Idaho Fish and Game hires Professional to Kill 2 Wolf Packs in Remote Wild, Conservationists Sue

[Beringia]

Conservationists Ask Court to Halt Wolf Extermination in One of Nation’s Premiere Wilderness Areas

By Ken Cole, The Wildlife News,
January 7, 2014

Pocatello, Idaho – A coalition of conservationists, represented by the non-profit environmental law firm Earthjustice, today asked a federal judge in Idaho to halt an unprecedented program by the U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) to exterminate two wolf packs deep within the largest forested wilderness area in the lower-48 states.

In mid-December 2013, IDFG hired a hunter-trapper to pack into central Idaho’s 2.4-million-acre Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to eradicate two wolf packs, the Golden and Monumental packs, in the interest of inflating elk populations for outfitters and recreational hunters. The U.S. Forest Service, which administers the wilderness, approved the extermination program by authorizing use of a Forest Service cabin and airstrip to support wolf extermination activities.

“A wilderness is supposed to be a wild place governed by natural conditions, not an elk farm,” said Earthjustice attorney Timothy Preso. “Wolves are a key part of that wild nature and we are asking a judge to protect the wilderness by stopping the extermination of two wolf packs.”

Earthjustice is representing long-time Idaho conservationist and wilderness advocate Ralph Maughan along with three conservation groups—Defenders of Wildlife, Western Watersheds Project, and Wilderness Watch—in a lawsuit challenging the wolf extermination program. The conservationists argue that the U.S. Forest Service’s approval and facilitation of the program violated the agency’s duty to protect the wilderness character of the Frank Church Wilderness. They have requested a court injunction to prohibit further implementation of the wolf extermination program until their case can be resolved.

“Idaho’s program to eliminate two wolf packs from the Frank Church Wilderness Area for perceived benefits to elk hunting is just the most recent example of the state bending over backwards to accommodate the wishes of people who hate wolves,” said Jonathan Proctor of Defenders of Wildlife. “Wilderness areas are places for wildlife to remain as wild as is possible in today’s modern world. If Idaho’s wildlife officials won’t let wolves and elk interact naturally in the Frank Church Wilderness, then clearly they will allow it nowhere. The U.S. Forest Service must immediately prohibit the use of national forest wilderness areas for this hostile and shortsighted wolf eradication program.”

The region of the Frank Church Wilderness where IDFG’s hunter-trapper is killing wolves is a remote area around Big Creek and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Even though this region hosts one of the lightest densities of hunters in the state, IDFG prioritized elk production over protection of the area’s wilderness character. The Forest Service failed to object to IDFG’s plans and instead actively assisted them.

“As someone who has enjoyed watching members of the Golden Pack and spent time in the area where these wolves live, I am startled that IDFG thinks it is acceptable to kill them off. If wolves can’t live inside one of America’s biggest wilderness areas without a government extermination program then where can they live?” asked Ken Cole of Western Watersheds Project. “The value of wilderness is not solely to provide outfitters elk to shoot,” Cole added.


http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2014/01/07/conservationists-ask-court-to-halt-wolf-extermination-in-one-of-nations-premiere-wilderness-areas




















(I sure hope they win).

[2naSalit]

1. Thanks for posting this!!

It's important that we the people who OWN the Frank Church Wilderness know about this issue.

I live close to this physically and personally as I am well acquainted with the plaintiffs in this case, one is among my very closest friends.

Since this was filed in Pocatello, it is highly likely that the Hon. B. Lynn Winmill, Chief Judge of the United States District Court will be presiding over this case as he has presided over other issues regarding FS's mismanagement of the Frank Church regarding wolf management. He's a fellow alum of mine and is really a very fair minded man.

On the other hand, I have heard it said, form other sources, that the "trapper" is a kid who isn't very highly skilled as a trapper, probably has a friend on the F&G committee who are entirely political bunch of henchmen who are friends of the Gov. Butch. Many of the rank and file F&G guys are kind of pissed off about this and know that it's all politics and no science... they don't expect this guy to be very successful.

