Senate gives nod to wolf management bill
By ROBERT W. BLACK
Associated Press Writer
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – The Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill that would allow wolf hunting outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks once the federal government removes the animal from the Endangered Species List.
House Bill 229 would establish a wolf hunting license to provide a check on the predator’s numbers.
Since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996, their populations have grown.
There are now about 280 wolves in Wyoming, numbers that have ranchers, rural dwellers and outfitters concerned about the threat posed to people, livestock and wildlife.
It will ultimately be up to U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists to determine whether the management plans of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho will be sufficient to sustain a wolf population, a prerequisite to delisting.
‘We’ve taken the emotion out of the bill and we’re talking about negotiating and reaching an agreement (with the federal government),’ Sen. Tex Boggs, D-Rock Springs, said.
HB229 calls for Wyoming to maintain 15 wolf packs: eight in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway and contiguous wilderness areas, and seven packs elsewhere in the state.
After delisting, wolves would be classified as trophy animals in the parks and parkway and as predators outside the parks and wilderness areas, meaning they could be killed at any time. Currently they can be killed only if threatening property.
‘If we drop below the seven packs, there is always the possibility of relisting the wolf,’ Boggs said.
Sen. Gerald Geis, R-Worland, successfully offered an amendment to require that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department monitor big game herds statewide to determine to what extent wolves are preying on them.
Under the amendment, the department would manage wolves ‘as necessary to ensure the long-term health and viability of any big game animal herd that is being threatened.’
HB229, which was earlier passed 56-2 by the House, moved to the second of three readings in the Senate.
Also Tuesday, the Senate made several changes to HB134, which would create a commission to coordinate the state’s bonding authority, now scattered among several agencies.
The key change would remove higher bonding limits included in the bill and revert caps to those under existing statute: $100 million for school construction and $105 million for state building needs.
Sen. Jayne Mockler, D-Cheyenne, offered the amendment to increase the bill’s chances of passage.
Senators also approved her amendment preventing any revenue bonds from being issued under the act until April 1, 2004, giving the Legislature more time to review any such bonding.
‘It’s an additional safeguard that no revenue bonds will be issued by the state without our full approval,’ Mockler said.
The Legislature is under a court mandate to make all schools ‘safe and efficient’ by 2007 and HB134 was drafted to give lawmakers another method to pay for new schools.
Estimates of school renovation and replacement needs have varied from $400 million to $1.3 billion. A new study is expected to be completed later this year.
The bill will be reviewed a final time Wednesday.
The Senate also kept alive measures that would revise trust statutes, provide limited immunity for volunteer health care professionals, eliminate some outdated funds, expand the child health insurance program, and create a commission to improve health care and reduce medical liability insurance costs.