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Western gray wolf. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.
Feds nearly ready to accept state management plan
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY —Wyoming officials are pressing ahead with their plan to kill most wolves living outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The state recently passed legislation and an amendment to its wolf management plan that’s close to gaining approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, triggering the final removal of Endangered Species Act protection for the predators.
The new law and plan would take effect later this year when wolves are removed from the federal endangered species list. The state wants to increase the area where wolves would be designated as predators and could be killed without limit; they also keep in place a trophy game management area, where hunting will be allowed to dramatically reduce wolf populations.
What federal officials are acquiescing to is to confine wolves to the northwest corner of the state … They’re presenting to the public the new plan as a fait accompli,” said wolf advocate Michael Robinson, with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Robinson said Wyoming’s wolf-management plan is “a recipe for wolf slaughter that will only serve to incite more of the prejudice against wolves that led to their destruction in the first place.”
He said the federal government is not living up to the Endangered Species Act requirements that call for species to be recovered across significant portions of their former range.
Instead of piece-mealing the delisting and recovery effort, Robinson said the federal government should look at wolf populations holistically and develop a national recovery plan that lives up to the letter and spirit of the Endangered Species Act.
“Removal of federal protections for wolves has been a disaster in Idaho and Montana and will be even worse in Wyoming,” he said.
While wolves would remain fully protected within Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, elsewhere in Wyoming they would be subject to shooting, trapping and snaring.
Wyoming proposes designating wolves as predators across 83 percent of the state, where there would no limits on their killing. The remaining portion of the state would be considered a “trophy game management area,” where killing wolves would be permitted, with the goal of reducing the population from approximately 29 packs to around 10.
“Along with the killing of wolves in Idaho and Montana, which had their protection taken away last year through a back-door congressional rider, this planned persecution of wolves in Wyoming could be devastating to the beautiful animals’ survival in the northern Rocky Mountains,” said Robinson. “Killing most of Wyoming’s wolves will hurt wolves in Colorado, too, where they’re only starting to return by way of Wyoming.”
Since wolf hunting and trapping seasons opened last fall, 378 wolves have been killed in Idaho, which has no cap on killing and several ongoing open seasons. An additional 166 wolves were killed in Montana, which has now closed its season. Contrary to promises, hunting and trapping have appeared to inflame anti-wolf sentiment, with comments and pictures appearing on the Internet that boast of wolf killing and call for more slaughter.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has reopened a two-week comment period, during which feedback is sought from the public before the agency finalizes the delisting rule.
Background
In October 2011 the Obama administration announced finalization of an agreement between the Fish and Wildlife Service and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead whereby the agency would remove wolves in Wyoming from the federal endangered species list and the state would only be required to keep alive 100 wolves or 10 breeding pairs outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks (which together provide habitat for a few dozen wolves that would remain protected while in the parks).
After pups are born within the next few weeks, it is likely that more than 500 wolves will live outside the national parks in Wyoming. The state plan will allow their unregulated killing throughout most of the state.
Filed under: biodiversity, endangered species, Environment, public lands Tagged: | biodiversity, endangered species act, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, western gray wolves, Wyoming
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What utter bs.
Remind me why I am going to vote for Obama?
Reminder…. you’re not
Don’t blame Obama. Blame Salazar and Dan Ashe. Didyou expect anything else from a backward state like Wyoming? These cowboys hate wolves- they don’t even know why they hate them. Hillbilly ranchers are good at killing and good at whining. The outfitters in the State act likethe sky is going to fall because of 300 wolves….the last time I checked elk herds are 29% over state objective. There were less than 30 confirmed depredations last year from wolves. This isn’t about wolves
Terrible, terrible plan. This will not sustain the wolf population as required by the Endangered Species Act. Obama lied when he said he would let science be his guide. This so-called “mamagement” plan is based on medieval myths, fears, and hatred–not sound science. Obama will not get my vote again–he has been horrendous on environmental issues. And Ken Salazar is the worst Interior Secretary in my lifetime.
Well, you have to look at the alternatives to Obama …
You’re right, Joby7. This administration, for whom I had such high hopes, has been an utter disaster from an environmental point of view. Salazar: OMG! He’s horrible. But remember James Watt, Reagan’s Secy. of Interior, a fundamentalist Christian, who said essentially that we didn’t need to take care of the earth, because God was going to create a new heaven and earth.
