protect yellowstone wolves, protect wyoming rules, protect the wolves, wolves, wolf

Wyoming wants 150 wolves, counting those inside Yellowstone and the Reservation

In IUCNCongress, Protect The Wolves, Protect Wyoming Wolves, Protect Yellowstones Wolves by TwowolvesLeave a Comment

protect yellowstone wolves, protect wyoming rules, protect the wolves, wolves, wolf

Protect The Wolves ™ has to question how its possible for Wyoming Game and Fish to Count Wolves that they do not even manage… Wolves from the Wind River Reservation as well as Yellowstone they somehow are including. For 1 thing the Reservation to them is like a Foreign country that they have no management capabilities over anyway. The National Parks are Federal Resources…. again not under Wyoming Control. They need to be excluded from the death wishes that Wyoming Game and Fish has for them.

LEW FREEDMAN Updated

Assuming the Game and Fish Commission approves a fall hunting season in the Cody region, the state will try to reduce the gray wolf population of 160 in the Trophy Game Management Area by the end of this year.

It is estimated there are 250 wolves in the area, and reduction would come from natural causes and human kills in retaliation for attacks on livestock, and through hunting.

A hunt quota would be 44 for the region, harvested between Oct. 15 and Dec. 31. In 2014, the last time Wyoming conducted a hunt, the quota was 43.

Tuesday night, biologist Ken Mills, Game and Fish wolf expert from Pinedale, outlined a season-setting proposal during a meeting at Big Horn Federal Bank. The plan mostly follows methods used in 2012 and 2013 when Wyoming governed wolf hunts.

“It’s not going to be very much different,” Mills said. “Everything was working before. Numbers have changed and years have gone by. We thought we had a good management plan.”

A public comment period on the plan remains open until June 19. The Tuesday session was one of nine informational meetings around the state.

Some of the nearly 25 people in attendance grumbled the quota was not high enough. Mills said it is a conservative starting point.

Wolves that reside outside the region are considered predators and can be hunted at any time.

Local hunting advocate Scott Weber said he would like to see more wolves available for hunting and agreed with another’s suggestion property owners should be able to kill the wolves that menace their livestock.

However, he said, being conservative while resuming hunts after the time off is probably a wise strategy.

“I think the quotas are quite low,” Weber said. “I’d play it conservative and close to the vest because the national spotlight is on us. We’re easing in.”

Luke Ellsbury, a Cody Game and Fish large carnivore specialist, said there will probably be more work for employees like him, but hunting could reduce the number of calls to resolve conflicts.

Mills said Game and Fish will review quotas and seasons annually and may well change things after a year of experience.

“We’re just picking the ball back up,” Ellsbury said.

Wyoming wolf management was interrupted by a court challenge alleging the state’s plan was inadequate for maintaining a stable population.

On March 3, a three-judge federal appeals court unanimously upheld Wyoming’s contention that its  management plan – including hunting – was fine. Passing the supervision of wolves from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Game and Fish became official April 25.

This marked the culmination of a long and contentious battle.

In 2008, the gray wolf in Wyoming was delisted from Endangered Species Act protection and promptly was relisted. It was delisted again in 2012, and the state introduced hunting.

Game and Fish administered hunts for two years, until the court action shut them down.

“We’re back in the game,” Mills said.

That’s if the commission approves the dates at its July 18-20 meeting in Afton.

Wyoming’s gray wolves are part of the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf population that stretches as far west as Washington and Oregon.

Mills said the wolf population mushroomed after state hunts were suspended and the number of wolf attacks on livestock also jumped. Fish and Wildlife killed 113 wolves in one year because of the conflicts.

During the hunting hiatus, the local population shot up from under 200 wolves to about 250 wolves in 2014.

“The population was as high as it’s ever been,” Mills said.

Under the rules set during the delisting process, Wyoming is charged with maintaining a stable wolf population. Required are at least 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves. That is exclusive of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Reservation.

If those two areas are included the minimum population must be 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves. Suitable habitat is also required.

The quotas should not be difficult to meet, Mills said, and the area is pretty well maxed out for the wolf population to grow beyond that 250 level.

As additional protection for Wyoming management, Mills said, bills have been filed in both houses of the U.S. Congress to shield Game and Fish from additional gray wolf litigation.

“We shouldn’t have any issues moving forward with our management,” Mills said.

Source: G&F outlines wolf hunting season, management plan | Local News | codyenterprise.com

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