Wyoming stands its ground on wolf rules
Associated Press
JACKSON – Wyoming has no plans to back away from its lawsuit over wolf management even as the federal government grants Idaho and Montana more authority to kill problem wolves.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Tuesday that the new rules, which provides added leeway to state officials as well as private landowners, give those states little new flexibility.
“I didn’t see where it was a significant advantage,” he said, pointing out that Idaho and Montana must still answer to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “When you look at it, I think it’s a lot like taking your sister to the prom.”
Wyoming sued Fish and Wildlife last year over its rejection of Wyoming’s plan for managing wolves after their removal from Endangered Species Act protection. The sticking point is Wyoming’s proposal to allow wolves to be shot more or less on sight in most of the state.
Stamp of approval
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming must all submit wolf-management plans that are acceptable to the federal government before the federal protections are lifted. Fish and Wildlife has accepted the Idaho and Montana plans.
Freudenthal said the rule was dangled as a “carrot” a year and a half ago to get the states to get their management plans completed. He called Interior Secretary Gale Norton’s announcement of the new rule this week political posturing.
Attorney General Pat Crank likewise said that Wyoming is not being swayed.
“Most of this ballyhoo in the press is to put the pressure on us to fold, and I don’t intend to,” Freudenthal said.
The new rule allows wolves to be killed for harassing livestock or harming big-game herds in Montana and Idaho. In Wyoming, wolves must still be in the act of attacking to be killed legally.
Crank said he hopes the rule works out well for Idaho and Montana. “I hope it gives them more control over these wolf populations. I’m hard-pressed to see how it dramatically changes the framework under which they’re operating today,” he said.
‘Limited relief’
Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said the rule offers “very limited relief.”
“In effect, it’s transferring management authority to the state game and fish departments,” he said. “They’re getting a little more authority and not necessarily more money. I’m not at all uncomfortable with where this leaves Wyoming. I still think we’re doing the right thing.”
He said even if wolves are shot while harassing livestock, the harassment must be proven.
“If you don’t have to wait until they kill livestock or take a bite out of one, what’s that proof going to be?” Magagna asked. “It seems kind of nebulous. If I shoot the wolf, how do I prove the wolf was a foot away chasing my livestock?”
He also pointed out that the rule applies to private land, yet most wolf problems in Wyoming occur on public grazing land.
But Jon Schwedler, spokesman for the Predator Conservation Alliance, of Bozeman, Mont., said Wyoming is “clearly” being left behind.
“If I were a Wyoming resident, I’d be kind of ticked off whether I liked wolves or not,” he said. “The state is spending millions on what some people might call a frivolous and futile lawsuit. They are holding up delisting.”
Schwedler said state agencies are better equipped to manage wolves because they have more people on the ground and can be more responsive to local issues. The new rule, he said, is a good way to test local control of wolf management.
“Wyoming is just off the bus,” he said.
The rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register today. Ed Bangs, Fish and Wildlife wolf recovery coordinator for the Rocky Mountain region, said it is designed to “reward” Idaho and Montana for their wolf plans.
“Everybody believes wolves should be delisted,” he said. “It was only until we just could not make that happen that we decided to do that rule.”
An estimated 825 wolves inhabit Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.