Wyoming may stall federal wolf delisting
Wolves will not be delisted if Wyoming does not regulate killing of the
species, official warns.
By Rebecca Huntington
Jackson Hole Guide
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission’s decision to classify wolves as
predators – a status that allows unlimited killing of the species – across
most of the state may stall plans to remove wolves from the federal
endangered species list.
Federal officials will not delist wolves if Wyoming does not do enough to
regulate killing of the species, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator
for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“You can’t just treat them like vermin and kill every one you see because
they’ll just disappear,” Bangs said.
The federal government cannot legally propose delisting if it is likely
wolves will become endangered again in Wyoming, Bangs said.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted 3-2 last week in favor of
giving the wolf a dual classification as a predator and trophy game
animal. Under the motion, the commission would seek to reclassify wolves
as trophy game animals only in wilderness areas in the Bridger-Teton and
Shoshone national forests surrounding Yellowstone and Grand Teton national
parks.
The wolf would remain classified as a predator across the rest of the
state. That classification allows unlimited killing, including aerial
shooting, trapping and poisoning. Other animals classified as predators
include coyotes, skunks, jackrabbits, stray cats and red foxes.
In contrast, trophy game status means that Game and Fish regulates killing
of the animals, often through sport hunting. Mountain lions and black
bears are classified as trophy game.
Commissioner Gary Lundvall, of Cody, who put forward the motion, said the
state cannot afford to classify the wolf as a trophy game animal across
all of Wyoming.
State law requires Game and Fish to pay ranchers and farmers when trophy
game animals damage livestock or crops. Since the wolf is classified as a
predator, the state does not have to pay for damages caused by the
species, he said. Presently, a nonprofit group compensates ranchers for
livestock killed by wolves.
Moreover, sport hunting will not be enough to keep the wolf population in
check, Lundvall said.
“They’re a very prolific animal. I would rather see them as a predator
outside certain boundaries,” he said.
Wolves are already protected in Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks, which,
combined with surrounding wilderness areas, should be enough land to
maintain the species, Lundvall said.
Bangs agreed that a dual classification could work, but not as the Game
and Fish Commission proposed.
“There’s nothing wrong with dual status,” he said. “They can call them
spawn of Satan, I don’t care.”
But the state needs to regulate killing across a large enough, contiguous
swath of land to ensure the species’ survival, Bangs said. Wilderness
areas may be too fragmented to provide meaningful protection, he said.
Individual packs of wolves would likely be exterminated if they are not
protected across their entire home ranges, he said, noting that a wolf
pack might live primarily in a wilderness area but range outside those
boundaries occasionally. The average pack territory is 350 square miles,
he said.
“So what if wolves are protected in 90 percent of their home range if
there’ s unlimited killing going on in 10 percent,” he said. “Wolves are
just so susceptible to human persecution.”
Lundvall said he would rather see the wolves remain on the endangered
species list than be classified as trophy game animals across too large a
portion of the state.
If wolves remain listed, the federal government has to pay for managing
the species, he said. Once they are delisted, the state must foot the
bill, which he added could cost millions of dollars.
“I don’t want (wolves) classified as a trophy game animal in the whole
ecosystem because we can’t afford it,” Lundvall said.
Wyoming’s position could affect Montana and Idaho. This December, the
federal government is expected to meet its recovery goal of 30 breeding
pairs of wolves for three consecutive years across the three states, Bangs
said.
Federal officials are waiting for Wyoming to change the predator
classification and write a wolf management plan before proposing delisting
across all three states. Both Idaho and Montana will have completed those
goals by December, Bangs said.
Ultimately, the Wyoming Legislature will have to change the wolf
classification. The commission’s motion is only a recommendation to
lawmakers.
Game and Fish commissioners are expected to unveil a draft wolf management
plan and revisit wolf classification at their next meeting, Oct. 28-29, in
Jackson.