Wyo goes it alone on wolf delisting
By CHAD BALDWIN
Star-Tribune staff writer Thursday, June 30, 2005
NewsTracker
* Last we knew: Wyoming officials appealed U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson’s dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to force the federal government to accept the state’s wolf management plan.
* The latest: State officials are preparing to petition the Interior Department for removal of wolves’ federal protection.
* What’s next: The state Game and Fish Commission will vote on the issue July 13 in Rawlins.
Wyoming officials are preparing to petition the federal government to remove wolves from Endangered Species Act protection, the state Game and Fish Department said late Wednesday afternoon.
The move continues the state’s battle with federal officials over how wolves should be managed outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. In essence, it seeks to force the hand of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has rejected Wyoming’s plan for managing the animals once they’re removed from the threatened and endangered species list.
The state’s plan would classify wolves as trophy game in areas of northwest Wyoming the state considers suitable wolf habitat. Outside those areas they would be considered predators that could be shot on sight.
“Removing (wolves) from the endangered species list will allow the state of Wyoming to assume management of wolves within its borders and keep populations at a level that makes sense for Wyoming while also maintaining a recovered population,” Game and Fish Department Director Terry Cleveland said in a press release. “This petition is the next step toward getting wolves delisted and under state management.”
The Game and Fish Commission will consider signing the petition to delist at its July 13 meeting in Rawlins. The department said Gov. Dave Freudenthal will also sign the document, which has been drafted by the agency and the state attorney general’s office. It will then be submitted to Interior Secretary Gale Norton.
Freudenthal couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
In March, U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson dismissed a lawsuit by Wyoming against the federal government that sought to force acceptance of the state’s wolf management plan. Johnson found that the federal government had not violated the Endangered Species Act, because rejection of the state’s plan did not constitute final action by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Had Wyoming petitioned the federal government to remove protection for wolves, he could have considered more of the merits of the state’s case, the judge said.
The state has appealed that ruling to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Attorney General Pat Crank previously said it was likely the state would pursue both the appeal and a petition to delist.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan has been to submit its own petition to delist wolves once it has acceptable management plans from Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Those two neighboring states have received such approval, and in fact already have been given management authority over the animals within their borders.
Once Wyoming’s petition is filed, Fish and Wildlife has 90 days to determine whether it believes the action may be warranted. If a positive 90-day finding is issued, the federal agency then conducts a more detailed review. A final decision is issued 12 months after the petition is filed.
Wolves were reintroduced into Wyoming and Idaho in 1995. Last fall, Fish and Wildlife estimated the population had grown to at least 66 breeding pairs and 835 individuals — far more than the objective of 30 breeding pairs and 300 individuals. It’s estimated that 260 wolves are in Wyoming.
“Wolves are now a part of the ecosystem in northwestern Wyoming,” Cleveland said in the press release. “As their numbers continue to grow, and as they continue to expand outside of suitable habitats, they almost always become involved with livestock depredations and other conflicts that result in the lethal take of wolves.
“Expanding wolf populations are also affecting Wyoming’s wildlife. Last winter, wolf packs continually moved elk off of feedgrounds and onto private lands and even highways, where public safety and an increased risk of brucellosis transmission to cattle became a real problem.”
Cleveland said the state’s dual-classification system would help maintain and control wolf numbers.
“The state of Wyoming is committed to managing a recovered population of wolves in northwestern Wyoming,” he said. “Wyoming’s plan includes elements that will ensure wolf populations remain at recovered levels. We have no intention of allowing this population to become jeopardized to the extent that it must again be listed under the Endangered Species Act.”
Federal officials have said Wyoming’s plan jeopardizes wolves’ recovery.
“The clearest path (for Wyoming) is to look at getting the state plan that the (Fish and Wildlife Service) can approve,” said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the federal agency, in March. “We want to continue to work with Wyoming Game and Fish and the state of Wyoming to get through this issue.”