Tag Archives: wolf recovery

Expanded wolf hunt flies through Montana legislature

The headline pretty much says it all . . .

A proposal to expand the state’s wolf hunt is being fast-tracked through the Legislature and shortly will be sent to the governor’s desk for his signature.

The Montana Senate on Thursday suspended its rules so it could take initial and final votes on the same day on the measure that already had overwhelmingly cleared the House. The Senate backed it 45-4.

House Bill 73 lets the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks increase the number of wolves one hunter can take, allows for electronic calls, and removes a requirement to wear hunter orange outside general deer and elk season.

The measure also prohibits the state wildlife agency from banning wolf hunts in areas around national parks. Its swift passage would allow the changes to take effect during the hunting season that’s currently under way.

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Wolves again fair game in many states

The Washington Post put up a pretty good article on Wolves yesterday. Here’s the lead-in. (Thanks to the ever-alert Richard Wackrow for spotting this article.) . . .

Most wolves in the continental United States soon will be off federal assistance.

For more than 300 years, trappers and settlers did their best to exterminate wolves, for their pelts and to protect livestock. They were so successful that only a few hundred gray wolves were left in the lower 48 states when they were listed as an endangered species in 1973.

Now the wolves are back, with roughly 6,000 in the contiguous United States and 7,700 to 11,200 in Alaska. The Obama administration has declared all but two small populations — Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and Arizona, and red wolves in North Carolina — fully recovered. On Oct. 1, Wyoming will become the fifth state with a significant wolf population to legalize hunting.

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Yellowstone wolf population remains stable

The wolf population has remained stable at that “other” park the last couple of years . . .

Yellowstone National Park officials say the park’s wolf population has stabilized at about 100 wolves over the last two years.

Officials tell the Billings Gazette that represents about a 60 percent reduction from 2007 wolf numbers as elk populations have also declined.

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Despite hunt, Montana wolf population rose 15 percent in 2011

Posted yesterday evening to the Missoulian . . .

The number of wolves in Montana increased by 15 percent to at least 653 animals despite the state’s efforts to reduce the population with an extended hunting season, state wildlife officials said Wednesday.

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks officials said 87 more wolves were counted at the end of 2011 than were in the state a year before. There were 130 verified packs and 39 breeding pairs counted, also increases from 2010 numbers.

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Northwest Montana wolf populations had humble beginnings

This week’s Hungry Horse News has a nice piece on the history of wolf recovery in Northwest Montana . . .

The revival of wolf populations in Northwest Montana likely had its genesis with a single pack just north of Glacier National Park.

A female wolf named Kishinena in British Columbia was caught and radio-collared in April 1979. She was the first radio-collared wolf in the Rocky Mountains as part of the Wolf Ecology Project headed up by Robert Ream, at the University of Montana.

While she spent most of her time in British Columbia roaming the North Fork drainage, Kishinena did wander into Glacier Park on occasion.

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California gets its very own wolf

First the grizzlies started moving back out onto the high plains, now a young male wolf called “OR7” has wandered into California. California being California, it’s a big deal. The New York Times has the story. It includes some pointed observations by Ed Bangs, the recently retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator for the Northern Rockies. . .

SAN FRANCISCO — On the Chinese calendar, this week ushers in the year of the dragon. But here, it feels a lot more like the year of the wolf

On Dec. 28, a 2 1/2 -year-old gray wolf crossed the state line from Oregon, becoming the first of his species to run wild here in 88 years.

His arrival has prompted news articles, attracted feverish fans and sent wildlife officials scrambling to prepare for a new and unfamiliar predator.

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Appeals court to hear request for emergency injunction against Idaho & Montana wolf hunts

From today’s Missoulian . . .

With more than 150 wolves shot in the Northern Rockies so far this fall, a panel of federal judges on Tuesday is scheduled to consider an emergency halt to public hunts for the animals.

Congress cleared the way for the hunts last spring, when lawmakers took the unprecedented step of stripping Endangered Species Act protections from more than 1,300 wolves in Montana and Idaho.

Wildlife advocates sued to reverse the move and want the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend the hunt while the case is pending. They claim Congress violated the Constitution’s separation of powers mandate by reversing prior court rulings that kept protections in place.

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Attempt to stop Montana and Idaho wolf hunts denied – for now

Not unexpectedly, the request by a number of environmental groups for an emergency injunction against this year’s wolf hunt was denied . . .

A federal appeals court has turned down an emergency request by wildlife advocates seeking to stop gray wolf hunts underway in the Northern Rockies.

In a ruling Tuesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the emergency injunction sought by three advocacy group but said it would consider the request during oral arguments scheduled for next month.

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Enviro groups file to stop Montana and Idaho wolf hunts

From today’s Missoulian . . .

A group of wolf advocates have requested an emergency halt to wolf hunting in the Rocky Mountains, one week before the general rifle season begins in Montana.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians want to return the gray wolf to federal Endangered Species Act protection.

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Feds, Wyoming announce plan to delist wolves

From the Missoulian . . .

Wyoming ranchers and hunters fed up with wolves attacking livestock and other wildlife would be able to shoot the predators on sight in most of the state under a tentative agreement state and federal officials announced Wednesday.

Gov. Matt Mead and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said they’ve come to terms over how to end federal protections for gray wolves in Wyoming – the last state in the Northern Rockies where the animals remain under federal management.

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