Matthew Brown, Associated Press Yahoo News 31 Aug 09;
MISSOULA, Mont. – Gray wolf hunting was set to begin in the Northern Rockies, even as a federal judge eyed a request to stop the killing of the predators just four months after they were removed from the endangered species list.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said Monday he would rule as quickly as he could on a last-minute injunction sought by environmental and animal welfare groups opposed to the hunts in Idaho and Montana.
Hunters were poised to head into the field Tuesday in Idaho, where a quota allowed as many as 220 wolves to be killed. Montana's season is set to begin Sept. 15, with a quota of 75 wolves.
Missoula hunter Mac McLaughlin attended Monday's court hearing then left to buy his hunting tag, saying he was tired of the wolves attacking elk. He intended to use an elk call to lure wolves.
"If the opportunity comes up, you bet I'll shoot one," he said. "There's got to be a balance and our game populations have taken a terrible beating."
More than 9,000 hunters in Idaho already have bought tags allowing them to kill a wolf. Tags went on sale Monday in Montana.
Wolves were removed from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana in May, with management of the animals transferred to the state wildlife agencies.
Doug Honnold of the environmental law firm Earthjustice said wolves remained at risk because the states had insufficient safeguards to ensure their safety.
"It's the endangered species that need to be protected, not the states' rights to kill wolves," Honnold said during the hearing.
Michael Eitel, representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agency would keep monitoring the wolves and step in to return the species to the endangered list if warranted.
"The Northern Rocky Mountain wolves are doing very well," Eitel said. "Yes there might be wolves that are killed, but that will not affect the population in Idaho and Montana."
Wolves once roamed North America but by the 1930s had been largely exterminated outside Alaska and Canada. An estimated 1,650 of the animals now live in the Northern Rockies — the result of a contentious $30 million reintroduction program that began in 1995.
Today, the debate centers on whether that population will remain viable if hunting is allowed. That population is now five times the original recovery goal set in the 1990s.
Wyoming was carved out of the territory where wolves were removed from the endangered list.
That prompted Honnold to claim the government had "flip-flopped" on a prior policy against making endangered species decisions based on political boundaries.
In court, Eitel acknowledged his agency changed its position on the issue but urged Judge Molloy to accept its latest interpretation of the law.
Molloy appeared doubtful. "How am I supposed to make judgment as to which of their positions to give deference to?" he asked.
Molloy gave no indication how he might rule on the injunction request. State wildlife officials said the hunts would proceed pending the ruling.
Last year, Molloy sided with environmentalists in a similar case.
As a result, the federal government kept about 300 wolves in Wyoming on the endangered list.
Wolf hunt is on in Idaho — for now
Todd Dvorak, Associated Press Yahoo News 2 Sep 09;
BOISE, Idaho – Gray wolves were back in the cross hairs of hunters on Tuesday, just months after they were removed from the federal endangered species list and eight decades since being hunted to extinction across the Northern Rockies.
Hunters in Idaho began stalking gray wolves in a handful of districts in the central and northern mountains. Shortly after dawn, an Idaho real estate agent became the first to report a kill.
Robert Millage of the lumber town of Kamiah bagged an adult female from 25 yards away in the mountains near the Lochsa River, state officials said.
"I just wanted to beat my buddies to the punch, but I didn't know I'd beaten everybody in the state," said Millage, 34, who has hunted in Idaho for 22 years. "It was really an adrenaline rush to have those wolves all around me, howling and milling about after I fired the shot."
It remained unclear, however, just how much longer hunters would have to thin the wolf population in Idaho and Montana, which is scheduled to open its season in two weeks.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Montana was expected to rule soon on a request by environmental groups to stop the hunts in both states.
"The human population successfully eradicated wolves from this region in the early part of the 20th century, and it would be a true shame after all the efforts that went into recovery if that happened again," said Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice, a plaintiff in the case.
An estimated 1,650 of the animals now live in the Northern Rockies thanks to a controversial reintroduction program that started in 1995.
Idaho set a quota of 220 wolves for this hunting season as part of its plan for managing the wolf population. The quota is 75 in Montana.
Idaho officials say they have no idea how many hunters headed into the woods to track the predators. State rules require hunters to notify game officials within 24 hours of a wolf kill and present the skull and pelt to wardens within five days.
So far, Idaho has sold more than 10,700 wolf permits, mostly to hunters who will head to the backcountry next month when elk and deer season begins. Hunters in Montana snatched up more than 2,600 tags on Monday, the first day of sales for the upcoming hunt.
The wolves were removed from the endangered species list in those states just four months ago. The environmental groups fear there aren't enough state protections in place to maintain their comeback.
The creatures were once abundant across North America, but by the 1930s had been largely exterminated outside Alaska and Canada.
About 300 wolves in Wyoming are still under federal protection because the government has not approved the state's management plan.
Last year, about a dozen wolves were killed in Wyoming during a brief period when the state management plan declared wolves wandering outside established recovery zones could be shot and killed on sight. That policy was later scrapped by a federal judge.
Idaho officials and hunting guides say the opening weeks of the season are likely to be slow.
