Poachers Kill More Game Animals than Wolves, North Idaho Officials Say. LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — Poachers are likely killing far more game animals than wolves are, state wildlife officials in northern Idaho say. Officials tell the Lewiston Tribune in a story on Friday that last year in northern Idaho they confirmed poaching of 30 elk, four moose, 13 mule deer and 57 whitetail deer. Officials say a realistic detection rate is 5 percent, meaning poachers are likely killing about 600 elk, 80 moose, 260 mule deer and 1,000 whitetail annually.
"It's real easy for people to blow a gasket about wolf predation," said Idaho Fish and Game District Conservation Officer George Fischer. "They are very passionate about it, they are very irate about it and they are livid about it. Yet there is a two-legged wolf out there that is probably killing as many or more than wolves. Wolves are causing an impact, there is no doubt about it; I don't want to downplay that at all, but two-legged wolves are probably killing more or stealing more game than wolves. Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% ReportAnnual12.
Idaho Wolf Derby. One Arrested at Idaho Statehouse Pro-Wolf Demonstration | citydesk. Click to enlarge Harrison Berry Karen Wells (right) was arrested by the Idaho State Police Tuesday afternoon in connection with demonstrations against the state's stance on wolves. Several wolf advocacy groups descended on the Idaho Statehouse Tuesday afternoon to protest what they are calling Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and the Idaho Legislature's open war on wolves, resulting in an arrest. Demonstrators stood on the Capitol steps and in the hallway to Otter's office chanting slogans like "Save the wolves, stop Otter's slaughter," and Idaho State Police troopers confiscated the demonstrators' megaphone, but when members of the group attempted to block the governor's office door, demonstrator Karen Wells was arrested. "We've been trying to get arrested," said Clarisa Damron of the Wolf and Wildlife Action Group.
The protesters decried the state of Idaho's so-called Wolf-Kill Panel, a five-member group that oversees the killing of wolves that might conflict with livestock interests. Fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/wildlife/planElk.pdf. Garrick Dutcher: Back off wolf crusade and dispel dark cloud over Idaho | Reader's Opinion. Year after year, Idaho demonstrates its intolerance for wolves. Idaho Department of Fish and Game, while tasked with preserving all of Idaho's wildlife, continues to ratchet up hunting, trapping and snaring pressure on Idaho's diminishing wolf population. Around 600 wolves live in Idaho, which is also home to 83 times more coyotes, 33 times more bears, and four-to-five times more mountain lions than wolves.
All of these species eat other animals to survive and all sometimes attack livestock. But Idaho reserves its special treatment for wolves alone. Idaho's wolf population has fallen consistently since 2009. Idaho claimed it would manage wolves like any other species. Actions by Gov. As the state of Idaho and IDFG reach to further extremes to kill more and more wolves, these actions aren't going unnoticed.
Far beyond the scope of wildlife management, these practices are quickly giving a black eye to Idaho's reputation across the country. Action Alert: Boise Wolf Supporters, Hearing Today on Wolf Control Board Bill…. BOISE • A bill asking for $2 million to kill up to 500 of Idaho’s wolves won’t get even half of its requested appropriation, said co-chair of the state’s budget committee. Instead, an unexpected bailout to make up for missing federal e-rate funds to pay for the Idaho Education Network (IEN) broadband program has taken precedence, said state Rep.
Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, co-chair of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee. “We have some flexibility when it comes to killing wolves,” Bell said. “We don’t have flexibility with IEN.” JFAC has already approved $6.6 million out of this year’s budget to make up for past-due payments to Education Networks of America, the state’s contractor on the broadband project.
It’s money the federal government was supposed to pay for the state’s school broadband program but never did. The supplemental appropriations bill passed both houses and now just needs the signature of the governor. Bell was referring to a recommendation a committee submitted to Gov. Should Idaho public support wolf control? - Outdoors - Mobile Adv. 1 image Courtesy photo Anthony McDermott on a Scspegoat Wilderness trip. TONY McDERMOTT/Special to The Press | This is one sportsman, who considers himself a conservationist and environmentalist, responding to the flurry of discussion supporting and opposing the governor's proposal for a $2 million state wolf control fund. Gov. Butch Otter's proposal (HB 470) is an attempt to reduce the state's wolf population to a responsible, manageable and sustainable number. Why is HB 270 important to the general public? In 2002 the Idaho State Legislature approved a Wolf Management Plan that called for 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs.
The 1994 pre-wolf introduction Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) completed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service stated that 100 wolves would consume 1,650 elk or their equivalent each year. In an April 2010 letter to DOW's Rocky Mountain Director, Mr. Mr. The St. The Education and Outreach Director of Friends of the Clearwater (FOCL), Mr. US Forest Service Sets New Precedent by Saying that it Doesn’t Have Ability to Regulate Activities in Wilderness that Clearly Conflict with Management Plans and Policies. For the first time the US Forest Service is claiming that it has no authority to restrict activities and uses of federal wilderness that conflict with their own wilderness management plan and policy manuals. It was recently reported that the US Forest Service is allowing a professional trapper, hired by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, to trap and kill two entire packs of wolves that live deep within the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness while staying in a US Forest Service owned facility.