That all being said, it sucks that the state government in Idaho is so anti-American while waving flags made in China in your face, it is absolutely sickening.

And, FYI, Dr. Ralph Mauhan was one of the major players in the establishment and designation of the Franck Church Wilderness River of No Return and this is a personal affront to him as well as to all the sane conservationists in the country.

Thanks again for posting, I was planning to but had a lot of things on my plate to do when the story broke. i knew it was coming but had to wait for the announcement.

Big Rec!!

[Beringia]

3. Wow, you know so much about this

I have always been a wolf lover, but have just recently been following some stories on wolves in Idaho, and The Wildlife News does a great job.

From what you say, maybe the wolf packs in Frank Church will survive this.

[2naSalit]

5. That is the hope of

many, even members of the IDF&G folks. It's a small contingent of hunters and ranchers who are very loud, boisterous and gun-totin' TPs who hate the gubbamint (except for all the subsidies they get and cheap grazing on public lands etc.).

The Frank Church is one of the last best places and needs to be preserved as a real wilderness, it's not just and aesthetic thing, it's of major importance to the clean air and water availability of a large portion of our chunk of the continent. Sadly, bark beetle infestation is a big problem there over the past decade or more. And much of that is due to the four dams on the lower Snake River which prohibit the salmon runs that once nourished the forests of the Rockies. Several species of the anadramous fisheries have gone extinct already and there's more to come. Hydropower isn't necessarily the answer in this region (much of the power that these dams provided was primarily for the purpose of supplying the MIC's manufacturing of weaponry like the Kaiser aluminum and Hanford nuclear facilities for example. Little of that goes to the GP) and is more of an environmental disaster in slow motion.

[2naSalit]

10. Some good reading and internet info

if you're interested, I highly recommend:

http://wolfwatcher.org/


http://www.carterniemeyer.com/


The various pages on these sites are very informative as well as those of The Wildlife News.

I will admit a personal bias as I know and dearly love a number of these people and have worked with them off and on for many years.

[Beringia]

11. Thanks for the links

Looking at Carter Niemeyer, a former trapper, not sure I would be crazy about someone who champions wolves who trapped animals. Why do you like him so much?

[2naSalit]

13. Well...

Carter is one of my all-time life-long heroes because he tells it like it is no matter what and he favors few. In fact, he was rather indifferent about wolves until he had to remove an entire pack (this after capturing and placing them in YNP and the Frank Church himself) because they ate some kid's 4H goat or sheep. He wrote his book about the whole thing from his beginnings to when he had to kill that whole pack... it changed him profoundly. Since then he has been an advocate of the species and has never looked back. And he's not just a hero for that but a number of things that I know about him. But if ever there was a true-hearted and realistic, honest person alive, it's Carter. He's about as up front as they come. Now he trains Tribal F&G agencies in wolf management and gives lectures all over the place, including Internationally, he's a great advocate of non-lethal management tools and helped develop many of those recommended by wolf advocates.

You should really read his memoir, he's a good writer. I've known him since years prior to the removal of that pack and we are still very close friends to this day.

And while I'm at it, real bad news out of the Frank Church:

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2014/01/08/seven-wolves-killed-in-idahos-frank-church-wilderness-by-government-hired-trapper/

Sadly, the guy has been happily killing off wolves, seven confirmed and more not yet tallied as of earlier today.

The guy is a member of and probably recommended by one of the most vehement wolf-hating bunch of scallywags in Idaho.

[Beringia]

16. Thanks for sharing

Sad about the wolves. I don't suppose they will be able to keep wolf packs out of that Frank Church area forever. I mean, I think eventually, hopefully in the next decade, they will get the protection they deserve, just my opinion.

[2naSalit]

20. I agree

But I think what's even sadder is the way people choose to be so ignorant about them and why the creator (whomever that may be) put them here.

[IDemo]

15. Edward Lodge, not Winmill

per today's Statesman: http://blogs.idahostatesman.com/defenders-of-wildlife-sues-to-stop-idaho-wilderness-wolf-killing/

You may have passed my wife a few times - she's also an ISU alum and was a member of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Great Bear Foundation, and knew Winmill well (even played foosball with him in the ISU Student Union frequently).

