Wyoming official admits faulty wolf plan needs changes
By MIKE STARK
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
Wyoming’s current plan to manage wolves probably won’t be acceptable to
the federal government and will need to be altered before it’s finalized
early next year, said the director of the state’s Game and Fish
Department.
A day after more than 6,000 public comments about the state’s draft plan
flooded the department’s office, Tom Thorne said Friday that changes will
probably be made to assuage federal concerns.
Changes could include regulating the number of wolves classified as
predators that could be hunted, and expanding the amount of land where
wolves classified as trophy animals could roam.
“The plan we sent out probably won’t satisfy the (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife
Service,” Thorne said. “We’re going to see if there are ways we can modify
to make it work.”
That would be good news for Montana and Idaho, where officials reportedly
are frustrated that Wyoming’s insistence on classifying some wolves as
predators could derail federal plans to remove the wolves from the
Endangered Species List and pass management to the three states.
On Thursday, Montana Gov. Judy Martz wrote a letter to Thorne that she is
“gravely concerned” that Wyoming’s stance could spoil delisting efforts.
That option, she said, “is not acceptable to Montana.”
Federal officials have said they are interested in delisting the wolves
next year but will require all three states to have plans guaranteeing the
wolves won’t become endangered again. Idaho has approved its plan and
Montana is well on its way.
But in late October, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted to pursue
“dual classification” for wolves. Those in national parks and nearby
wilderness areas would be considered trophy game, meaning limited hunts
outside the park. Wolves in the rest of the state would be predators and
subject to killing any time by any method.
Despite warnings that the federal authorities wouldn’t approve such a
plan, Wyoming included those provisions in its draft management plan.
Comments for the plan were due Thursday.
Thorne said his department will sift through the public comments and begin
looking at other strategies to preserve the intent of the commission’s
decision while crafting changes to the plan that will make it palatable to
the FWS.
“We all recognize that in order to move forward with delisting this
spring, we have got to make modifications,” Thorne said, but he added
there are no plans to do away with the dual classification.
One of the key changes may involve how the state handles wolves classified
as predators.
By law, those wolves would come under the jurisdiction of the Department
of Agriculture. Like skunks or coyotes, wolves could be shot on sight,
trapped or otherwise killed without regulation.
Thorne suggested the possibility that new policies be put in place that
would allow the state Agriculture Department to limit the number of wolves
taken if the population dips perilously.
“If we could assure there would be monitoring and enforcement, that might
work,” he said.
The department may also look at expanding the amount of land where wolves
would be considered trophy animals in the state, which would extend a few
more protections for wolves to travel farther.
Trophy status, under the draft plan, would extend to wolves in Yellowstone
and Grand Teton national parks or pockets of designated wilderness areas
in the Shoshone or Bridger-Teton national forests.
Wolf biologists have said that all of Wyoming’s wolves outside Yellowstone
would likely wander beyond the boundaries of the wilderness areas and be
susceptible unlimited killing.
Thorne said no decisions have been made about expanding those “trophy
animal” zones, but it will be discussed in the coming weeks.
As the plan is altered and changed, the trick will be trying to find
acceptable solutions on an issue that is one of the most contentious in
the state.
“I do know from hearing from the public that they’re widely split,” Thorne
said. “There are strong supporters on one side and strong opponents on the
other side. And poor Game and Fish is right in the middle.”
The state’s approach to wolves could change next month as Democrat Dave
Freudenthal replaces Republican Jim Geringer in the governor’s office.
Top management at the Game and Fish Department is expected to change.
Thorne has been serving as interim director. Freudenthal is expected to
choose from three nominees to replace Thorne shortly after taking office.
So far, Freudenthal’s office hasn’t tipped its hand about how the new
administration plans to handle the wolf issue.
Dan Zwonitzer, a member of Freudenthal’s transition team, said Friday that
wolves are certainly on the new administration’s radar screen but a policy
hasn’t been prepared yet for public consumption.
“We’re aware of the issue and are definitely researching it,” he said.