Outfitters said they are not booking trips for hunters exclusively looking to bag a wolf. But guides are encouraging clients to buy wolf tags to have handy when tracking deer and elk later this fall.
"Any success we have with wolves will be more of a happenstance sort of thing," said Richard Huff, a guide for Silver Spur Outfitters and Lodge near Grangeville.
Wolves are difficult to track because they move 30 to 50 miles a day, and hunters can't use bait or artificial calls.
"But I can tell you if I see one it's going to be adios," Huff said.
Hunting of grey wolves resumes in western US after 30 years
If courts do not intervene, hunters will be allowed to kill up to 220 wolves in Idaho and 75 in Montana
Ed Pilkington, guardian.co.uk 1 Sep 09;
For the first time in more than 30 years, the northern Rockies are set today to echo with the sound of guns being fired at one of the symbols of the American wilderness: the grey wolf.
Hunters armed with tags permitting them to "harvest" the animals were preparing to set out in the mountainous western and northern regions of Idaho. To the dismay of environmentalists, the Obama administration lifted protection for wolves under the Endangered Species Act in March.
Environmental groups went to court yesterday to try and block the renewed hunting, but a judge sitting in Montana has reserved judgement and until he rules, the shooting will be allowed to go ahead.
The fate of the wolf is taken by conservationists as a litmus test of America's ability to safeguard its natural heritage. In the early 20th century, the animals, placed on a literary pedestal in such works as Jack London's White Fang, were virtually exterminated. Since 1995 they have been reintroduced to Idaho and the Yellowstone national park and federal officials argue that their current numbers, about 1,650, would support restricted hunting.
By the end of the year, hunters will be allowed to kill up to 220 wolves in Idaho and 75 in Montana, assuming the courts do not intervene.
Under the terms of the tagging system, wolves of either sex may be shot, though kills must be reported to the authorities within 24 hours and the skull and hide presented to federal officials within four days after that. Baiting of the animals is not allowed.
Earthjustice, an environmental group that is leading the legal case for continuing to protect the wolves, argues that renewed hunting could disrupt the flow of wolf populations between Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The group's Doug Honnold told the Idaho Statesman newspaper: "It's the endangered species that need to be protected, not the states' rights to kill wolves."
Wolf hunt is on in Idaho — for now
Todd Dvorak, Associated Press Yahoo News 1 Sep 09;
BOISE, Idaho – Gray wolves were back in the cross hairs of hunters on Tuesday, just months after they were removed from the federal endangered species list and eight decades since being hunted to extinction across the Northern Rockies.
Hunters in Idaho began stalking gray wolves in a handful of districts in the central and northern mountains. Shortly after dawn, an Idaho real estate agent became the first to report a kill.
Robert Millage of the lumber town of Kamiah bagged an adult female from 25 yards away in the mountains near the Lochsa River, state officials said.
"I just wanted to beat my buddies to the punch, but I didn't know I'd beaten everybody in the state," said Millage, 34, who has hunted in Idaho for 22 years. "It was really an adrenaline rush to have those wolves all around me, howling and milling about after I fired the shot."
It remained unclear, however, just how much longer hunters would have to thin the wolf population in Idaho and Montana, which is scheduled to open its season in two weeks.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Montana was expected to rule soon on a request by environmental groups to stop the hunts in both states.
"The human population successfully eradicated wolves from this region in the early part of the 20th century, and it would be a true shame after all the efforts that went into recovery if that happened again," said Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice, a plaintiff in the case.
An estimated 1,650 of the animals now live in the Northern Rockies thanks to a controversial reintroduction program that started in 1995.
Idaho set a quota of 220 wolves for this hunting season as part of its plan for managing the wolf population. The quota is 75 in Montana.
Idaho officials say they have no idea how many hunters headed into the woods to track the predators. State rules require hunters to notify game officials within 24 hours of a wolf kill and present the skull and pelt to wardens within five days.
So far, Idaho has sold more than 10,700 wolf permits, mostly to hunters who will head to the backcountry next month when elk and deer season begins. Hunters in Montana snatched up more than 2,600 tags on Monday, the first day of sales for the upcoming hunt.
The wolves were removed from the endangered species list in those states just four months ago. The environmental groups fear there aren't enough state protections in place to maintain their comeback.
The creatures were once abundant across North America, but by the 1930s had been largely exterminated outside Alaska and Canada.
About 300 wolves in Wyoming are still under federal protection because the government has not approved the state's management plan.
Last year, about a dozen wolves were killed in Wyoming during a brief period when the state management plan declared wolves wandering outside established recovery zones could be shot and killed on sight. That policy was later scrapped by a federal judge.
Idaho officials and hunting guides say the opening weeks of the season are likely to be slow.
Outfitters said they are not booking trips for hunters exclusively looking to bag a wolf. But guides are encouraging clients to buy wolf tags to have handy when tracking deer and elk later this fall.
"Any success we have with wolves will be more of a happenstance sort of thing," said Richard Huff, a guide for Silver Spur Outfitters and Lodge near Grangeville.
Wolves are difficult to track because they move 30 to 50 miles a day, and hunters can't use bait or artificial calls.
"But I can tell you if I see one it's going to be adios," Huff said.