[2naSalit]

19. Thanks

I didn't see the Statesman article. Winmill often gets these cases and I just guessed he'd be on this one since he dealt with the last case regarding IDF&G/USFS mismanagement in the Frank Church regarding wolves... last time it was darting them from aircraft in the Wilderness.

Actually, they were a couple years ahead of me, I would imagine. But I was a late entry to academia and am actually close to his age. Winmill was already on the bench when I met him, but we met several times during my grad work which was partially based on this issue. I was hoping for him to get this case, he's a pretty straight shooter as judges go. Might have met your wife in passing though, sounds like we hover in similar circles.

[joeybee12]

2. Jesus Christ...we need to clean out these agencies and start

staffing them with people who understand wilderness, not just the color of the money from the hunting lobby.

[2naSalit]

4. One major problem with

states like Idaho and Utah, they are owned and operated by the LDS faction and that may not change for a long time as they make it hard to start a business, find a job or even buy property in the state in order to keep it pure for them as they consider this part of the country their zion and, therefore, theirs. It will require a turnover of population that is not affiliated with that faction which is tied at the brain to the .001%.

[Beringia]

7. What does TP and LDS stand for?

you said gun-totin TPs and LDS faction.

Thanks.

[2naSalit]

8. ...

Tea Party and the mormon church goers (Latter Day Saints).

[Doremus]

6. Thanks for posting this. May the wolves triumph, for once. n/t

[2naSalit]

9. Indeed.

This needs to be on the Home Page!!!

Another kick from someone who lives near this fiasco and sees it every day.

[frylock]

12. knr

[nilesobek]

14. They just want to kill something different than them with their guns,

I'm from Central Idaho and have lived around this type all my life. Someone has to be their enemy, politically, economically or even spiritually. Right now its the wolves and not you and me.

[Beringia]

17. I think you are right

Killing with a gun makes them feel on top of the food chain, even though it puts them low on the enlightenment ladder.

[bhikkhu]

18. I would have liked to see some information about the elk herds

...how they have been doing, for instance, and whether a good balance between predator and prey populations is the goal.

I know one side would like to exterminate all wolves, on principle, but I'd like to think that the other side of the argument isn't - don't touch or manage wolf populations, and don't consider the impacts on elk or other animal populations. I'd like to see an argument for balance, and that would take looking at some numbers and some history. I haven't seen that.

[2naSalit]

21. Let me hunt around

for some references and citation for you, there's plenty with one exception, Idaho. Once they got control over management, they stopped keeping track of that because the data doesn't support their agenda. You can't get a good, honest accounting from IDF&G, they just won't "go there"... mostly, they just make shit up that will support their agenda.

I'll be back.

[2naSalit]

22. Try these...

Here are some reading materials. Some of these are news articles but they include interviews with researchers who reveal their findings. Some sites include the individual state management plans, other have links to more sites where studies are available. I tried to get a variety for you, off the top of my head from my bookmarks files, so that you can browse. There's a pile more, some of it refereed citations but I didn't want to overwhelm you and anyone else who might want to look into this.


http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/newshound/2013/06/study-wolves-not-cause-wyoming-elk-decline

http://magicvalley.com/news/local/wood-river/article_64d3fe91-1afd-5794-b5a0-62129c6f11ca.html

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mskoglund/honesty_from_a_wolf_hunter_abo.html

http://missoulian.com/news/local/group-of-idaho-elk-hunters-forms-wolf-trapping-co-op/article_6119eff0-7671-11e3-87a2-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100901111636.htm

http://www.carterniemeyer.com/#!resources/cu3d

http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/wolf-reintroduction-history/

http://westernwolves.org/

[bhikkhu]

23. Thanks

I will go through them.

[Beringia]

24. here is another link, elk and wolves

http://www.kulr8.com/story/24389589/wolf-and-elk-hunters-have-successful-year