Idaho Fish and Game gets new wolf manager
The state’s top wolf manager and its southwest regional wildlife manager have switched jobs.
Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Ed Mitchell said Thursday that Steve Nadeau, the department’s carnivore manager, is taking over as wildlife manager for the southwest region, and wildlife manager Jon Rachael is taking on the carnivore and big game manager role.
Both men were thrilled with the switch, Mitchell said, because it gives Rachael the chance to use his training and experience with wolves and Nadeau the chance to do more of the research he enjoys. Neither Nadeau nor Rachael could be immediately reached by The Associated Press.
The move comes just before Idaho’s wolf hunting season is set to begin Sept. 1. It’s the first wolf hunt in the state since the federal government removed Endangered Species Act protection from most wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains in May. Montana’s first post-delisting wolf hunt starts in mid-September; wolves are still under federal protections in Wyoming.