Wyoming lawmakers reject compromise plan on wolves
Associated Press
CHEYENNE ý Wyoming moved a step closer to a lawsuit with the federal government Friday after the state House gave initial approval to holding firm to a state wolf-management plan that was rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
House Bill 111, which was given initial approval on a voice vote with no opposing arguments, was reluctantly offered by the top wolf expert in the chamber.
Rep. Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, who had crafted a second compromise measure in hopes of avoiding a lawsuit, resigned himself to the fact that House leadership wonýt bring up his alternative for debate, and that litigation is all but inevitable.
ýWith the passage of House Bill 111 … we will still enter a lawsuit against the federal government over their rejection of our management plan and we will go forward from there,ý he told colleagues.
ýIt is with a little bit of regret that I unfortunately cannot bring to you the other option,ý he said. ýI understand the politics of what has been occurring.ý
HB111 conforms a state law crafted last year to the current wolf plan approved by the Game and Fish Commission but rejected by the federal government.
Baker said HB111 is better than having neither bill because without it, ýwe will not be as well-aligned as we could be and defensible in the court system.ý
The House accepted an amendment offered by Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, that would require the state to purchase radio collars ý at roughly $3,000 apiece ý to be placed on two wolves in each pack so the predators can be monitored.
After the vote, Rep. Randall Luthi, R-Freedom, the House majority floor leader, confirmed he will not bring Bakerýs compromise bill, HB155, before the entire House.
ýThe fat lady has sung on 155,ý Luthi said, adding that hunters, agriculture groups, outfitters and the governorýs office are against the compromise proposal.
ýAnd when we donýt have any consensus among those groups, it really doesnýt make a whole lot of sense to bring it forward,ý he said, conceding that a court fight is next.
ýI donýt see any movement,ý he said. ýThe federal government made a last-ditch effort to try to make some concessions but frankly came to the table with too little, too late.ý
The Interior Department is prepared to remove Yellowstone-area wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act but only when it deems plans by Idaho, Montana and Wyoming acceptable for maintaining viable populations.
Idaho and Montanaýs plans have already been approved and those states must now await the outcome of Wyomingýs court battle, which is expected to last months.
Under the Wyoming plan, wolves would be protected in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and subjected to regulated hunting as trophy game in adjacent wilderness areas. But outside the parks and wilderness areas, the wolves would be classified as predators that could be shot on sight or killed through other means such as employed against coyotes.
That ýshoot-on-sightý provision was the main reason the federal government rejected Wyomingýs plan, and Bakerýs bill represented a compromise wherein the state would regulate hunting statewide in exchange for having to manage for fewer breeding pairs (10 instead of 15).
Agriculture and outfitting groups strongly objected to HB155 because they said it would take away methods ranchers could use to remove problem wolves, such as aerial hunting and den explosives, methods that would be allowed under the state plan.
Jim Magagna of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association said he was pleased the state is headed to court.
ýNot because we like it, but because we donýt believe that the Fish and Wildlife Service left us any alternative,ý he said.