Wolf plan extinct
By TED MONOSON – IR Washington Bureau – 01/14/04
WASHINGTON ý Plans to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list
were derailed Tuesday when federal officials rejected Wyoming’s
controversial dual-classification plan for wolf management.
ýýDelisting cannot be proposed at this time due to some significant
concerns about portions of Wyoming’s state law and wolf management plan,’
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams wrote to Wyoming
Game and Fish director Terry Cleveland.
Wyoming’s plan proposed classifying wolves outside of Yellowstone and
Grand Teton national parks and adjoining wilderness areas as predators.
The wolf management plans crafted by Montana and Idaho officials were
deemed ýýadequate,’ but wolves cannot be delisted in the West until all
three states have Fish and Wildlife Service-approved plans.
The decision pleased environmentalists and upset Wyoming politicians and
ranchers.
Williams cited three specific concerns in the letter to Cleveland:
predator classification, the number of packs the state proposed
maintaining and the minimum pack size.
Wyoming proposed maintaining eight packs within the parks and adjoining
wilderness areas, and seven outside the parks and wilderness areas. In the
letter, Williams called for Wyoming to ýýcommit’ to maintaining at least
15 wolf packs in Wyoming. Williams also called on Wyoming to increase its
definition of a pack from five to six wolves.
Environmentalists vociferously criticized Wyoming’s plan, but were
concerned that the Fish and Wildlife Service would accept it.
ýýI am heartened to see the Fish and Wildlife Service has taken the flaws
of the plan seriously and will not move forward until they are
corrected,’ said Nina Fascione, Defenders of Wildlife vice president for
species conservation.
Wyoming Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal noted that biologists had
supported the state’s plan, but added that state officials and lawmakers
would work with federal officials and Wyoming’s congressional delegation
to craft an acceptable plan.
ýýGiven the fact that scientific reviews of the state’s plan largely
endorsed its biological soundness, I can only conclude that the federal
decision was based on little more than Potomac politics,’ Freudenthal
said in a statement.
Wyoming Stock Growers executive director Jim Magagna urged state officials
and lawmakers to stand firm. He opposes expanding the trophy
classification that would be applied to the wilderness areas to other
parts of the state or requiring 15 packs to be maintained.
ýýI would not support either and I would urge our state leaders to resist
it,’ Magagna said. ýýWe should not back down to accommodate a federal
agency.’
The leaders of Montana livestock organizations were frustrated by the
decision and contemplating their options.
ýýI am disappointed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services,’ Montana
Stockgrowers Association executive director Steve Pilcher said. ýýI would
have liked for the Fish and Wildlife Service to allow Wyoming’s plan to be
tried. I would have liked for them to give Wyoming a little latitude.’
Pilcher said that he and other Stockgrower leaders would evaluate the Fish
and Wildlife Service’s reasons for rejecting the plan and talk with
Montana officials about how to proceed.
ýýWe are at the mercy of the weak link, which is Wyoming’s plan,’ Pilcher
said. ýýThis causes us to go back to the table and look at our options. We
can sit back and let Wyoming work with their plan. We can also talk to the
Fish and Wildlife Service about decoupling Montana and Idaho from Wyoming
and allowing us to proceed. It is an option that should be analyzed.’
Williams dismissed the option to permit Montana and Idaho to separate from
Wyoming. He noted that there are three distinct wolf populations in the
United States. One is in the East, a second is in the Southwest and the
third is in the West.
ýýAll three states comprise a portion of the Western population and they
must be dealt with in their entirety,’ Williams said.
He later added: ýýIf Wyoming does not amend its management plan we cannot
proceed.’
In 1974, wolves were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species
Act. They were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. Since
then, their population has increased from 14 to more than 700. Under the
law, the Fish and Wildlife Service was able to begin the procedure for
removing wolves from the list once there were more than 30 breeding pairs
for three consecutive years.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator Ed Bangs estimated that
there are 190 wolves in Montana, 235 in Wyoming and 339 in Idaho. He added
that there are approximately 61 breeding pairs within the three states.
Magagna said that if the Fish and Wildlife Service would not accept
Wyoming’s plan to have wolves outside of the parks and adjoining
wilderness areas classified as predators, he would rather have the federal
government maintain management.
Magana also said that he believed environmentalists would use lawsuits to
block the delisting even if Wyoming acceded to the Fish and Wildlife
Services demands.
In a sign that he may be right, Fascione criticized Williams’ approval of
Idaho’s plan. She said that Idaho’s plan is too ýývague.’
When explicitly asked if her organization would file a lawsuit if Wyoming
adopted a plan that was identical to Idaho’s, Fascione said, ýýWe’d have
to cross that bridge when we got there.’
Plan Components
By The Billings Gazette
Here are key components of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming’s wolf management
plans:
Montana: Will manage for 15 packs within the state, generally under rules
similar to those for other large animals. Some hunting eventually will be
allowed. If the number of packs falls below 15, tighter restrictions will
be imposed. If the 15-pack threshold is exceeded, more liberal hunting
could be allowed.
Idaho: Will manage for 15 packs and eventually will allow hunting. If
there are fewer than 15 packs, hun ts can be called off and state
officials can implement stronger measures to monitor the population. With
more than 15 packs, the state would have more flexibility in controlling
the number of wolves.
Wyoming: Will manage for 15 packs, but that count will include wolves
within Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Outside the parks and
adjacent wilderness areas, wolves will be classified as predators and
subject to unregulated killing. Inside the wilderness areas, wolves would
be classified as trophy game and regulated through hunting seasons.
If the wolf population drops below seven packs outside the parks, state
officials can classify more wolves as trophy game.