Idaho given control of gray wolves
Move marks second handover of wolf management duties in past two years
by JASON KAUFFMAN
The management of gray wolves living across most of the northern Rockies region was officially handed over to state agencies Monday.
The turnover was a result of wolves’ having lost their protected status under the federal Endangered Species Act in all of Idaho and Montana and in portions of eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah. Because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has deemed Wyoming’s wolf management plan inadequate, the delisting rule does not extend to wolves living in that state.
Monday’s delisting also extends to wolves in the upper Midwest.
“The successful recovery of this species is a stunning example of how the (Endangered Species) Act can work to keep imperiled animals from sliding into extinction,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in announcing the delisting in March.
Federal officials say Wyoming’s classification of wolves as “predators” across the majority of the state threatens wolf recovery. That designation would allow wolves to be shot on sight at any time of the year in a designated predator zone covering all but the northwest part of the state.
The states of Idaho and Montana classify wolves as big game animals subject to set seasons and harvest quotas. Both states anticipate opening hunts on wolves within their boundaries later this year should the delisting stand.
Last year, environmentalists successfully sued to have the federal government’s first attempt to delist wolves reversed.
Conservation organizations have filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue that will become due on June 2. The ESA requires 60 days notice before commencement of litigation.