New rules in the wolf game
TWIN Observer NOTE: The reader should visit the original source of this heavily linked article to view the source links.
Filed under: Wildlife, Tribes — Francisco Tharp at 6:04 pm on Thursday, January 24, 2008
Depending on who you ask, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has either begun a “wholesale slaughter” of Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves, or taken a step to “ensure the health of wild populations.”
Drama and politicking aside, the agency revised regulations in the Endangered Species Act today to allow states and tribes with “approved wolf management plans” more flexibility in wolf control. The revisions are the latest increment in the transfer of wolf management to states and tribes (see our story “Feds to hand wolves to states“).
Fish and Wildlife’s revisions redefine what constitutes wolves’ “unacceptable impact” on ungulate populations, so that tribes and states can more freely “take” wolves to manage such species as deer, elk and bighorn sheep (”taking” being the preferred euphemism for trapping, poisoning, shooting, or otherwise killing wolves). Revisions also allow wolves to be killed in immediate defense of pets and livestock. The new rules only apply to Montana and Idaho as Wyoming does not yet have an approved wolf management plan.
Revisions do not give states and tribes free rein to lock, load and fire on the wild canines, however. Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, says before states or tribes can remove wolves they must submit a peer- and public-reviewed assessment of how wolves are harming ungulate populations, and how the removal program will be monitored.
Additionally, Fish and Wildlife won’t even consider a removal plan that could put populations of the controversial Canis lupus below 20 mating pairs or 200 individuals per state, which provides a buffer against recovery project minimums of 30 total mating pairs and 300 individuals across the Northern Rockies.
“The idea behind this is there’s a lot of mistrust in wolf management,” says Bangs, “so we’re tightening the checks and balances to make sure everyone’s playing fair.”