Utah House committee approves wolf relocation bill
By PAUL FOY
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A legislative panel classified wolves in the same category as big game when it comes to relocating animals within Utah in a bill Monday.
Under current law, state wildlife officials can do that only in consultation with local governments and private landowners.
House Bill 157, passed Monday by the House natural-resources committee, anticipates the wolves’ arrival in Utah and the federal government’s de-listing of wolves from endangered status, letting the state manage the predator.
‘Wolves are doing very well. They’re not endangered. This just helps us prepare for what’s coming,’ said Rep. Michael Styler, R-Delta.
A gray wolf from Yellowstone National Park was captured by a coyote trapper in Morgan County last fall and taken back to the park.
HB 157 applies standard game relocation procedures within Utah to wolves.
‘The last thing we want to see is wolves being transplanted into a flock of sheep,’ said Wes Quinton of the Utah Farm Bureau, who supported the bill.
Styler said wildlife officials ‘must jump a series of hoops before they transport any big game.’ State officials cannot relocate any big game outside Utah.
Styler also is sponsor of a resolution passed Feb. 4 by the House natural-resources panel that directs state wildlife officials to develop a wolf management plan.
Gray wolves are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. But a reintroduction program in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho is going so well that federal officials are on the verge of handing over wolf management to the states.
The state plan would identify which areas are suitable for wolf populations and how to deal with problem wolves that kill livestock, among other things.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is already working on a wolf management plan, holding a series of public hearings.
Styler’s resolution tells the federal government that Utah wants the authority to manage wolves and will develop a plan that passes federal muster.