Idaho F&G Announces Wolves Major Cause Of Elk Kills

Reports coming out of Northern Idaho say that Fish and Game Deputy Director Jim Unsworth is blaming the gray wolf as the main reason for a 13% per year reduction in cow elk in the Lolo Hunting Zone. Another F&G biologist, George Pauley, states that at least 87% of the elk in this region needs to survive each year in order to sustain an elk herd. At present that survival rate is estimated at 75%.

And with this information, I have some questions. The first one and most obvious is what took IDFG so long to make an official announcement, assuming Unsworth’s announcement is official and not some rogue event? Read more

Wildlife Counting. How Important Is It?

In management of wildlife, shouldn’t it be considered imperative to have accurate and reliable population counts? After all, many a lawsuit that involves millions of dollars and just as many people have been decided on data that includes herd counts, especially Endangered Species Act lawsuits.

“I’ve been in the woods for over a month now and I can tell you there are at least 100 does for every buck!” This is a comment I received one day when attempting to communicate with fellow hunters about buck to doe ratios and the management plans Maine has in monitoring and manipulating the whitetail deer populations. Read more

Can We Trust How Wolves Are Being Managed In Montana Or Other States?

If we back up through a regression of what is controlling wolf management, if nothing else we have to scratch our heads. The fate of the gray wolf in the Northern Rocky Mountains as well as the Western Great Lakes region lies in the hands of two judges. One judge in Montana (Donald Molloy) says Wyoming’s wolf management plan isn’t good enough to sustain a wolf population. The same judge says we must continue to protect the wolf because he thinks until sub populations of wolves interbreed there is little hope the wolf will survive.

The judge in Washington, D.C. (Paul Friedman) who ruled to place the wolf in the Great Lakes region back under federal protection says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can’t create Distinct Population Segments because there is no definition of what that is. Read more

Defenders Of Wildlife et al Attempting To Stall Wolf Delisting Process

Defenders of Wildlife, along with at least 14 other wolf preservation, animal rights and environmental groups, have submitted a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting that the comment period set forth in the latest attempt by USFWS to delist the gray wolf, be extended to 90 days from 30. (Click here for a complete copy of the letter.)

In the letter, Defenders, et al, are requesting an extension of 60 days because they say the USFWS has not made it clear how they propose to address the two recent court rulings that returned the gray wolf to federal protection in the Northern Rockies and Western Great Lakes. They also claim new scientific evidence “further calls into question the underlying biological basis for the northern Rockies proposal”. They fail to specifically point out what that new evidence is. Read more