Idaho Pushes for Wolf Management Plan
By Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho – Wolves have spread as far as Owhyee county and the
mountains stretching south toward Nevada, and before year’s end, they
could encroach into Boise-area neighborhoods, said Steve Huffaker,
director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
“I suspect they will be in the Boise foothills and in all the fringe
areas,” Huffaker told the Senate Resources and Environment Committee on
Monday. “The territories in the backcountry are filling up.”
Huffaker said the entire state is wolf habitat.
Idaho has about 371 wolves, with a 20 percent margin of error, said Jim
Caswell, director of the Office of Species Conservation.
With wolves on the move, Caswell said, Idaho should enact its wolf
management plan. But with Wyoming yet to produce a wolf management plan
accepted by the federal government, Idaho’s and Montana’s plans are on
hold.
The federal government lumped the three states together in a wolf
recovery zone, and all three must have acceptable plans before the
animal is removed from federal protection. The federal government
accepted Idaho’s and Montana’s plans.
But in the interim, Idaho has a backup plan to gain control, Caswell
said.
Three main points separate Idaho’s plan from the 1994 federal plan,
operating since Canadian wolves were transplanted in the state, he said.
The first point is over the definition of livestock. The federal program
classifies horses, mules, cattle and sheep as livestock. The Idaho plan
includes goats, llamas, dogs and more.
The Idaho plan would transfers authority to the Fish and Game to collect
data and determine which elk herds are not recovering from wolf
predication.
And third, the Idaho plan would allow people could protect their private
property from a wolf intrusion.
The state also needs latitude to define a wolf pack, said David Hensley,
an attorney who represents the Office of Species Conservation.
The federal plan defines a pack as a breeding pair and their pups that
survived a winter. Idaho would define a pack as six wolves running
together at any time, Hensley said.