WELL SAID! They are needed to keep Natures balance, as GOD intended. Man has NO RESPECT FOR OTHER LIVING BEINGS! distroys everything in its path, I think that we as the human race are behind at least 100 years, the world will end if we dont fix it fast with all the polution and distruction against animals in FACTORY FARMING! POLUTING THE WORLD AND LETING AFRICAN CHILDERN DIE FROM THE LACK OF FOOD THEY GIVE TO COWS AND OTHER ANIMALS THEY ARE NOT SUPOSE TO EAT! ANYWAY JUST TO SAVE A FEW BUCKS! CREATING POISION TO HUMANS AND ANIMAL WASTE ON THE EARTH. TENS OF BILLIONS N BILLONS OF SLAUGHTERD ANIMALS A YEAR!!!! The Bible said GREED IS A SIN!!!! MAN IS BORN A SINNER………
The WORLD is SATANS PLAYGROUND…… SO MANY PETITION ITS A NEVER ENDING PROBLEM WITH HOW MANKIND HANDLES OR TREATS ANIMALS/OTHER LIVING BEINGS. except the few good people that care for animals and try o at least do something like sign n share Petitions, write to the WHITE HOUSE etc.
You have no idea what you are talking about! This will sustain the wolf population, but you know nothing about wolves. Let me educate all of you about Wyoming and their wolf plan. Yes, a predator zone where they can be shot on sight. This is the part of the state that is not core habitat for wolves. The wolves that venture out into this part of the state have left their family pack and are seeking new territory. You can think of these wolves as overflow from the mountain cup. Killing these wolves does nothing….ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the overall health of the population. The trophy game hunting zone is where a controlled taking of wolves will exist, just like mtn lions and bears. When a quota is filled, hunting ceases. ZERO difference from black bear hunting and lion hunting and they are thriving. It will have a changing boundary to give greater protection to wolves as they migrate with Ungulates. Yellowstone will always have wolves. Yellowstone has enough wolves that Wyoming really doesn’t even need to have any wolves outside it’s boundaries to maintain the required population, but Wyoming is managing for way more.
Oh yeah. Wolves are not endangered. Never have and probably never will.
If you all would actually educate yourselves about Wyoming and its management, you’d feel a lot more comfortable, but I assume you are just dead set against any wolves being killed. Speaking do the deaf.
Next up Grizzly bears. Same dilemma but worse. There are so many Grizzlies! Grizzlies are recovered!! Time to let Wyoming manage them. Black Bears are doing great!
the alternative is a republican president that wouldn’t keep any wolves alive if they had their way
I have voted either Democrat or Indepentant, because of the wolf massacre, I will be voting Republican for the first time. In my 51 years there has not been a worse environmental president. I truely hate this man for letting the lowest of life forms loose on these poor animals!
Really, Kelly? That doesn’t say much about your awareness of how our government works. Obama is not a dictator and his opposition opposes many times for special interest groups (developers, etc.) and, quite honestly, just for the sake of opposing “this black guy who thinks he can lead US”. That’s our sad reality. I commend you for putting such value on your vote, however, before you cast it…make sure you have done your homework and not taken blogs and commentaries at face value. There is SO much more going on behind the scenes. I love listening to the opposing candidates saying “I will do this and I will do that” as if they alone can make change happen. You can thank a fractured congress for our lack of progress. Do your homework before casting that invaluable vote. Our future and that of our children depends on it.
Fools! No government or politician will help save the wolves because people rather eat their meat. It’s the masses that are killing the wolves and they won’t have it any other way. How many people who posted against killing wolves eats meat?
” The masses ” want wolves to exist on this planet. This is a supid comment. We have had meat and wolves. We just have some very cruel and psychoitc westerners that have no heart.
Please call your representatives to vote NO on this or some one in Wyoming please start a petition to stop this useless killing…..
