Official says wolf population boom is over
By BECKY BOHRER – Associated Press Writer – 09/24/03
BILLINGS – While more gray wolves are prowling the Northern Rockies, the
population’s overall rate of growth this year is the slowest it has been
since reintroduction efforts were launched eight years ago, a federal wolf
expert said Tuesday.
But Ed Bangs, wolf recovery specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, said such a decline in the growth rate was expected.
‘The big expansion of the wolf population is over,’ he said.
Preliminary estimates from the Fish and Wildlife Service put the growth so
far this year in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho at 11 percent, compared with
15 percent from 2001-02 and 23 percent from 2000-01.
Territory for the animals in the three states where reintroduction took
place is limited, Bangs said. And as the population grows and disperses,
more wolves moved closer to human populations, where fatal conflicts
occur, he added.
Final counts for the wolf population in the three states won’t be
available until year’s end. But Bangs said officials currently believe
there are 747 wolves in the three states, compared with 663 last year.
Officials believe there are 161 wolves in Montana, 240 wolves in Wyoming
and 346 wolves in Idaho. Last year, there were 183 wolves in Montana, 217
in Wyoming and just 263 in Idaho.
Bangs attributed much of Idaho’s gain to increased monitoring, and Joe
Fontaine, the agency’s assistant wolf recovery coordinator, said the
Montana and Wyoming fluctuations were largely due to the normal rise and
fall of wildlife populations.
The federal program to reintroduce wolves to their ancestral range began
in 1995 with about two dozen wolves transplanted from Canada. Although the
reintroduction was opposed by many farm groups, federal wildlife officials
say it has been a huge success.
The Fish and Wildlife Service, currently responsible for managing wolves,
is moving toward removing the animals from special protections under the
Endangered Species Act and allowing states to manage them.
But Montana, Idaho and Wyoming must first have in place plans that ensure
the wolves’ viability. A group of scientists and wildlife managers
currently are reviewing the states’ proposals to see if they meet that
goal. The experts will provide comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service
this fall and federal officials will review those comments before deciding
whether to propose delisting, Bangs said.
Bangs said he expects the wolf population in the three states will
probably never exceed 1,000 wolves.
‘Bottom line, I think states will manage wolves through regulated
harvest,’ he said. ‘I think the states will manage wolves so there will
not be many more than there are now, though they’ll still be viable.’
Some environmental groups, including the Defenders of Wildlife, believe
some level of federal protection for the animals needs to be maintained.
Steve Pilcher, executive vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers
Association, said he believes there will be more conflicts between
landowners and wolves in the future.
‘They’re going to be encroaching on areas with lots of livestock, pets
and homes,’ he said.