Wolf delisting stuck while feds wait for acceptable Wyoming plan
By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer
The process toward delisting the wolf screeched to a halt Tuesday, when
federal officials declared that Wyoming’s wolf recovery plan simply isn’t
up to snuff.
Both federal and state officials had said the complicated process of
removing wolves from the endangered species list could begin this year.
That isn’t likely to happen now, unless Wyoming’s state government
undergoes a large and rapid transformation of its attitude toward wolves.
“Delisting cannot at this time be proposed because of significant concerns
about Wyoming’s existing state law as well as its wolf management plan,”
said Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the
federal agency that administers the Endangered Species Act.
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, defended his state’s plan,
noting that a review by independent scientists had “largely endorsed its
biological soundness” last year.
“I can only conclude that the federal decision was based on little more
than Potomac politics,” Freudenthal said in a prepared statement. “I am
certainly disappointed in the Bush administration.”
Williams, in a conference call with reporters around the country, said his
agency found three major flaws in the Wyoming law and plan:
ý It designates wolves in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and
adjacent wilderness areas as trophy game animals, which means limited
numbers can be killed. But in the majority of the state wolves would be
classified as predators, meaning they legally could be shot on sight, like
a skunk or a jackrabbit.
ý It defines a pack as five animals traveling together, rather than six, a
number Williams said is “based on sound biology.”
ý While the plan calls for 15 packs in Wyoming, as do Montana and Idaho’s
plans, state law allows only eight packs in the areas with some
protections. That means the other seven packs would be unprotected.
That law “appears to conflict with Wyoming’s management plans,” Williams
said.
He praised Montana and Idaho officials for creating plans that would allow
15 packs to roam each of those states, with provisions to kill wolves that
cause problems with livestock.
Those states, along with Wyoming, must all submit approved management
plans before federal officials will delist wolves, Williams said, and
wolves in Idaho and Montana cannot be delisted until Wyoming comes up with
an acceptable plan.
The decision comes even though wolves are thriving in the three states. A
recent count found at least 764 wolves, with 190 in Montana, 235 in
Wyoming and 339 in Idaho, according to Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator
for FWS.
Montana Gov. Judy Martz, who has in the past pressured Wyoming to come up
with a better plan, said in a statement that she will work with that state
to gain approval for its plan “so the three states can move forward to
better deal with issues related to wolf reintroduction.”
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. said the FWS decision is a “disappointment.”
Delisting is an important goal “and I hope the state of Wyoming is ready
to help us get there,” Burns said.
Delisting an animal is a long and complicated process, Williams said, and
FWS will hand off wolf management to states only when the states craft
plans that guarantee wolves won’t again become endangered in the
foreseeable future.
Jonathan Proctor, of the Predator Conservation Alliance, said he agreed
with the FWS decision. His group has praised Montana’s wolf plan in the
past, but has criticized Wyoming’s.
“That predator label wasn’t going to work,” he said, noting that in most
of the state, it would be open season on wolves. “They would have been
under the gun right away.”
Williams said he will send a representative to a Thursday meeting of a
Wyoming legislative interim committee in Laramie.