There has been no public process, no public notice, and it is based on an unfinished predator management plan that has never been seen by the public, all at the request of an outfitter who guides hunters in the area. This abdication of US Forest Service management authority to Idaho Department of Fish and Game violates at least two laws and several policies laid out in management plans and policy manuals. Idaho hunters form wolf trapping group. The hunters behind the little-known Foundation For Wildlife Management know three things about trapping wolves. First, it is a much more effective wolf-management tool than hunting.
Wolf hunters have a success rate of less than 1 percent, while trappers enjoy a success rate near 25 percent. Second, wolf trapping is time consuming and expensive. Traps need to be checked at least once every three days, and that can involve driving hundreds of miles. “It costs me $48 a day on an average day, and I have to go every 72 hours,” said Jack Hammack of Sandpoint, a founding member of the group that is based in the Panhandle Region. It takes so much time and money to be a serious wolf trapper that group members feared many hunters, even those like themselves who desperately want to see wolf populations thinned, would either not take up trapping or not stick with it. So they formed the foundation, a sort of wolf-trapping cooperative that essentially pays regular-joe trappers to kill wolves.
2012 ID Trapping Season. Untitled. Howling mad. COEUR d'ALENE - Idaho's wolf management plan, said Dr. Catherine Feher-Elston, is not working. That's because, she said, "it's not management. " "It's killing, it's slaughter," said Feher-Elston, a naturalist and wolf advocate who spoke at what was both a pro-wolf rally and protest of Idaho's year-round hunting season on wolves Thursday at City Park. "We have to fight to stop this," she said. About 70 people attended the gathering that included speakers, songs, a dog that lost a leg to a trap, and a presentation of how to release pets from traps.
There were signs that read "Stop the Slaughter" and "Wolves Belong," while many wore shirts with pictures of wolves. And while folks, literally, were howling at times, the meeting was mostly calm, but for a few moments when a man who supported wolf management arrived and began recording some of the speakers. "We don't need you here," someone shouted. "Today in Idaho, the never-ending wolf hunt officially begins," Feher-Elston said. Hammond disagreed. Friends of the Clearwater Respond to Forest Service “Investigation” of Wolf Torture Incident. PO Box 9241 Moscow, ID 83843 pH (208)882- Rick Brazell April 4, 2012 Supervisor Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests 104 Airport Road Grangeville, Idaho 83530 Dear Supervisor Brazell, As you are undoubtedly aware, there has been considerable public outcry over a recent wolf-trapping incident on the Nez Perce National Forest. Mr. Whether one finds this behavior deplorable–which we do, and most Americans most likely do as well–or acceptable may not be a concern of the Forest Service.
First, what prompted the Forest Service to conduct an investigation? Second, how did the Forest Service determine that Mr. Third, Mr. We understand that the incident occurred on private land. Fourth, it has been reported that the pool of blood that surrounded the trapped wolf was caused by people that had stopped and fired shots at the wolf. We look forward to your response with regards to this very important matter. Sincerely, Gary Macfarlane Ecosystem Defense Director. Idaho Department of Fish and Game “Wildlife Summit” Creating Extreme Resentment From The State’s Sportsmen Groups. Two issues are now troubling the members of most all of Idaho’s sportsman organizations. One has been the extremely drastic loss of big game populations since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency introduction of non-native Canadian wolves into the Northern Rockies during the mid 1990s. The other involves the Idaho Department of Fish and Game sponsored “Wildlife Summit”, which is to be held at the Riverside Hotel in Boise September 24 thru 26 – and at six other satellite locations around the state.
The purpose of this so-called summit is to look at changing the “Mission” of IDFG. Those hunters and anglers who have financially supported the state’s wildlife agency since it was first established back in 1938 see the writing on the wall – and that IDFG has changed, and not necessarily to better the agency. With that loss of elk and other big game herds, which USFWS had promised wouldn’t happen, has also been a dramatic drop in hunting license sales. Perhaps the change began when the U.S. Noah Greenwald: Idaho Wolf Management Off the Rails. By Idaho standards, it was big news this week when Idaho Gov. Butch Otter approved the state's first-ever felony animal cruelty law for pets and livestock, leaving the Dakotas as the only states without similar laws. But even animal rights activists in Idaho were hardly pulling out the champagne. At the same time Otter was signing the bill that many believe too weak to actually improve the treatment of domestic animals, Idaho state game officials were trying to explain why they failed to use existing laws on the humane treatment of trapped wild animals to charge a trapper who took time to pose, grinning, in the blood-stained snow next to a wounded, but still very much alive wolf.
