Regional director apologizes to Larsen
By BUZZY HASSRICK
A Meeteetse rancher has received a written apology from the regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an incident involving alleged trespassing.
“I apologize to you if our wolf monitoring team inadvertently used your land to place radio collars on four wolves we had tranquilized,” director Ralph Morganweck wrote to Ralph Larsen of the Larsen Land Co. on March 11.
A copy of the letter was sent to Sen. Mike Enzi, who has asked for an investigation by the departments of Interior and Justice, as requested by the Park County commissioners.
Enzi’s action was prompted by Randy Kruger of the Larsen Ranch who filed a complaint with Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric. Skoric has asked the state Division of Criminal Investigation to look into the matter for possible charges.
Kruger said F&WS did not have permission to use ranch land for handling wolves. Morganweck wrote the site was “unfenced and unsigned.”
“The wolf monitoring crew believed they were on public land,” as it had caught the wolves primarily on public land, he added. “It is never the Fish and Wildlife Service’s intention to go onto private property without the express permission of the landowner.
“If our team was on your land while processing these wolves, it was an honest mistake, which prompted Mr. (F&WS agent Mike) Jimenez to call you to apologize personally when he realized the team may have been on your property.”
Morganweck recounted the Feb. 14 events, echoing what Jimenez said in the March 1 Enterprise.
When seven wolves of the Washakie Pack from Dubois were spotted near Thermopolis-Meeteetse, a team went out to capture and fit them with collars, Morganweck said. They netted and released one and could not capture two others.
“The other four wolves were captured and taken by helicopter a couple of miles to a location safe to land on a county road, so they could be examined, biological samples taken and radio collars fitted,” he said.
They were moved into the snow and shade to protect their eyes and keep them cool.
“As you may know, the Washakie pack has been implicated in depredations in the past, and it is important to be able to monitor the pack to attempt to prevent depredations and to react quickly if they do occur,” Morganweck said.
When Kruger arrived on the scene, Jimenez explained the process and presented his business card.
“During the approximately half-hour conversation, there was no mention by Mr. Kruger of the crew being on private land,” Morganweck wrote.
Radio collars, he added, allow agents to find wolves and deal with problem animals and minimize depredation.
“As a result of this monitoring, we now know the Washakie pack moved out of the immediate area and are back near their usual territory near Dubois,” he said.