Count of Northern Yellowstone elk rises

By BRETT FRENCH
Of The Billings Gazette Staff
The Northern Yellowstone elk herd is larger than last year, according to a recent aerial survey, but the number of calves remains one-half to one-third of what wildlife managers would like to see.

A total of 7,109 elk were counted when the annual survey was taken on Jan. 30 and Feb 9 by the Northern Yellowstone Cooperative Wildlife Working Group. That compares to the 6,279 to 6,738 elk counted in the past three winters. The herd was evenly split between the park and north of the park.

"Even though biologists counted 830 more elk than last year, it is unlikely we will see any significant long-term increase in elk numbers until there is long-term improvement in elk calf recruitment rates," Tom Lemke, a Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist, said in a statement.

The cow-to-calf ratio last year was 11 calves per 100 cows. Wildlife managers would prefer to see 20 to 30 calves per 100 cows. Calf counts are taken in March.

Predation of elk calves by grizzly bears and wolves is blamed for the lower calf numbers. But the overall drop in elk numbers has also been attributed to extended drought and hunter harvests.

"I'd expect numbers of elk on the northern range to remain similar to this year's count or decrease somewhat further in coming years if predator to prey ratios remain relatively high - even if human harvests remain low," said P.J. White, Yellowstone National Park biologist.

A reduction in hunter licenses outside the park in Montana may be partly to blame for the increase in elk numbers. The state Fish, Wildlife and Parks decreased the number of antlerless elk permits from 1,102 in 2005 to 100 per season between 2006 and 2009. The idea behind the reduction in permits was to increase the number of breeding-age cows.

Hunters have long decried the reintroduction of wolves to the park and their effect on the herd. Since reintroduction in 1995, elk numbers in the northern herd have dropped 60 percent from all-time highs.

Yet the number of elk wintering outside the park is well within the range FWP likes to see north of the park and on its Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area. This year, 3,511 elk were counted north of the park with 2,896 wintering in the Dome Mountain area. FWP's objectives call for 3,000 to 5,000 elk north of Yellowstone with 2,000 to 3,000 on the WMA.

"In fact, elk survey numbers have been within population objectives for about the last seven years," Lemke said.

Lemke said increased elk numbers and improved calf survival for two to three years would be needed before hunting permits may be increased for the area.

"It's encouraging to see the count bump up, but I don't think we can justify an increase in permits based on that," he said.

This year's increase in elk numbers could reflect several factors, including better counting conditions, a reduced hunter harvest and less wolf predation. Wolf numbers in the park are down 40 percent from 2008 - dropping from 94 to 56 wolves in the northern range. The wolf decline has been blamed on disease and lethal fights between packs battling over
limited resources and range.

The northern Yellowstone elk herd winters between the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park and Dome Mountain/Dailey Lake in the Paradise Valley. The wildlife working group, formed in 1974, is composed of representatives of FWP, the Park Service, Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey.

09 Winter Sawtooth Legacy Quarterly

Get your own - Open publication

South Salem wolf killed in Arizona

Written by Matt Dalen

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Just two months after being released, F836 became the second endangered wolf from Lewisboro to be shot and killed in the wild. The 5-year-old female Mexican gray wolf, raised at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, was found dead of a gunshot wound on the side of Highway 260 near Pinetop, Ariz. Her death comes less than three years after the killing of her sister, F838, who was released into the wild in 2006. F836, a five-tear-old Mexican gray wolf that was raised at South Salem's Wolf Conservation Center, was recently shot and killed after being released in New Mexico. “We are obviously upset about the death of F836, but our commitment to our mission remains strong,” said center director Maggie Howell. “If anything, this shooting shows the necessity of environmental education and awareness.” F836 was one of about 400 Mexican gray wolves in the world, of which approximately 50 live in the wild. In late November, she was released with a mate from a facility in New Mexico as part of the Mexican gray wolf’s Species Survival Plan. Equipped with a radio collar, she was tracked traveling along the New Mexico-Arizona border near the towns of Luna, N.M., and Alpine and Springerville, Ariz., but no one reported seeing her until her carcass was found. The shooting is still under investigation, but it is thought that the body was dumped on the side of the road, Ms. Howell said, after the wolf was shot somewhere else. Fear of humans Ms. Howell said that animals chosen for release were picked on the basis of their fear of and evasiveness toward humans, as well as health and genetic considerations. This criterion is intended to ensure that the wolves go out of their way to avoid human settlements, and thus any confrontation with humans. She said the center works to maintain the wolves’ fear of humans by maintaining a strict separation between the endangered wolves and any humans, and monitoring the wolves through hidden surveillance cameras. “We received feedback from the Mexican wolf recovery program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that F836 was ‘one of the best “naive” wolves’ that they had released yet, and ‘she was very elusive and evasive, especially for a wolf with no prior wild experience,’” Ms. Howell wrote in an e-mail to The Ledger. “We think we did our job well.” Born in captivity F836 and her sister, F838, were born in captivity, at the Minnesota Zoo in 2003. Along with a third sister, they were brought to South Salem in November 2004, where they were raised in one of the center’s forest enclosures. F838 was released into Arizona in 2006, but was illegally shot and killed by a hunter a few months later. In March 2008, F836 was taken to New Mexico and paired with a 2-year-old wild-born wolf, which she bonded with. The decision was made to release the pair, known as the Moonshine Pack, together near the border of Arizona and New Mexico. According to the Arizona Fish and Wildlife Service, there were about 12 other Mexican gray packs living in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico. The Mexican gray wolf is the rarest of the five subspecies of gray wolf present in North America. The Wolf Conservation Center cares for 24 endangered wolves, including two red wolves.

