By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
For the first time, wildlife authorities in Montana will allow trapping of wolves during the 2012-13 season, which is already igniting emotions among anti-hunters and anti-trappers.
Almost simultaneously, wolf management is once again in the spotlight in Washington, where Fish & Wildlife Director Phil Anderson recently issued a permit to a rancher in the northeast corner of the state to kill a wolf if he sees it attacking his livestock.
That rancher, identified as Bill McIrvin, was quoted by Northwest Sportsman magazine that the permit was a “feel-good token.”
In a related development, Washington State Sen. Pam Roach (R-31st District) told TGM in a telephone interview that she is planning to introduce legislation during the next session, which convenes in January, that would provide compensation to stock growers who lose livestock to predators.
She said the bill she envisions will require that compensation be paid from the state general fund, not the wildlife account, because all citizens, including those living in urban areas far from where wolves are roaming “should share in the loss.”
The veteran state lawmaker said that reimbursing farmers and ranchers for their losses should be considered “the cost of doing business in a state where wolves remain protected by a state endangered species law.
There currently is an $80,000 compensation fund for wolf predation, according to WDFW information officer Madonna Leurs in Spokane. That fund is a combination of monies that includes $50,000 set aside by the State Legislature, another $15,000 from the US Fish & Wildlife Service and $15,000 from the Defenders of Wildlife. Roach’s proposal presumably would add to that and make it a permanent budget item.
When Congress removed wolves from the federal endangered species list, that action also affected the eastern third of Washington State. Wolves in the remainder of the state, including the Cascade Mountains, remain federally protected, and there is also state statutory protection for wolves.
Montana management
Wolf advocates are reportedly furious about the decision by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to allow trapping during the upcoming season. The Missoulian newspaper in Missoula quoted one critic who was furious.
“It’s not right, it’s not fair, it’s barbaric and it’s uncalled for,” said Kim Bean, a Helena resident who also told the commission, “You need to stop this trapping. It’s not fair chase.”
Montana’s wolf hunting season opens for bowhunters on Sept. 1, while Sept. 15 is the opener for back country rifle hunters. The general rifle season opens Oct. 15 and trapping will begin on Dec. 15. All wolf seasons end next Feb. 28. The commission also approved increasing the bag limit from one to three wolves.
Montana and neighboring Idaho were battleground states in the wolf management war, which may be re-ignited by the trapping provision. For wolf protectionists, losing their endangered species status was a major defeat, but now adding the opportunity for trappers to become part of Montana’s management scheme could rekindle battles.
At issue is the state’s ability to manage the growing wolf population. Last season, according to the agency, only 166 wolves were taken by hunters when the harvest goal was 220 animals. The state estimates there are approximately 650 wolves, including almost 40 breeding pairs.
Wolf predation became a major issue in the wildlife management battle over the past several years, as reports suggested some Western Montana elk herds were particularly suffering losses. In addition, Montana ranchers have been concerned about predation as the wolf populations expanded.
However, Washington’s Leurs contended that the presence of wolves has simply forced the elk to move away from more traditional hangouts to higher, rougher terrain, where they now exist in smaller bands rather than big herds.
“They’re there,” she said. “People just have to hunt a little harder for them. They’ve changed their behavior.”
She suggested the same thing will happen in Washington as wolf populations expand.
Three years ago, Montana and Idaho set their first wolf hunting seasons after the animals were de-listed in those states. A court battle ensued, wolves were relisted in 2010 and then Congress passed legislation in 2011, which was signed by President Obama that removed wolves from the Endangered Species List. That action was upheld in court.
In the midst of this, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation took a leadership role in pushing for science-based wolf management when it appeared that certain wildlife organizations had adopted a position that wolves must remain on the Endangered Species List even though their numbers had “recovered” a decade ago. RMEF also asserted that wildlife groups had turned the filing of lawsuits into something of a cash cow because of federal reimbursement laws favoring plaintiffs.
And now the battleground has moved farther west, into the Evergreen State.
Washington plan
Last December, following many months of discussion, the state adopted a wolf management plan calling for 15 successful breeding pairs of wolves, as a statewide recovery goal, meaning the packs would ideally be spread around the state. So far, eight wolf packs have been confirmed, with six in northeast Washington, including the newly-designated Wedge pack.
A successful breeding pair under the state’s protocol, according to Leurs, is one with two pups that survive until Dec. 31 of a particular year. Trapping efforts are in progress right now to check on the wolf population, and that effort will continue through September, she said.
Washington sportsmen have hardly warmed up to the wolf management program. Many believe the Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) has placed far too much emphasis on wolf re-population than on the recovery of mule deer and blacktail deer herds decimated by disease the past few years. This past spring, TGM chatted with a wildlife enforcement officer in Yakima County who confirmed that the mule deer herd had been slammed the past couple of years by disease.
Some Washington hunters also believe that there are more mountain lions in the state than the official estimate. They are attentive to reports of increased sightings, and many believe this is due to a ban on hound hunting for cougars and black bears that was passed by initiative some years ago. Many hunters feel that the WDFW literally “sat out” the election that saw passage of the anti-hunting initiative in 1996, and blame political correctness.
In Washington, a public initiative may be amended two years after it is adopted. It has been nearly 16 years since the hound hunting ban was passed, and Roach said the future of that law lies in who the public elects to the Legislature.
“Right now,” she acknowledged, “with the political nature in Olympia, you’re not going to get (a repeal).”
Democrats now control the Legislature and the governor’s office. The November elections could change that, and Evergreen State hunters may become involved in that effort. If they are successful, it is likely they will seek restoration of hound hunting, and other measures that could result in a change in the wildlife management structure.
According to the WDFW, at least two calves in upper Stevens County had been killed in mid-July and the evidence suggested that while one animal was taken by a cougar, the other was definitely the victim of wolves.
Permit issued
Once it was determined that wolves had killed or injured livestock, WDFW’s Anderson promptly issued a permit to rancher McIrvin, owner of the Diamond M Ranch, located in a section known as “The Wedge,” which lies between the Kettle and Columbia rivers north of Kettle Falls. Hence the new wolf pack’s designation as the Wedge Pack.
This is ranch and timber country on the edge of the Kettle range, where game species include whitetail deer and some moose, according to Northwest Sportsman editor Andy Walgamott.
The permit allows McIrvin to kill a wolf caught in the act of taking down livestock. It does not allow random shooting o0f a wolf. The rancher was quoted by Northwest Sportsman noting that he had only once seen wolves in the area, in the middle of the night.
WDFW’s Leurs told TGM that it is not clear how many wolves are in the Wedge Pack, but they are part of what the agency sees as a returning population of a native species.
“They are returning on their own,” she said, “from Canada, from Idaho. They are dispersing as they increase (in numbers) and they are very adaptable. All they need is a prey base and human tolerance. They can live virtually anywhere if they have something to eat, and if people leave them alone.’
Wolves can move into the Wedge region from neighboring Canada easily, as there is no river at the border to cross. When wolves were de-listed by the federal legislation, the ruling extended through the region that includes Stevens and Ferry counties, but they remain protected by the state.
State Sen. Roach, whose district is in Western Washington, noted her frustration with the law that protects wolves.
“You can have a flood and you put out sandbags,” she observed. “If you have a flood of wolves, you can’t do anything. Where’s the sense in that?”
But according to Leurs, the WDFW can manage this returning species, with the same “science neutral” approach that it uses to manage other predators.
“This is a native predator returning to the suite of predators we already manage,” she observed. “Things with teeth have always existed in this state.”
