Tag Archives: wolf management

Scientists debate “magic number” of wolves needed for species’ survival

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A good summary of the science and opinion behind the debate on wolf recovery numbers from yesterday’s Missoulian . . .

One of the biggest arguments left unresolved by last year’s wolf lawsuit was the most obvious: How many wolves are enough?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took the gray wolf off the endangered species list in 2009, with the caveat that at least 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs endure in each of the three states in the northern Rocky Mountain population (Montana, Idaho and Wyoming).

Recent surveys found at least 1,700 wolves in that area – more than enough to justify delisting.

But a coalition of environmental groups sued the government, claiming those numbers were wrong. To survive and thrive, they argued, the population needed at least 2,000 and preferably 5,000 wolves.

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Montana FWP Commission gives tentative approval to wolf hunt

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As expected, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission gave tentative approval to a fall wolf hunt at today’s meeting. The Flathead Beacon has the story . . .

Montana wildlife officials tentatively approved a plan Thursday to allow hunters to kill as many as 220 wolves this fall, marking the state’s first wolf management decision since Congress lifted endangered species protections.

The unanimous vote opens the door for the public to weigh in before the commission makes a final decision in July. It would be Montana’s second wolf hunt since 2009, when 72 wolves were killed, and state Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners appeared confident the 2011 hunt will be approved.

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Federal government to continue monitoring gray wolves

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This article from the Missoulian points out that, even though wolf management has been returned to state level in Montana and Idaho, the federal government will still be shoulder-surfing actions by state management agencies.

Thursday’s announcement that gray wolves are back under state management in Montana and Idaho also included a warning: The federal government is watching.

“We will continue monitoring gray wolves to ensure those populations remain robust,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes said during a news conference call. “We will continue to follow the Endangered Species Act in Montana and Idaho.”

That was welcome news to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Agency spokesman Ron Aasheim said the department’s wolf management program was closely linked to support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Obama Administration: Gray wolves go back to state control — in as many as eight states

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This too-short Associated Press article claims that, besides returning management of gray wolves to state control in the Northern Rockies, the Obama administration proposes to do the same for a further 4200 wolves in the Great Lakes region . . .

The Obama administration says it is lifting Endangered Species Act protections for 5,500 wolves in eight states in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes.

The move will turn control over the predators to state wildlife agencies. Public hunts for hundreds of wolves already are planned this fall in Idaho and Montana.

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Obama administration taking wolves off endangered species list; return to state control Thursday

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Here’s a good article from today’s Missoulian on the imminent delisting of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies . . .

Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves officially return to state control Thursday, when their removal from Endangered Species Act protection is published in the Federal Register.

That means Montana and Idaho hunters will be back in the business of controlling wolf populations this fall. A bipartisan rider in the 2011 federal budget bill ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate its 2009 wolf delisting decision and immunized it from further court challenges.

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It’s official: wolves to come off endangered list within 60 days

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It’s official: Gray wolves are off the endangered species list in this corner of the country . . .

Federal wildlife officials say they will take more than 1,300 gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list within 60 days.

An attachment to the budget bill signed into law Friday by President Barack Obama strips protections from wolves in five Western states.

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Feds want to take Great Lakes wolves off endangered list

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Seems like there’s also a move afoot to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List in the Great Lakes region . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making another attempt to remove gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region from the endangered species list.

The agency says Friday that wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin have recovered and no longer need federal protection. About 4,000 wolves roam the three states.

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Montana and Idaho wolves delisted by Congress

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Here’s the Daily Inter Lake’s story on congressionally mandated delisting of wolves . . .

Congress passed legislation Thursday removing Montana and Idaho wolves from the Endangered Species list and returning management to the state, as part of a budget bill to continue federal funding this year.

The legislation was advanced by Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus, along with Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, in the House.

Tester said the overall package is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama.

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Obama expected to sign budget bill containing wolf delisting measure

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This recent post to the Missoulian contains some additional information on the wolf delisting rider attached to the federal budget bill that is expected to be signed into law within the next few days . . .

The U.S. Senate passed a budget bill Thursday that will return gray wolf management to Montana and Idaho state control, settling the question whether the predator is endangered or recovered.

“Our provision does not undermine the Endangered Species Act,” said Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who led the effort to delist the wolf in Congress. “It recognizes the ESA as a success.”

Under a 2009 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisting rule, wolves reached the numbers needed for full recovery in 2002, Tester said in a conference call Thursday afternoon. There are almost 1,700 animals in the three-state area, including about 600 in Montana.

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