Montana delays wolf plan
By Jim Mann
The Daily Inter Lake
While Wyoming works toward a wolf recovery plan that will meet the muster of the federal government, the release of a draft plan for Montana has been delayed by more than three months.
Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are joined at the hip in a federal process for removing wolves from listing as a threatened or endangered species.
The three states have to have plans that will maintain viable populations of wolves for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider delisting. Idaho already has developed its plan.
A working proposal for Montana’s plan was rolled out for public review in January 2001, and a draft environmental impact statement was expected to be released by last December.
“That was the deadline we were shooting for,” said Carolyn Sime, wolf planning coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “But we decided we wanted to go through one more internal review process. It’s a significant issue, and we just want to make sure we’re getting it right.”
Department officials now expect the draft environmental impact statement to be released for another round of public comment sometime in March, Sime said.
That document will include a range of alternative approaches for managing wolves, from aggressive to more liberal standards and controls.
“It’s a fairly comprehensive EIS in that regard,” Sime said. “We want to look at all the options out there so we have some flexibility when it comes to making a final decision.”
Approval of a final plan could come as early as June. And that would set the stage for the federal government to begin a formal delisting process, if Wyoming’s plan is considered effective in maintaining a viable population.
In November, the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish adopted a draft plan that essentially declared wolves as unprotected predators outside wilderness areas and Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service promptly declared the plan unacceptable. And that threatened the entire delisting process for all three states.
Wyoming officials since have taken steps to make the plan more palatable to the federal government.
“From where we were just a few weeks ago, it appears this thing is starting to gel,” said Larry Kruckenberg, special assistant for policy in the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “I’m sure it will still be controversial … But the one thing that everybody’s in agreement with is we want to see this delisting process move forward.”
The state’s fish and game commission this week approved several significant modifications to the plan.
The plan will have a “dual classification” for wolves as managed trophy game animals in part of the state, and as predators in the rest of the state.
A critical element, however, is that even in areas where they are classified as predators, the state needs to have the ability to regulate the killing of wolves if necessary, Kruckenberg said.
The plan is being revised to include a commitment to maintain at least seven packs outside wilderness areas and the parks, he said.
The exact geographic area where wolves would be managed as trophy game has yet to be determined, but will focus mostly on the areas around the parks, Kruckenberg said.
“With all that, I think (the Fish and Wildlife Service has) a much greater comfort level than they did even a few weeks ago,” he said.
The catch is that Wyoming’s Legislature has to approve the reclassification of wolves. But Kruckenberg expects the revised plan to closely match a bill that is being introduced in the state’s House of Representatives.
Ed Bangs, the service’s wolf recovery coordinator, said it appears Wyoming is on track to developing a viable wolf recovery plan.
“We’ve been in pretty close coordination with them to let them know what the service’s requirements will be and from what I’ve heard, they have some pretty good stuff in the works,” Bangs said. “I have every expectation it will work out fine.”
As expected, the three states at the end of 2002 met the established wolf recovery goal of having 30 packs for three consecutive years.
Bangs said the northwest Montana recovery area has a confirmed count of 12 breeding pairs and 109 wolves. The greater Yellowstone population has 21 breeding pairs and 273 wolves. Central Idaho has 10 breeding pairs and 285 wolves.
“We know that in Idaho they probably have quite a few more than 10 breeding pair,” he said. “But that’s all we can come up with in a count.”