Well well well Wyoming..aren’t you all just special..you have not a clue what you are doing nor are you educated…Educate yourselves instead of collecting the almighty dollar…Remember…ELECTION DAY…so we spent over 40 million dollars in the mid 90′s to reintroduce the wolf and you have seen the FACTS of the importance of them in our Eco Systems. and now..you want to spend MORE taxpayers money to slaughter them…What is wrong with this picture here??? We have starving families in this country that could use those tax dollars to live instead of using it to kill OUR wildlife!!!!
if you really believe what you wrote then put people 1st, how much $ to reintroduce could have been spent on people that are starving??
This is disturbing and troubling news. I’m generally a fan of the Obama administration, (and I’m scared of the other options) but this really upsets me. Come on people, lets protect this family oriented creature.
How many of you folks that are aginst the killing of wolves live in Wyoming? How many of you have had your dogs killed by wolves in and around Jackson WY? How many of you have suffered finanical loss due to cattle/sheep depradation or loss of guided elk/deer/moose hunting? Just wondering.
I have quit eating beef and buying wool, or eating Idaho potatoes. We canceled a planned trip to Yellowstone as well. I don’t want a penny of mine to go toward this state. My family has traveled there for generations, that has come to a screaming halt.100′s of thousands spent over the years done. You are trashing your image internationally, that is something that won’t be easily fixed.
Don’t boycott Wyoming, the only way to change it is to move here …one day the truly educated, informed, compassionate folks will bring us into the 21st century regarding wildlife management. We do live in WY, we do eat meat, our dogs don’t run loose to be killed by anything, we hunt, and we are unsheepled. Most in WY are sheepled people…just part of a flock of those who are afraid of wolves. I want to see wolves managed, not exterminated in WY. Problem wolves can be killed to stop the problem, bears and lions are not killed in the numbers planned for wolves, this is extermination…and anyone with a brain knows it. Move to WY, that is how you save our wolves.
Kelly, to boycott places and things your family has liked for generations seems a little extreme, but most of the attitudes I am reading here are a little extreme. ESA worked, the wolves are recovered and all states with recovered wolf populations are attempting to manage those populations. If you rely on the Center for Biological Diversity and mainstream media for you information you are being misled by their propaganda. CBD and other of their ilk are in this for the $ for themselves. There concern is not for what is scientifically and biologically correct. Such facts get in their way, so they spout misleading and incorrect information and most of you good people believe them, which is too bad. Many of the wolves harvested this past fall had mange, just one of many indicators that this wolf population is larger then what it should or needs to be. It would be really nice if these issues were decided by professional wildlife biologists, not by socially and politically posturing wanna be biologists. Best of luck and try not to hate. ;O)
These are gigantic predators, pose a danger to humans, are not “endangered” and are eradicating elk herds. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
http://bit.ly/JdHIRP
What about the rest of the wildlife herds that are being decimated by the wolves? Don’t the wolf lovers love elk,moose,deer,mountain lions,pronghorn,dogs,people? Be realistic here. These herds do not have a sustainable ratio any longer as a result of a non-managed predator. We in Wyoming manage all sorts of wildlife, what gives all the other states that are not affected the right to dictate how we manage our state. The people in Colorado, California, Florida need to keep their political agenda in their own states . We make decisions that affect our state. Not yours…
How many days do you spend in the Wyoming backcountry?
Rodney, what has that got to do with the price of tea in China…
Nothing, that was a response to a post that has been removed. Mr. Berwyn could you please remove my two post’s regarding WY backcountry
You look so very stupid when you say this, wolves have lived with Elk and other wildlife for thousands of years . The only thing that has changed is humans with European values. I thought even they had evolved into better people. Wow , I was so wrong. I was also so wrong about the type of people who live out west.
That’s right. You’ve never been in the WY backcountry have you?
Mr.Berwyn,
There is a difference between science, theory and on the ground reality regarding herd sustainability. There are many facets of the story and often times folks will disregard a perspective because it differs from their own. Cow/calf ratios have declined in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the last several years due in part to the increase in wolf population as well as other factors. As an avid hunter in Wyoming I also believe that there is a balance to be found and letting them dominate the landscape is no more of an answer than killing all of them. As stated in a previous post, where do we have a right to tell our neighbor how to tend to his land? Is a balanced management approach to be found now, or after hikers, kids on a porch or some other unsuspecting individual killed because these animals have no fear and no predator?
Who is moderating this blog? Mr. Beryn had comments that where removed, is that because he is the author of the article and supposed to be unbiased?
