Idaho asks federal government for authority to kill wolves
BOISE, Idaho Idaho wildlife officials today formally asked the federal government for the O-K to kill up to 43 wolves in a pack that the state says is wiping out an elk herd in a popular hunting area.
The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service says it will now conduct a scientific review of the state’s plan to kill 75 percent of the wolves roaming the Lolo Pass region near the Montana border in northcentral Idaho.
Idaho Fish and Game’s Jim Unsworth says killing most of the wolves in the Lolo area is critical to reviving the elk herd population there.
But Suzanne Stone of Defenders of Wildlife says the state does not have the scientific data to back up its claims that wolves are causing unacceptable mortality rates among the elk. The group maintains that poor habitat is the primary culprit in the decline of the Lolo elk herd.
On the Net: Idaho Wolf Management http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/