Wolf meetings scheduled to explain new rules
By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer
LIVINGSTON — Federal officials will appear here and in Butte this week to explain a proposed loosening of protections on wolves, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., announced Monday.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in March announced a proposal that would hand some wolf management responsibility to state government. The proposal also would give ranchers and wildlife managers more freedom to kill wolves that cause problems.
“The big thing is to get the feds out and the state in,” said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery leader for FWS in Montana.
The proposal would apply only in Montana and Idaho, because wolf management plans in those states have been accepted by FWS. Wyoming’s plan hasn’t been accepted so that state must continue to host wolves with full federal protections.
Currently, ranchers can kill wolves if they catch them attacking livestock. But that’s hard to do.
The new proposal would let them kill wolves if they catch them in the act of harassing livestock or any domestic animal, including pet dogs.
Also, Bangs explained, ranchers could get kill permits for troublemaking wolves on public land. Currently, those permits are available only on private land.
The new rules would not create an open season on wolves, Bangs stressed.
“A wolf that isn’t doing anything wrong would still be protected,” he said.
The new rules would be similar to ones the states of Montana and Idaho now employ to deal with black bears or mountain lions that attack livestock.
Wolves that are causing problems with wildlife populations, such as deer and elk, could also be killed under the new plan. However, strict guidelines would be employed.
Existing rules call for those wolves to be relocated.
“I want to make sure the correct information is being put forth so folks understand how it will affect them, their property, their livestock, and the wolves,” Burns said in a press release.
Clint Riley, a special assistant to the FWS director, also will attend the meetings, Burns said.
The Livingston meeting will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 15, in the city/county building.
The Butte meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, April 16, at the Montana Tech Auditorium.