The only comments I blocked were the ones that were borderline ad hominem attacks.
If your interested in a different perspective……http://cryingwolfmovie.com/
Whatever happens, if wolves have to be killed–and I don’t know if they do or don’t–the people killing them must do it in a humane way. Killing animals with torture is so wrong. In schools, we’re very much on the alert if a child enjoys torturing animals. It’s always a sign that the child is very troubled.
There are still so many troubled people, unfortunatly the surroundings don’t act upon it. Even if teachers work on it, other grown ups look away especially when the victom/criminal is grown up himself, making live-death decissions…who dears to speak up
As I was lived in Wyo and consider it my second home, I find it inexcusable to want to kill all the wolves. These are animals that have been here long before many of you and belong! They are considered our companion dog’s grandfather! Please, please learn to co-exist and stop using these bullheaded lethal tactics! Be one of the progressive states that are not all about the torture and killing of animals. Grow Some Compassion.
I was raised there in Banner, Wyo. with my family that raised sheep and cattle. I saw my uncle do many things to animals that probably would seem fine to you, but when I look back, he treated animals like they were products to an end, not sentient beings that feel just as you and I.
I live and work in Yellowstone, which would not even exist if it had been left up to the violent yahoos who live in the surrounding states. They will reduce wolf numbers until they are eventually returned to the endangered list.
WHAT A DISGRACE ! WHY ?????????????
Wow. Talk about a pile of crap. This is not journalism. You don’t say, “Wyoming plans to kill all the wolves” and really think you are writing with some integrity. Get a clue. Wyoming will maintain the required number of wolves. It has to, unless we want the feds back in our business. You should look at http://www.cryingwolfmovie.com. I believe that 300 or 400 wolves was the original recovery goal and now there is 10 times that. What is suppose to happen? Just let wolf recovery go unabated? Once the recovery goal was reached the states are in charge wildlife management. Wyoming manages Bears and Mtn Lions and their populations are thriving, why is everyone so scared about Wolves? It’s simple. You want no wolves killed and that makes you really really dumb.
Has anybody watched the movie that Sean and I both have posted links too? http://www.cryingwolfmovie.com/ If so, do you now have a perspective from the “other side of the fence”? If not why not?
Why does anybody live near or in Wyoming back-country if not to live in loving nature. Americans have always destroyed any being that lived where they wanted to take over, and they’ll be visited over and over by those who belong there. There’s no excuse to kill what bothers you, and I think you better go live somewhere else if it doesn’t fit you. Even in the cities its the created mentality: kill what bugs you.
And there will always be more (reason to kill). Nature will always fill here gabs and the species of which is to many on the wrong place is human, especially the one without respect.
Non till now because wish I could afford it. Would love to though. I live in the little crowded country in Europe called Holland, you know those explorers that came to New-(Amsterdam)York before it was anything.
I’m just reminding that history repeats itself and we ruin what we find and than regret and take a holiday to get back to our roots, say in Africa or Wyoming for example. Those who take care of these places for ‘us’ and their benefits….leave finally nothing to look for.
The main thing is that killing is useless, specially cause most species have a way of sending back their warriers double not to get extinct, they know when they need to produce extra and things get wurse.
J a Crowder… Is calling someone a “backwoods moron” a reasonable way to bring your perspective to the discussion? It seems that healty debate and consensus on a subject is hard to obtain with that type of communication. I do not “HATE them” I’m simply stating that there is a balance between total extermination and excessive, unmanaged proliferation.
I actually didn’t approve the comment with the “backwoods moron” comment, not sure why it’s showing up. Sorry, I don’t feel it’s appropriate for this forum.
NO to killing of the wolves. Cant we leave them alone and quit endangering them with mass killing
leave them alone or i will never travel to youre state and spend my money there again
OMG…that crying wolf movie sucked! I could not believe the bias!
And the bull…don’t quote that movie. That kid is a twerp and his momma shoulda spanked his a$$ long ago. I live in Montana and have watched the herds go up and down over the last 40 years…don’t believe the movie from the Big Hole Hick…he really is a clueless little freak…I raise horses and I hunt. We live in the midst of cattle ranches and there is not the problem he professes!
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