September 27, 2006

By Mark Heinz

Cody Enterprise (twice-weekly, founded by W.F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Col. John Peake in August 1899)

P.O. Box 1090

Cody, Wyoming 82414

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Though possibly closer than ever to an agreement about wolves, the Wyoming Attorney General and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are still likely to again end up in court.

If another lawsuit is filed in federal court, Park County will back it, county commissioner Marie Fontaine said.

Attorney General Pat Crank says his office recently sent a 60-day letter to USFWS, stating Wyoming will again file suit about the federal agency's refusal to accept the state's plans to remove wolves from the Endangered Species list.

The 60 days runs out the first week of October, Crank added.

“We have a severe overpopulation of wolves and grizzly bears, and they're having a dramatic impact on our wildlife herds,” Crank said.

“Our county attorney has been given the green light to join the state if that lawsuit moves forward,” Fontaine said.

“There have been cattle killed in Park County, and the wolves have become bold enough to come down next to homes and kill pets in some cases,” she added.

South Fork rancher Alan Siggins said he's had recent trouble with wolves.

“I am strongly in favor of them being delisted,” Siggins said.

Jim Pehringer, who handles predator control for the USDA around Park County, said his agency is starting to get a good handle on the problem here.

“When the wolves first came, we were stretched pretty thin,” he said. “Now, we're able to address wolf problems as they arise, and still maintain a healthy population of wolves.”

As to the brewing lawsuit, Pehringer said he's not interested in picking sides.

“It's just a legal tug-of-war that has nothing to do with my job,” he said.

Game and Fish officials at both the local and state level declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Meanwhile, anecdotes of wolf trouble don't give an accurate or complete picture, said Ed Bangs, the Helena, Montana-based wolf recovery coordinator for USFWS.

“In industry-wide terms, wolf kills on cattle make no difference whatsoever,” Bangs said. “Of course, if you're the guy whose cows are being killed, they make a huge difference, and that's why we favor sensible wolf control.”

Bangs also questioned Crank's assertion that wolves are taking too big a bite from Wyoming's elk and other game herds.

“(Wyoming) is doing everything they can to kill more elk,” he said. “They just opened more elk hunting in the Teton area because they can't kill elk fast enough. There's constant complaints from landowners about elk damage.”

Crank said there is evidence that wolves have cut back specific elk herds, including some in Park County.

“The USFWS will try to say it's because of drought,” Crank said. “But if you look at other herds facing drought where there are no wolves, the losses don't match.”

Bangs again said the state is trying to base assertions on isolated cases.

“A couple of hundred wolves in Wyoming are going to seriously affect thousands and thousands of elk? I don't think so,” he said.

Still, Bangs said from the standpoint of biology and pure numbers, his agency agrees wolves are ready for delisting in Wyoming.

The sticking point, he and Crank said, is about designated areas of varying protection for wolves. Some of the contested area is in Park County.

The state and USFWS agree on a three-zone approach.

Within Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks, wolves would remain a protected species.

Within a “second circle” that could include some or all of Park County, they would be a “trophy game animal.” That means they could be hunted under special draw permits, much like those currently issued for mountain lions.

Further out, wolves would be treated as “predatory animals.” That would put them in the same category with such animals as jackrabbits, which can be killed any time of year without a license or bag limit.

Crank said the state wants to limit the extent of the trophy game circle, to include only parts of Park County closest to Yellowstone.

Bangs said the USFWS favors a plan that would probably put most, if not all, of the county in the trophy game zone.

The trophy game designation would be effective, because wolves should be easy to hunt, Bangs added.

“They can be as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to that,” he said.

“People might try to compare it to hunting coyotes. But coyotes are an animal that has always had to run and hide from something bigger,” Bangs said. “Wolves don't have any natural threats. Hunting might make them a little more fearful, but it's hard to go against 50,0000 years of evolution telling them they have nothing to fear.”

Fontaine said the county can't accept the federal plan as it is.

“We feel the wolf numbers are still too high, and it has a major effect on our ranchers and recreation,” she said.

Copyright 2006, Cody Enterprise.

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