Wolf numbers worry Gardiner residents
By Paula Clawson Enterprise Staff Writer
GARDINER
— Counting wolves was a topic of concern at a work
session on the proposed state wolf management plan Tuesday
night in Gardiner.
The
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks held the
meeting to get comments on a draft environmental impact
statement that suggests five alternatives for how the state
will ma
nage
gray wolves once they federal government takes the animals
off the threatened species list.
In order
for wolves to be delisted, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming must
have management plans in place that will ensure at least
30 breeding pairs of wolves in total.
The
plan alternatives include: aggressively keeping the breeding
pairs in Montana to just 10; managing for approximately
15 pairs; or managing for approximately 20 pairs.
FWP
Wolf Plan Coordinator Carolyn Sime said a breeding pair
is considered to be one male and one female with two pups
in December of each year. Not every breeding pair necessarily
has its own pack and not every pack necessarily has its own breeding pair.
Currently
Montana has about 183 wolves in 35 packs. There are about
16 breeding pairs, Sime said.
There
was not much support for the 20-pair scenario, although
several in the audience said they were comfortable with
15 pair, while others felt 10 breeding pairs was a safer
number.
“I’d
like to limit it to 10 breeding pairs, which I think is
enough,” said Ryan Rigler, a
Corwin
Springs rancher. “Monitoring them would be expensive
but they (federal wolf managers) spend a lot of time on
that now.”
Merv
Olson, a Gardiner area resident, supported the 15 breeding
pair alternatives.
“It offers more options in terms of control to the
rancher,” Olson said.
The
15-breeding pair alternatives have enough flexibility that
a rancher could kill a wolf preying on his livestock without
worrying that he’s destroyed a breeding pair.
Under
the 10-pair alternative, the state would have to be cautious
in allowing ranchers kill permits because of concerns of
the loss of a breeding pair. If the three states’
breeding pairs dip below 30, the wolves could be put back
on the threatened species list and back under federal management,
Sime said.
Olson
said he didn’t like that the state would probably
be responsible for much of the wolf management costs. That
concern was echoed by many others.
“A
management and compensation fee should be charge to all
the people entering the (Yellowstone) national park,”
said Paradise Valley rancher Andy O’Hair. “They’re the ones who wanted these things.”
Another
person said he would be willing to pay a wolf management
fee as long as it didn’t support killing wolves. Several
others spoke against the plan concepts of hunting or trapping
wolves.
A Gardiner
business owner pointed out that wolf watching draws many
visitors and had helped Gardiner businesses.
Some
outfitters pointed out that the Northern elk herd has declined
dramatically since wolf reintroduction, which has hurt their
business.
O’Hair
said none of the plans gave ranchers enough flexibility
to deal with wolves.
“I
feel we ought to have an option to protect our private property.
It shouldn’t be illegal to kill a wolf on private
property or a wolf harassing private property,” O’Hair said.
FWP
is holding 13 wolf meetings around the state. The final
plan is expected to be completed this summer and will be
signed by Jeff Hagener, the director of Montana FWP.
Copies
of the draft alternatives are available via FWP’s
web site: www.fwp.state.mt.us. To request a copy of the
288-page draft EIS, call (406) 444-2612.
Mail-in
and on-line comments will be accepted through May 12. Visit www.fwp.state.mt; or write to: Wolf Plan EIS, Montana Fish,
Wildlife & Parks, 490 North Meridian Rd.; Kalispell,
MT 59901.