Jess Edberg, information services director — International Wolf Center, 09/11/2012
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After many years of push and pull from a variety of angles, wolves in Wyoming have been delisted. On Friday, August 31, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released its final rule to delist wolves in Wyoming. After September 30, those wolves will officially be state-managed animals.
The process of delisting for Wyoming began almost a decade ago when wolf populations were at recovery levels in the Northern Rockies. Various waves of litigation—including a court order requiring a revision to the state management plan before delisting could be considered—prevented initial attempts to delist.
Then, last summer, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, USFWS Director Dan Ashe and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar developed a wolf management plan for Wyoming that all parties could agree on.
From that agreement, the ball started rolling, and a delisting proposal was announced October 5, 2011, with a subsequent public-comment period. Wyoming’s original management plan hinged on the state adjusting laws for it to be implemented, so an additional public-comment period was held in May 2012 to address those changes. Changes included revised state statutes, revised gray wolf management regulations (chapter 21), revised gray wolf hunting-season regulations (chapter 47) and an addendum to the Wyoming Gray Wolf Management Plan. (See links below)
Possibly the most controversial aspect of Wyoming’s original wolf management plan was the designation of wolves as a “predatory animal” outside of national parks and forests, which allowed for public take (killing) without a license.
The protected and permanent game areas include the entire home range for 24 of Wyoming’s 27 breeding pairs, 40 of Wyoming’s 48 known wolf packs, and 282 of the 328 or more individual wolves in the state at the end of 2011, according to USFWS. The area where wolves are designated predatory holds the remainder.
The predatory designation concerned several interest groups, prompting litigation that led to the court-ordered revision. However, in the addendum to Wyoming Gray Wolf Management Plan, a clarification is made.
“Wolves present outside areas of the state where they are designated as trophy game animals under state statute, but within areas of the state where the state of Wyoming has jurisdiction for wildlife management, including wolves on non-Indian owned fee titled lands on the WRR, will be under the management authority of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture and are statutorily designated as predatory animals. Wolves present in these areas can be counted toward the state’s total wolf population, but because of their predatory animal status will not be relied upon to meet the minimum recovery level.”
Additionally, a “flex area,” defined as the Seasonal Wolf Trophy Game Management Area (SWTGMA), was established. In this area, wolves are classified as trophy game animals from October 15 to the last day in February of the subsequent year and as predatory animals for the remainder of the year. This provision was included to help ensure genetic interchange with other wolf populations in the Northern Rockies. The Wolf Trophy Game Management Area (WTGMA) will be consistent year-round.
According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission (WGFC), wolf hunting will also be on the table immediately after delisting beginning October 1. The WGFC established wolf-hunting seasons in 12 separate hunt areas in the WTGMA and SWTGMA. Hunting seasons in each hunt area will begin October 1 and end December 31 (except in Area 12 where the SWTGMA opens October 15 and closes December 31).
Similar to other states with wolf-hunting seasons, a quota will be implemented with a call-in registration system that requires hunters to check the quota level daily. The total quota is 52 wolves.
With a hunt on the heels of delisting, Wyoming is once again in the middle of a storm of controversy.
What do you think: Is it possible to reconcile the dichotomy of being a federally protected species one day and a hunted animal the next? Share your thoughts on Facebook.
Related Links
Chapter 21: Gray Wolf Management Regulation
Chapter 47: Gray Wolf Hunting Seasons Regulation
Related links
Wyoming and U.S. Department of the Interior wolf management fact sheet
Wyoming GFD wolf page
Final Wyoming Wolf Management Plan
Addendum to the Wyoming Gray Wolf Management Plan
Revised Wyoming state statutes