Compromise wolf-management bill moves ahead
Associated Press
CHEYENNE – Wyoming would maintain fewer breeding pairs of wolves than what the federal government wanted but would drop its shoot-on-sight provision under a measure recommended by a House committee Monday.
House Bill 155 represents a compromise agreement between lawmakers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a state plan that would allow for removal of federal protection of the rapidly expanding species. The service last month rejected the plan approved by Legislature in 2003.
Rep. Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, sponsor of the bill, said whether one believes that wolves were properly reintroduced into the Yellowstone region by the federal government doesn’t matter now.
“They are here,” he said. “We need the tools to manage.”
The House Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee voted 6-3 to allow the House to fully debate the measure.
Baker said the compromise could avoid litigation and put the state and the Interior Department on the same side should a suit be filed.
Rep. Mick Powers, R-Lyman, who voted against the bill, said the Legislature should resist changing the state’s plan under the belief it will avoid a legal fight.
“I think we’re fooling ourselves if we don’t think it’s going to end up in court,” he said. “Let’s get to court and get on with it.”
Jim Magagna, lobbyist for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, argued adamantly against the bill and said the committee simply passed the buck.
“My reaction is they did nothing,” he said. “They just passed the decision up the (legislative) line.”
Magagna said HB155 takes away methods ranchers could use to remove problem wolves, such as aerial hunting and explosives, methods that would be allowed under the current, but federally rejected, plan.
During the meeting, Baker produced two new letters, which he said bolsters the argument for supporting the legislation.
One was from National Park Service Director Fran Mainella announcing that wolves and their prey – elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep and bison – would be managed inside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The letter also states that the Park Service will assist Wyoming in managing wolves.
Baker said management of wildlife in a national park would be unprecedented and represents a major concession by the federal government.
The other letter, from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Steve Williams, said HB155 would establish the legal framework to support removing wolves from the Endangered Species List and turning management over to the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
Williams, who attended the meeting, told the committee, “Our view of House Bill 155, with amendments, addresses our concerns adequately.”
Under the measure, Wyoming would maintain 15 wolf packs in the state with a minimum of 10 breeding pairs. The federal government had previously mandated 15 breeding pairs.
Also, rather than allowing wolves to be shot on sight outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and adjacent wilderness areas – as Wyoming’s current plan outlines – the animal would be subject to regulated hunting by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. License fees for residents would be $5.