The wolf had likely been ensnared in the trap for hours, if not days, but trapper Josh Bransford thought it was fine that he take time to crouch beside the bloody, frightened animal for a photo op. Wolves in Idaho deserve better. Wood River Wolf Project Expands: Wolf Hotline Opens Today. Howl Across America. May 26, 2011 I want to take the opportunity to once again thank Louise du Toit for creating this amazing song for Howl Across America. Howl Across America was launched in July 2011 to protest the brutal Idaho and Montana wolf hunts. We continue to demand the end of wolf hunts and wolf slaughter. Wolves in the Northern Rockies were stripped of their ESA protections in a travesty of justice when the US Senate passed a budget bill with a wolf delisting rider attached.
We call on the USFWS, Ken Salazar, President Obama and Congress to right this wrong and relist gray wolves before state management silences their howls forever. Louise has been a stalwart supporter of wolves and this cause. August 12, 2011 “The song for HOWL ACROSS AMERICA was written by Louise du Toit as a contribution to the August 2011 events, organized by NIWA (Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance), Wolf Warriors, Howling For Justice and individual wolf advocates around the world, protesting against the killing of wolves. Like this: Wolf facts infographic.
Wolf Pup Found in Central Idaho! Over the holiday weekend, some out-of-state campers visiting central Idaho found what appears to be a young wolf pup wandering alone on a road in the national forest. They took him to the Sheriff’s office, and he is now being cared for by professionals. We’re not sure what if anything happened to the pup’s family, but our field crew is trying to locate the other wolves at this time.
I caught up with our wolf expert Suzanne Stone to learn more about this unfortunate situation. How did you hear about this incident? The pup was found within one of our wolf coexistence project areas, so our local partners contacted us immediately for help. We recommended that he be taken to a professional animal care facility until a longer term solution can be found. It’s still unclear at this point what happened to the pup or why he was by himself, but we’re helping Idaho Fish and Game figure out if there’s a way to return him to his family.
How is the pup doing? What’s next for the pup? Wolf Weekly Wrap-up. Wolf, © Michael S. Quinton / National Geographic Stock The final pup-date? – Well, this isn’t how we hoped it would turn out, but it appears the lost wolf pup will be leaving the Boise Zoo soon for a permanent captive facility. (Read the full story in the Idaho Mountain Express.) Several well-established wolf rescue facilities have offered to make a new home for the pup. Thanks again to everyone who pitched in over the last two weeks, including the Sun Valley Animal Center, Idaho Fish and Game, U.S. Ewes lambing near the Flat Top Ranch in central Idaho's Wood River Valley. Bad to worse at Flat Top ranch — Wildlife Services is after three more wolves in the Wood River Valley after more dead sheep were found this week on the Flat Top Ranch near Carey, Idaho. While it may be too late to spare the wolves being blamed for the sheep losses, we’re also concerned that the incident undermines the tremendous success we’ve had to date.
Options close for found wolf pup - June 6. A wolf pup found near Ketchum on Memorial Day weekend is recovering at Zoo Boise as a wolf advocacy group searches for its pack and state wildlife officials search for options for captivity. Regan Berkley, regional wildlife biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said a couple picked up the pup on the afternoon of Friday, May 25, in the Sawtooth National Forest near Ketchum.
After calling the Ketchum Police Department, the couple was advised to take the pup to a local veterinarian's office. The male pup was between 5 and 6 weeks old and under 20 pounds. The pup was sent to Zoo Boise, an accredited American Zoological Association facility, for veterinary care on Thursday. Zoo Boise Supervisor Steve Burns said Tuesday that the wolf is recovering somewhat. "When he came here, he was in decent condition, but thin," Burns said. Burns added that the wolf was gaining weight and calming down slightly, but the zoo would not be a permanent option for the pup. Wolf Pup Found in Central Idaho! Little Wolf Pup Going to Captive Home and I’m Not Sorry…
Kill order issued for 2 wolves following attack - Idaho Press-Tribune: Local. Wolves kill 7 Flat Top ewes - May 16. Help Stop Idaho's War on Wolves. Wildlife official believes state has authority to kill wolves. Wolf Mortality in Idaho–A Final Toll. Idaho hunter shoots former Imnaha Pack wolf. Wolf mortality in Idaho, a final toll. 48 – 59 percent of Idaho wolves killed in one year. Cougar and wolves battle in the Bitterroot. Lolo wolf reduction. Fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/docs/wolves/plan08.pdf. Fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/docs/rules/wolfTrapRules.pdf. Fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/docs/rules/bgRules.pdf. Idaho Gov. Otter on Wolves: "We Don't Want Them Here" - Black Bear Blog.
Trapping wolves. End Wolf Torture in the Northern Rockies. Anti-wolf activist charged with assault and battery - March 28, 2008. Idaho Proposes Trapping and No-Quota Wolf Hunting. Idaho Wolves Safe for Now, Wisconsin Wolves in Danger. Live Bait Okay to Kill Idaho Wolves.