance to learn to fear man or stock. A few ranchers are willing to live with wolves. Others turn their sheep and cattle out on top of wolf denning areas and as a result, entire wolf packs have been killed. There are 1700 ranchers who graze on Idaho’s public lands with 10% (170) controlling 80% of public land allotments. There are 1.4 million people who reside in the state. Why should a handful of ranchers dictate whether wolves live or die? IDFG is supposed to represent all Idahoans. Please remind them of this as they revise their unbalanced wolf plan.
Wolf number objectives are absurdly low throughout the 14 state Data Analysis Units (DAUs) (See Table 6.2). Example: In the 2.3 million acre Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness (larger than Yellowstone Park), IDFG’s objective is for ONE TO FOUR breeding pairs. Minimum wolf number objective is EIGHT. There are no cattle or sheep in the Frank. But IDFG cites “ungulate conflict” between wolves and elk. Why? We suspect it’s big game outfitters who don’t want wolves. Imagine if there was only one wolf pack in Yellowstone Pack and a total of eight wolves. That’s what IDFG is proposing for the Frank as their bottom line. Please ask IDFG to reconsider its wolf number objectives in the Frank and all the DAUs.
Southern Idaho Mountains wolf number objectives - this includes most of the White Clouds, Boulders, Pioneers, Smokys and Lost Rivers, over four million acres. Breeding pair object: ZERO TO FOUR. Minimum wolf number objective: EIGHT. Why so low? Ranchers who run cows in places like Copper Basin and the White Clouds, or sheep in the Smokys and Boulders. Protest this ridiculously low wolf number on some of the wildest land in America. Insist that IDFG’s revised plan spells out in detail a proactive, non-lethal livestock management approach.
Oppose the “harvest” of wolf families. IDFG proposes to sell wolf tags for $9.75 to anyone and the hunting season will go from Aug. 30 to March 31. Trapping would also be allowed. Imagine a wolf pack howling in sorrow as one of their members is held painfully in a trap for 48 hours until the trapper “sportsman” arrives to kill it. IDFG attempts to cover up the killing by calling it “harvest”. Don’t buy into this gibberish. Spuds are harvested. Wolves are shot. IDFG’s plan will allow wolves of all ages to be killed without any regard to the social structure of a wolf pack. IDFG’s plan is being driven by ranchers, outfitters, trappers, trophy hunters and fossilized, 1880-thinking politicians who don’t want predators, period. They do not represent all Idahoans. If a hunting season is ever established, the least IDFG could do, is start slowly and issue a few tags -- not the wholesale slaughter they are proposing.
WOLVES ARE HIGHLY SOCIALIZED PACK ANIMALS. IDFG says they will manage wolves and hunt wolves as big game just like mountain lions and black bears. Yet there are 3000 lions and 20,000 black bears in Idaho alone. There’s far fewer wolves. We’re not amused that IDFG doesn’t know the difference between the lives of wolves, bears and lions. Killing alphas and other adults in a pack and leaving sub adults and pups on their own, will lead to more conflicts between wolves and livestock. Yet the IDFG naively keeps saying their wolf killing plan will reduce conflict. The hunting season would stop just before denning season in April. By then, the alpha female may well have lost her entire pack at the time she needs them most. Then in late August, when pups are just starting to travel, the hunt begins again. IDFG should be ashamed for proposing this inhumane wolf hunting plan and needs to be told as much.
image courtesy of Wolf Park