Wyoming awaiting word on wolf plan
Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The state has not heard from federal wildlife officials since offering them one last chance to compromise on wolf management, Attorney General Pat Crank said Tuesday.
“We’ve heard nothing back,” Crank said of a letter Gov. Dave Freudenthal sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on April 5 asking if there was any chance the agency would modify its position.
If the state doesn’t hear by the end of the week, Crank plans to proceed with a lawsuit over rejection of Wyoming’s plan to manage descendants of wolves reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park.
Meanwhile, the state is still planning to appeal a decision by Fish and Wildlife to withhold some documents related to its decision to reject the plan.
Wyoming requested the documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but the federal agency said it would not turn over memos and notes reflecting personal opinions and recommendations.
“We are working on our appeal of their denial of our FOIA request, and we continue to work on the complaint,” Crank said.
The lawsuit has gone through several drafts, he said.
“That’s not a lawsuit that you step into lightly,” he said. “We are taking a real hard look at it.
“Our goal is that when we file it, we obviously want to win, so we are exploring all avenues to make sure we don’t miss something and everything is included in that complaint that we feel is absolutely necessary to be successful.”
The latest draft is 35 pages long, Crank said.
Idaho and Montana’s wolf-management plans have been deemed acceptable by the federal government but until Wyoming’s plan is approved, in or out of court, wolves in the Yellowstone area will not be removed from Endangered Species Act protection.
In rejecting Wyoming’s plan, Fish and Wildlife cited concerns with the state’s “dual classification” of wolves – as trophy game animals with strict protections in northwest Wyoming and as predators in the rest of the state that can be killed by just about any lethal means.
Ranchers and hunters are concerned that attacks on cattle, elk and other big game will escalate if the state isn’t allowed flexibility to control a rapidly expanding population.
The wolf problem is a Catch-22 for the state since litigation could delay removal of federal protection and allow wolf populations to further expand. But Freudenthal is joined by many legislators, ranchers and outfitters who believe that without the state’s plan – and the ability to freely exterminate wolves outside of northwest Wyoming – the numbers will also continue to grow.
Nearly eradicated in the early 20th century, wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996. At least 12 packs inhabit the park, and six roam outside the park in Wyoming.