Wolf bill gets early approval

By The Associated Press

CHEYENNE -- The Wyoming House of Representatives gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill making minor modifications to the state's management plan for gray wolves.

The House passed House Bill 32 on first reading by voice vote, though key lawmakers said they expect more amendments to the bill as it comes up for second and third readings in the chamber.

Wyoming is trying to regain state control over wolves after the federal government reversed an earlier decision to remove the animals from the endangered species list in the state.

Some lawmakers argued Monday that the Legislature should take no action as it waits for the Obama administration to take a stand on the wolf issue.

Others said Wyoming should continue tweaking its rules to give the state a better chance to regain management over wolves.

The provisions of House Bill 32 would take effect only if wolves are removed from the endangered species list.

The bill would maintain separate trophy game and predator zones for wolves in Wyoming. It would authorize the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to work in cooperation with Idaho and Montana to move wolves as necessary to assure genetic interchange among the states' wolf populations.

The bill would bind Wyoming to maintaining at least seven breeding pairs of wolves outside of National Park Service lands in northwestern Wyoming. Or, if Wyoming entered into a management agreement with the Park Service, the bill would call for maintaining 15 breeding pairs on Park Service and state lands within Wyoming.

The bill would establish a process for the state Game and Fish Commission to alter the trophy game area as necessary. It would also revert to more lenient rules for ranchers in the trophy game zone, allowing them to shoot wolves that are threatening livestock.

Source: http://trib.com/articles/2009/02/10/news/wyoming/7c5e7f2bfcec6a89872575590006baf3.txt

DOI Rescinds Rule Related to Wolves

With a new administration in charge, federal regulators Wednesday promised a second look at a recent decision to drop gray wolves in the Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered list.

By JOHN FLESHER

AP Environmental Writer

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. —

With a new administration in charge, federal regulators Wednesday promised a second look at a recent decision to drop gray wolves in the Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered list.

The Interior Department said it was withdrawing at least temporarily a rule announced last

 week changing the wolf's status in both regions. The rule never formally took effect.

It was among many regulatory changes the Bush administration pushed through in its final days. President Barack Obama ordered a revi

ew of those 11th-hour measures after taking office Tuesday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the Interior Department, will consider whether to reissue the rule, modify it or permanently rescind it, spokesman Hugh Vickery said. No timetable was set for a decision.

Last week, the department said Great Lakes and Northern Rockies wolves had recovered from near-extinction and no longer needed federal protection. However, wolves in Wyoming were to remain under federal jurisdiction because Interior officials said that state had not done enough to assure their survival.

The Bush administration removed wolves in both regions from the endangered list previously, but was overruled by federal courts after animal-rights and environmental groups sued.

Opponents said they hoped Obama's Interior Department would retain the endangered classification for wolves in the Northern Rockies, where the population numbers about 1,500.

That region's wolf segment includes all of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the eastern one-third of Washington and Oregon, and a small part of north-central Utah.

"Wolves are a success story in the region but their numbers simply haven't reached a level yet where they can be said to have recovered," said Andrew Wetzler, endangered species coordinator for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Some advocates see in the review an opportunity to expand the wolf's modern-day range.

The predators historically were found across most of the United States. Vast swaths of public land in Colorado, California, Utah, Oregon and other states could support wolves if given the chance, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity.

"We're not looking to restore wolves to every bit of land where wolves once set foot," he said, "but certainly we have to look at the public lands at a minimum as potential wolf recovery areas."

Critics said they feared politics would trump science during the planned review. They noted that the Northern Rockies have five times the region's original recovery goal of 300 wolves.

As the population has risen, attacks on sheep, cattle and other livestock have increased.

"It just frustrates landowners to no end that this process looks like it will never end and we'll never see wolves delisted," said Jay Bodner of the Montana Stockgrowers Association.

Removing wolves from the endangered list is less controversial in the Great Lakes region, where even many environmental groups - such as the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation - favor it. About 4,000 wolves roam Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

But the Humane Society of the United States, which filed suit after their endangered classification was dropped in 2007, will urge the Obama administration to keep Great Lakes wolves on the list as well, vice president Jonathan Lovvorn said.

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Associated Press reporter Matthew Brown in Billings, Mont., contributed to this story.

