By Kimberlee Kruesi
HAILEY • For the past four years, Wood River Valley sheep haven’t been afraid of the big, bad wolf.
While the sheep will always face predators, falling victim to a wolf hasn’t been a looming concern thanks to a developing project in Blaine County.
Four years ago, Defenders of Wildlife began monitoring how many sheep were lost to wolves within the Wood River Valley. The Phantom Hill pack was moving through the county, taking sheep at higher rates than normal.
“The train wreck hit in 2007,” said Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative for the wildlife group. “We were getting asked by sheep farmers what we could suggest to help keep the kills down.”
As a result, Defenders of Wildlife began encouraging the use of nonlethal ways to prevent wolf depredation incidents. The efforts focused on training ranchers about what they can do to prevent large predator kills.
And while wolf hunting is the state’s preferred method of managing wolves – and has helped drive some predators away from civilization – the nonlethal program is showing signs of success.
Stone said that wolves have killed only 20 of the 40,000 sheep that lived in the Wood River Valley over the past four years. However, the group will need more money to be effective as it plans to expand to cover all of Blaine County next year.
The program’s current $30,000 budget funds a handful of field technicians and resources for 500,000 acres in Blaine County.
Project leaders promote using multiple guard dogs, firecracker shells, shining spotlights on predators, increasing the number of range riders and tracking predator movements. Field technicians are hired to monitor wolf activity and provide supplies.
“The biggest challenge next year will be removing (sheep) carcasses throughout the entire county,” she said. “Wolves are scavengers as well as predators, so if we can get those removed quickly we lower the chances of wolf conflicts.”
The push for nonlethal options comes as Idaho’s wolf hunting season is in full swing. While Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials didn’t set a quota for this year’s hunt, hunters have killed 138 wolves thus far. In 2009, during Idaho’s inaugural wolf hunt after the species was removed from the endangered species list, hunters killed 188 wolves in all.
According to Blaine County Commissioner Larry Schoen, the point of the project isn’t to prove that killing wolves is wrong. It’s another part of incorporating holistic approaches to wolf management.
County commissioners have contributed $1,800 every year the project has been in place, with plans to continue the financial contribution next year.
“Livestock loss shouldn’t be an excuse to shoot wolves,” Schoen said. “In my opinion, what we can do is avoid these conflicts in the first place.”