Friday, February 03, 2006

Delisting wolf hinges on Wyoming

By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff

The state of Wyoming is all that stands in the way of removing gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered species list, federal officials said Thursday.

And the state of Wyoming says it isn't budging.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials on Thursday morning announced plans to delist the wolves but said, as they have repeatedly, that Wyoming must first change its management plan. That includes deleting a provision that classifies some wolves as "predatory animals" subjected to unregulated killing outside national parks and certain wilderness areas.

Dale Hall, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said Wyoming's stance was "the one significant impediment" to delisting wolves in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and a few areas outside those boundaries.

"We cannot move forward until Wyoming's plan ensures a viable wolf population," Hall told reporters in a telephone conference call Thursday morning.

Later in the day, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal called the federal announcement "blackmail" and said he has no intention of changing course.

"I do not intend to yield to the federal blackmail that is being offered, and I believe the Legislature is going to be no more inclined than I am," Freudenthal said.

So the long standoff continues.

The federal notice comes about two weeks before the Wyoming Legislature begins its 2006 session.

Pat Crank, Wyoming's attorney general, said he suspects the announcement was timed to put heat on Wyoming lawmakers. Hall disagreed.

"I certainly would not agree that we're trying to pressure Wyoming," Hall said, adding that the announcement was more intended to provide information about what steps are needed before delisting can happen.

Thursday's announcement -- essentially advance notice for a future delisting proposal at an undetermined time -- would draw a wide circle around the Rocky Mountain wolf population, including Montana, Wyoming and Idaho along with the eastern third of Washington and Oregon and a small part of north-central Utah.

That area would be designated a "distinct population segment" where federal protections would be removed from the wolf and management would be passed to states and American Indian tribes.

The areas outside Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are intended to recognize the possibility that wolves in that core area may wander into surrounding states, according to Ed Bangs, the agency's wolf recovery coordinator.

Wolves were reintroduced to the Northern Rocky Mountains in 1995 and 1996. Since then, the population has grown rapidly.

Federal officials have said for years that the wolf population in the Northern Rockies has met and exceeded population goals and that the animal is ready to be removed from the endangered species list.

The most recent official population count in 2004 estimated there were 153 wolves in Montana, 260 wolves in Wyoming and 422 wolves in Idaho. The official 2005 numbers have not yet been released.

One of the biggest hurdles to delisting wolves has been the development of state management plans in the three states. The Fish and Wildlife Service approved plans by Idaho and Montana -- a requirement before delisting -- but Wyoming and the federal government have been in dispute, in and out of court, for years.

On Thursday, Hall outlined the key steps that Wyoming needs to take, including classifying all wolves as "trophy game" or something similar so that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has clear authority to manage the population and regulate human-caused deaths.

Hall also said Wyoming must "clearly commit" to managing 15 packs of wolves in the state. That count includes packs based in Yellowstone National Park, over which park officials will retain management authority.

Wyoming officials have stood by their plan to classify some wolves as predators subject to killing while still managing a sustainable wolf population.

Freudenthal said the state of Wyoming would continue to pursue the wolf delisting proposal it offered to the federal government last year. The Fish and Wildlife Service in October agreed to take a yearlong look at that proposal.

Meanwhile, the governors of Montana and Idaho have asked the FWS to consider delisting wolves in their states while the dispute with Wyoming continues.

"We continue to be concerned that the service is viewing this as an all or nothing deal," said Chris Smith, chief of staff at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "We'd like to see things move forward."

Montana officials have had informal discussions with Wyoming leaders about the Wyoming approach holding back delisting in all three states, Smith said.

"But we respect they're a separate political jurisdiction from Montana," he said.

Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group advocating for wolves, said it's too early to delist wolves in the Northern Rockies and that only Montana and Oregon have state plans that will "continue to maintain wolf populations in a responsible manner," according to a statement from the group.

Others have long supported removing wolves from the list as a way to bring management close to the local level.

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.

Story available at http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/02/03/news/wyoming/25-wolf-delisting.txt

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