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The Wolf Center works toward the goal of achieving higher accountability in the federal government. This is carried out through information campaigns, collaborations with other like-purposed organizations, and education.  Learn more at our website by visiting www.wolfcenter.org.

Let's swallow our pride on wolf delisting

TUESDAY JANUARY 20, 2009
Let's swallow our pride on wolf delisting
Star-Tribune Editorial Board
http://www.trib.com/articles/2009/01/18/editorial/editorial/b0d31c9cf48c7482
8725754100268365.txt

Wyoming legislators reacted predictably to Wednesday's announcement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to remove federal protection for wolves in Idaho and Montana, but not the Cowboy State.

Rep. Del McOmie, R-Lander, likely summed up the sentiment in the State Capitol best: "I am mad. Let's go to court."

Wyoming officials have every right to be angry with the Fish and Wildlife Service, which at one time approved the state's wolf plan but then abandoned it at the first sign of disapproval from the federal court system.

But it's never a good idea to make important decisions when you're angry, and legislators should take a hard look at whether another lawsuit against the federal government over wolves is a really good idea.

If lawmakers truly want wolves to be delisted so the state can assume management of the animals, the best course of action is to approve a bill in this legislative session to designate them statewide as a trophy game species, the same way we manage bears and mountain lions.

That won't guarantee rapid delisting; some environmentalists have promised to return to court to again challenge the Fish and Wildlife Service decision. But it would likely accelerate the process by removing a major obstacle to progress in the wolf delisting debate.

The history of wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies is long and controversial. Even though the federal program is viewed by most as a biological success, many in Wyoming are still bitter about the way it was handled. The Fish and Wildlife Service's flip-flip on the state's wolf plan is especially inexcusable.

But rather than look back with rancor at what has happened in the past, Gov. Dave Freudenthal and lawmakers should look forward to what's best for the future. Statewide trophy game management is it, for a couple of reasons.

First of all, that approach would give the Wyoming Game and Fish Department the best tools to assure that the state is meeting its commitment to maintain a viable wolf population in the state. Wolves could be pursued by licensed hunters as part of a regulated system, and ranchers would have the ability to protect their livestock. In addition, all ranchers who lose livestock to wolves would be compensated by the state under a program that has worked effectively for losses to other predators.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, trophy game management would be more palatable to federal judges and the general public. Some Wyomingites would like to think that no one from outside our borders should have any control over what happens here, but that's not the way it works. When it comes to endangered species, the federal government always has the last say.

Most Wyoming officials are convinced that the state's current wolf plan is scientifically defensible, and point out that science is supposed to guide endangered species policy. But there are plenty who will argue that a plan allowing the shooting of wolves for any reason over most of the state is scientifically unsound. And a federal courtroom isn't the best place to try to prove something scientifically.

Is it really reasonable to expect that federal judges will side with Wyoming, when even a Bush administration agency hasn't done so -- and when two neighboring states have managed to produce acceptable plans?

The Fish and Wildlife Service's behavior has made it difficult, but it's time for Wyoming leaders to swallow their pride and designate wolves as trophy game throughout the state.

Viewpoints Expressed in Idaho Statesman

The wolf - a controversial political animal for years - now becomes a problem for the new Obama administration.

The outgoing Bush administration left this issue at the doorstep Wednesday, announcing a new plan to remove the wolf from the federal endangered species list and turn over management decisions to Idaho and other states. National environmental groups will surely lobby the new White House to reverse course, no doubt predicting a death sentence for the wolf. The White House also will hear from the likes of Democratic U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick, who joined Idaho's congressional Republicans in a press release praising Wednesday's "delisting" decision. "I am confident that Idaho ranchers, sportsmen, scientists and leaders will successfully manage the health of wolves and other wildlife populations for years to come." So are we. Idaho has earned any benefit of the doubt and a chance to prove itself. And that's exactly what the state should get from the new
administration.

Wednesday's announcement was no 11th-hour move from a lame-duck administration. It was, instead, years in the making. Since the mid-1990s, when about 30 wolves were released in Central Idaho, the Idaho wolf population has exploded to about 800 - so it is long past plausible to argue that the hardy predator warrants the restrictive protection of the federal Endangered Species Act.

As this population has blossomed, Idaho has worked to craft a plan to allow wolf hunting, seek a balance between wolf and big-game populations and protect the interests of livestock owners. The plan has received the blessing of a federal judge - unlike neighboring Wyoming, which was conspicuously omitted from the Bush administration's delisting plan. The wolf has far exceeded the recovery goals set a decade ago. Idaho has met its expectations. The only question is whether the federal government will make good on its end of the bargain.

With Interior secretary nominee U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar - a former Colorado attorney general with a ranching background - Obama has signaled a centrist and states' rights approach to public lands issues. The administration has a chance to put those principles into practice.

January 16, 2009
Idaho Statesman
Our View: Obama should give authority to states
OUR VIEW IDAHO WOLVES
http://www.idahostatesman.com/126/story/635095.html