Idaho officials pushing to manage gray wolves
TWIN FALLS, Idaho(AP) – The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is providing information to help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service come up with a plan to give management of wolves back to the state, an official said.
Fish and Game believes federal protections for gray wolves in Idaho should be removed again so wolves can be managed by the agency, said Jim Unsworth, deputy director of the agency.
“In Fish and Game’s opinion, we certainly believe it’s time to delist wolves,” Unsworth told The Times-News.
Idaho was managing the wolves until last summer when a federal judge in Montana, ruling in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups, barred the Fish and Wildlife Service from turning wolf management over to the states.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy ruled that Wyoming’s management plan in particular wouldn’t give wolves adequate protection. Wyoming has proposed that wolves be classified as predators that could be shot on sight in much of the state.
Earlier this month Molloy signed an order reinstating federal protections for the wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday announced that it was proposing a plan that could end federal protections for gray wolves in Montana and Idaho while leaving them in place in Wyoming.
The agency will take public comments until Nov. 28.
Unsworth said Idaho’s plan was previously approved by Fish and Wildlife and that it likely won’t change significantly.
“We don’t think we need to do a lot with that,” he said.
Unsworth said some things to be considered before wolves could be delisted again include looking at ways for wolf packs in the region to interbreed.
Fish and Wildlife is also looking at whether it can create smaller management areas for “distinct population segments,” or wolf packs that are isolated from other packs.
Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com