EDITORIAL: Wyoming must change stance on wolves

Posted 9/7/10

As hunting season begins, many outdoorsman wish they could aim their guns at wolves. Rife with controversy since they were first re-introduced 15 years ago, gray wolves have now grown 1,700-strong in the Northern Rockies amid ever-present political …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

EDITORIAL: Wyoming must change stance on wolves

Posted

As hunting season begins, many outdoorsman wish they could aim their guns at wolves. Rife with controversy since they were first re-introduced 15 years ago, gray wolves have now grown 1,700-strong in the Northern Rockies amid ever-present political tensions and court battles.Worried about dwindling elk herds and the constant threat to livestock, many Wyoming residents believe wolves must be hunted to regulate the growing population.But hunting wolves remains illegal in Wyoming — and now in Idaho and Montana as well, where managed wolf hunts occurred last year.A decision last month by federal Judge Donald Molloy brought wolf hunts to an end in all of the Greater Yellowstone Region. Ruling that it violated the Endangered Species Act to remove protection in two states but not in Wyoming, Molloy restored protection to gray wolves in Idaho and Montana.Many rightfully blame Wyoming for halting wolf hunts in our sister states.Wyoming's wolf management plan calls for the animal to be shot on sight in most of the state — around 90 percent. Considering that plan too hostile toward the 320 wolves that dwell in Wyoming, federal officials rejected the state's management plan and maintained protection for gray wolves.It's unrealistic for Wyoming leaders to expect wolves to go directly from the endangered species list to unregulated, open-season hunts in most of the state.If wolf hunts are to occur in Wyoming in the future — and, it appears, in Montana or Idaho —state lawmakers must modify the shoot-on-sight predator zone.We agree with Tom Strickland, assistant U.S. secretary of Interior, who criticizes Wyoming's position.“The court's decision clearly shows that, for the gray wolf, recovery requires Wyoming to change its policy,” Strickland wrote. “If Wyoming were to join its neighbor states and develop a wolf management strategy with adequate regulatory mechanisms on human-caused wolf mortality, including hunting, all three states would benefit.”With 1,700 gray wolves roaming the Northern Rockies, the species must be de-listed and managed through hunting — but for that to happen, state leaders must change their management plan.

As hunting season begins, many outdoorsman wish they could aim their guns at wolves. Rife with controversy since they were first re-introduced 15 years ago, gray wolves have now grown 1,700-strong in the Northern Rockies amid ever-present political tensions and court battles.

Worried about dwindling elk herds and the constant threat to livestock, many Wyoming residents believe wolves must be hunted to regulate the growing population.

But hunting wolves remains illegal in Wyoming — and now in Idaho and Montana as well, where managed wolf hunts occurred last year.

A decision last month by federal Judge Donald Molloy brought wolf hunts to an end in all of the Greater Yellowstone Region.

Ruling that it violated the Endangered Species Act to remove protection in two states but not in Wyoming, Molloy restored protection to gray wolves in Idaho and Montana.

Many rightfully blame Wyoming for halting wolf hunts in our sister states.

Wyoming's wolf management plan calls for the animal to be shot on sight in most of the state — around 90 percent.

Considering that plan too hostile toward the 320 wolves that dwell in Wyoming, federal officials rejected the state's management plan and maintained protection for gray wolves.

It's unrealistic for Wyoming leaders to expect wolves to go directly from the endangered species list to unregulated, open-season hunts in most of the state.

If wolf hunts are to occur in Wyoming in the future — and, it appears, in Montana or Idaho —state lawmakers must modify the shoot-on-sight predator zone.

We agree with Tom Strickland, assistant U.S. secretary of Interior, who criticizes Wyoming's position.

“The court's decision clearly shows that, for the gray wolf, recovery requires Wyoming to change its policy,” Strickland wrote.

“If Wyoming were to join its neighbor states and develop a wolf management strategy with adequate regulatory mechanisms on human-caused wolf mortality, including hunting, all three states would benefit.”

With 1,700 gray wolves roaming the Northern Rockies, the species must be de-listed and managed through hunting — but for that to happen, state leaders must change their management plan.

Comments