Wolves in Idaho's "Lolo Zone" Being Gunned Down by U.S. Government

[red dog 1]

Last edited Tue Feb 16, 2016, 10:12 PM - Edit history (1)

The Wildlife News
February 8, 2016


Moscow, Idaho -- Aerial gunning of wild wolves is under way in remote and rugged areas of the Clearwater National Forest, conducted by the USDA's "Wildlife Services" agency at the behest of the Idaho State Fish & Game department.
The government is using helicopters to kill wolves in the so-called "Lolo Zone," which covers portions of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and stretches north across the North Fork Clearwater drainage.

Despite the low wolf population in the area and throughout the state, aerial gunning operations are occurring in remote areas of the Clearwater National Forest.
The North Fork Clearwater contains close to 1-million acres of road-less public wild-lands that qualify for wilderness designation.
These wild-lands offer some of the best habitat for large carnivores in the entire Lower 48.
Despite this, the Idaho Fish & Game Dept. seems to be trying to sanitize the wild landscape for game animals.

"The Idaho Fish & Game Department is wrongly blaming the decline of elk populations in the Lolo Zone on native carnivores, including gray wolves," said Gary MacFarlane, Ecosystem Director of the Friends of the Clearwater.
"Everyone, including the Idaho Fish & Game Department, knows the decline is due to long-term habitat change in that area.
Targeting predators like the (endangered) gray wolf is unscientific, won't work to boost elk numbers, and violates the wildness of these public lands."

"Excellent habitat for predators like gray wolves, lynx, wolverines, and fisher exists throughout the Clearwater National Forest, including the Lolo Zone," said Ken Cole,
Idaho Director of Western Watersheds Project.
"But the Idaho Fish & Game Department wants to turn this wild country into an elk farm and that's ridiculous and inappropriate."

Conservation groups are especially concerned by the precedent of the wolf killing in the
Lolo Zone that uses radio collars to track the packs, because earlier this year, the Idaho Fish & Game Department landed helicopters in the iconic Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to collar elk and "accidentally" collared a number of wolves too

"The collaring of wolves appears to be one strategy that Idaho Fish & Game uses to track down and kill wolves in the Lolo Zone," said Gary MacFarlane.
"It is likely that the department collared the wolves in the Frank Church area so that they would eventually know the location of those individuals and their entire packs."

More:
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2016/02/08/wolves-in-idahos-lolo-zone-being-gunned-down-by-government/


Call or write USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack
C/O
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave. S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250

USDA Information Hotline: [phone]
Ask for the Office of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack


More on USDA's "Wildlife Services"
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/lethal_wildlife_management/facts/usda-wildlife-services-inefficient-and-inhumane.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. How dare they murder those beautiful animals!

I am aghast at their underhanded tactics and at their "reasoning."

They must be stopped.

[red dog 1]

3. The only one who can stop this is Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

He is in charge of the USDA, which runs the "Wildlife Services", which uses radio collars to track down the wolf packs and shoots them from helicopters.

I was unable to find an e-mail address for Secretary Vilsack.
However, I'm posting the address of the USDA and the telephone number of USDA's "Information Hot-line" at the bottom of the OP

(If enough of us call and/or write to him, perhaps he will do something about this insane killing of endangered gray wolves in OUR Clearwater National Forest)

[Duppers]

7. You bet I'll call the sonofabitch!

I'm enraged.

Thank you, thank you for posting this.

[red dog 1]

10. Thank you for caring about these beautiful and endangered wolves.

I will post any information I get about a new Petition To Secretary Vilsack To Stop the Idaho Wolf Slaughter in this forum.

Besides contacting Tom Vilsack, leaving phone messages for President Obama, Mrs. Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Jill Biden and others at the White House might help as well.
(It certainly can't hurt)

White House Contact Info:
Telephone: (Comments) 202-456-1111
Telephone: (Switchboard) 202-456-1414

Probably the best way to contact the White House is by e-mail
Click on "Send an e-mail" at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call

[Duppers]

12. Thank you again! nt

[2naSalit]

4. That and the bison slaughter in MT just north of YNP is on again.

They get lots of taxpayer $$ to do it too. There is a movement and a lawsuit to have that agency disbanded as there is too much corruption and underhanded activity going on at Wildlife Services (a div of Dept of Ag; APHIS). They are too abusive to wildlife and they bully state legislatures to give them blank checks to do whatever it is they choose to do... with NO OVESIGHT.

[red dog 1]

5. + 1

http://www.predatordefense.org/

[villager]

2. Good ol' "Hope and Change!" Once again, the U.S. Gov't shows its love for all things "Thanatos"

nt

[Herman4747]

6. Killing animals from helicopters - Reminds one of Sarah Palin.

Clearly, a terrible situation.

[Duppers]

8. I've been receiving emails asking for donations

from Defenders of Wildlife Assoc. What can they and orgs like this do to stop this horrible slaughter?

Wonder why these assholes want to turn the area into an elk farm. Trophies for their walls?

[red dog 1]

9. Idaho State Fish & Game makes a lot of money from the sale of hunting licenses for Elk

and they are blaming the wolves in the Clearwater National Forest for the decline in Elk populations, (The wolves are not the reason for the decline in the Elk population)

As far as "What can they do?"
Both The Defenders of Wildlife and The Humane Society of the United States are trying to help the Idaho wolves.
Other groups such as The Center for Biological Diversity are also trying to help stop the federal "Wildlife Services" (USDA) from shooting the wolves from helicopters.

I will be spending the next 2 hours contacting these and other animal rights groups and suggesting that they coordinate their efforts on a new Petition To USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to stop the Idaho wolf slaughter.

The White House "We The People" Petition process is the best, IMO, and I will be asking these groups to "pool their resources" and create a brand new Petition to Secretary Vilsack to end the shooting of all Idaho wolves.

As far as I know, there are no current petitions for this "Lolo Zone" wolf slaughter to stop; so I will be trying to convince the 3 animal rights groups I just mentioned to "coordinate" and start a new "We The People" Petition, which will have to get 100,000 signatures within 30 days in order for the White House to have to respond to it.

Meanwhile, we all can contact Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and urge others to do so as well.

[Duppers]

11. BLESS YOU!

Keep us posted on your progress and when the petition is up.

Good luck!

[red dog 1]

13. Thanks

I will post a new OP as soon as the new Petition To Save The Idaho Wolves is created.

I'm now thinking that a Petition To President Obama might be better than a Petition to Vilsack

President Obama, with a stroke of his pen, can put the gray wolf back on the Endangered Species List, which would stop the "Wildlife Services" from continuing to shoot these beautiful, intelligent animals from federal helicopters.