Anti-wolf group gears up for legal attack
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – The Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition is trying to raise money
to file a class-action lawsuit asking the federal government be ordered to
eliminate wolves from Idaho.
Coalition founder Ron Gillett of Stanley told a news conference Sunday
said that increasing wolf populations across the state are putting stress
on wildlife, outfitters and ranchers.
‘I am afraid we are about to experience the biggest wildlife disaster in
Idaho’s history,’ Gillett said. ‘Something must be done immediately,
because the Canadian gray wolf population has exploded to the point of
decimating Idaho’s big game herds.’
Coalition member Bill Campbell of Nampa said many outfitters and hunting
guides are having a hard time with game shortages.
‘That’s what brought this whole thing together,’ said Campbell. ‘There
are outfitters who are literally going out of business because hunters
come in from all over to hunt big game and don’t see anything. Then they
never come back.’
Research indicates that wolf populations are decreasing in some areas
because as packs grow the territorial animals roam into less desirable
territory.
‘The density of wolves in a given area is pretty much fixed. That is all
the wolves you are going to have in an area.’ said Curt Mack, director of
wolf recovery in Idaho for the Nez Perce Tribe.
Because the density of wolves in particular areas is not growing,
predation of elk by wolves will likely increase across the state but won’t
increase in localized areas.
Researchers say that elk account for about 80 percent of the diet of
wolves, while deer makes up the rest. An average wolf pack probably eats
80 to 100 elk per year, said Curt Mack, director of wolf recovery in Idaho
for the Nez Perce Tribe. He guessed wolves kill about 2,500 to 5,000 elk
per year.
‘The pressure on elk is distributed over a larger geographic area, but
the pressure and wolf predation on elk within an occupied territory
remains the same,’ Mack said.
The lawsuit is meant to force federal officials to dispose of the animals
through any means necessary.
‘There’s just no way that you can trap all those wolves. You can trap
some, and that would be the humane thing to do. But the fact is they’re a
predator and you’ve got to deal with them one way or another,’ said Nampa
rancher and coalition member Bill Campbell.
Organizations in Montana and Wyoming share that sentiment and the
coalition hopes they will join in the lawsuit, said Campbell.
The Idaho group is gathering funds and plans to hold a dinner and auction
Aug. 22 in Nampa. The coalition hopes to raise about $100,000 for its
legal efforts by spring.
The latest estimates of Idaho’s wolf population place it around 284 and
composed of about 19 packs. The numbers come from the 2002 gray wolf
status report produced by the Nez Perce Tribe.