Yellowstone Wolf Report- Agate, Slough, Druid News

Wolf watcher Cindy Knight posts an interesting report on some Yellowstone wolf packs on Ralph Maughan's new Wildlife News site:

Ralph Maughan's Wildlife News

Wyoming sues U.S. Fish and Wildlife over wolf plan

By CAT URBIGKIT - Star-Tribune correspondent

The chasm remains vast between the state and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wyoming’s attempts to have wolves removed from federal protection. That gap widened further Tuesday when state officials filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking an order directing the federal agency to proceed with delisting the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies.

In July, the federal wildlife agency rejected Wyoming’s petition for delisting, continuing steadfast in the agency's demands that for delisting to proceed, wolves must be:

* Classified as trophy game animals.

* That the state commit to maintaining some wolf packs in northwest Wyoming outside national parks.

* And that the state change its definition of what constitutes a wolf pack so that Montana, Idaho and Wyoming all use similar definitions.

The minimum recovery goal for wolves in the Northern Rockies is a total of 30 breeding pairs and at least 300 wolves, with Montana, Idaho and Wyoming each sustaining a minimum of 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves for a minimum of three consecutive years. This goal was attained in 2002. Last month, Fish and Wildlife estimated the tri-state area contains a minimum of 1,229 wolves and 87 breeding pairs, including 309 wolves in Wyoming, with 24 potential breeding pairs.

The federal rejection of the Wyoming wolf petition prompted Game and Fish to prepare a technical analysis of that rejection in preparation for the filing of the lawsuit. Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland sent the analysis, along with a cover letter, to Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Mitch King last week, asserting that the rejection of the wolf petition was “flawed in various aspects and is lacking depth and understanding of several issues brought forth in Wyoming’s petition.”

Cleveland accused Fish and Wildlife of delaying delisting with reasoning based on “unrealistic assumptions, misinterpretation of data, misrepresentation” and said the agency used “infeasible or highly unrealistic” hypothetical examples.

The state wildlife agency took Fish and Wildlife to task in its 60-page analysis of the rejection of the state’s petition. Game and Fish noted that when wolf reintroduction was examined in an environmental impact statement in 1994, that analysis examined the impact of a recovered wolf population of 100 animals in Wyoming. Now that Wyoming has a minimum of 300 wolves, Fish and Wildlife only discusses impacts as a rate per 100 wolves, rather than the impact of the total wolf population, which is at least three times that original number.

Wyoming Game and Fish says the federal agency “has a permanent, legal obligation to manage wolves at the levels on which the wolf recovery program was originally predicated, the levels described by the impact analysis in the 1994 EIS.”

Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank said Tuesday that the state is eager to have a judge review whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to reject the management plan was warranted. "We've alleged all along that they've failed to follow the best science mandate, and the rejection of our management plan was based on political considerations, especially fear of future lawsuits by environmental groups," Crank said.

Crank said the state has concerns about the growing wolf population. "It's a very serious issue with regard to the health of our other wildlife herds. It's a serious issue with regard to our livestock producers," he said.

The lawsuit also seeks a court order to force the Fish and Wildlife to act on state proposals to limit the wolves' effect on wildlife and livestock. Crank said the proposals include allowing state wardens to intervene if wolves harass elk at state winter feedgrounds.

Eric Keszler, public information officer for Game and Fish, said Tuesday the department estimates there are now about 30 wolf packs in the state. "The number of wolves has been growing by about 20 percent a year since they've been introduced," Keszler said.

Keszler said the department doesn't have any conclusive studies about the effect of wolves on Wyoming's elk and deer herds. But he said, "There are lower cow-calf ratios than there have been in previous years in some of the elk herds where we know wolves are present."

“Despite research findings in Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone Area, and monitoring evidence in Wyoming that indicate wolf predation is having an impact on ungulate populations that will reduce hunter opportunity if the current impact levels persist, the (Fish and Wildlife) Service continues to rigidly deny wolf predation is a problem," the Wyoming Game and Fish analysis says.

Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said his group and others, known as the Wolf Coalition, strongly support the state lawsuit. "We're seeing tremendous growth in the population," Magagna said. "And each year we're seeing more wolf predation of livestock, and they are more dispersed over a geographical area."

Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, Mont., said Tuesday that his agency had expected the state lawsuit but was sorry to see it filed nonetheless. "I guess the bottom line is I'm kind of sorry to just see this court stuff just go on and on and on," Bangs said. "We'll do our best to see all the information presented, and defend our position, if that's the right thing to do."

Bangs said that once Wyoming has a federally approved wolf management plan in place, the state will be able to take over management of the animals.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has already turned management of wolves over to state agencies in Montana and Idaho. About 400 wolves have been killed in those states for preying on livestock and for other reasons since 1987, Bangs said earlier.

Jackson Hole Star-Tribune

Kempthorne likely to seek Endangered Species Act changes

By FAITH BREMNER - Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Conservation groups expect Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to seek major changes next year to a federal law that protects plants and wildlife from extinction, picking up where he left off nine years ago when he was in the U.S. Senate.

In 1998 as a senator from Idaho, Kempthorne nearly pushed a bipartisan bill through Congress that would have updated the now 33-year-old Endangered Species Act. The measure would have given landowners an incentive to work with federal authorities to help endangered species. It also would have given landowners more say over plans to protect species habitat and would have required more scientific review before species could be listed.

The bill fell apart when it was blocked in the House. Shortly afterward, Kempthorne became the governor of Idaho.

Critics complain that the endangered species law is too punitive and does not do enough to encourage landowners to protect and restore vital habitat. About 90 percent of endangered species in the United States exist on private land. The act forbids federal agencies from taking actions that jeopardize endangered species and it prohibits the public from harming them without a federal permit. The act helped save bald eagles, wolves and grizzly bears from extinction.

Environmental groups now say they expect Kempthorne to again try to push his ideas through Congress and change department regulations. While his earlier proposal was considered moderate by many, environmental groups worry the new version would tilt more toward landowners and developers.

But if Democrats win control of the House in November, Kempthorne would have to act more cautiously, said Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife and former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Bill Clinton.

"The election will matter hugely," Clark said. "There should be no illusions about what could happen, particularly since it's the last two years (of the Bush administration). A lot of mischief could occur in two years."

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he supports updating the act, but any legislative proposal for change would have to be balanced between Republicans and Democrats or it won't pass.

"I want to ensure that any further reform is a common-sense solution that protects both wildlife and private property rights at the same time," Baucus said.

Kempthorne has not said whether he plans to try to change the Endangered Species Act, department spokesman Hugh Vickery said.

Since taking over Interior's reins from Gale Norton in June, Kempthorne has been holding a series of public listening sessions around the country on cooperative conservation, along with the secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator and the head of the Council on Environmental Quality — the White House's environmental office.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kempthorne said he looked forward to "again being at the table discussing ways to improve the act and make it more meaningful in helping the very species that we're trying to save."

But environmentalists are wary of Kempthorne's record, opposing federal programs to recover threatened grizzly bears and endangered wolves when he was Idaho governor, said Liz Godfrey, program director for the Endangered Species Coalition.

"Given his record, it's potentially dangerous to open up the Endangered Species Act," said Godfrey, whose group opposed Kempthorne's 1998 bill. "I don't think (the act) needs to be changed. It needs to be funded. It has been consistently under funded over the course of the years."

Great Falls Tribune

Utah offers bounty for dead coyote ears

Written by Mark Watson

In an effort to help increase the deer population and also protect grazing sheep in Utah, the state provides money to eight Utah counties to pay bounties for killing coyotes.

Most of the money comes to the state from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The bounty program has been in place in Utah since 2000 and receives positive reviews from ranchers and members of the Utah Division of Wildlife. Some environmental groups call the practice immoral and ineffective.

County leaders learned at the Sept. 26 commission meeting that there will be over $7,000 available for those who kill coyotes in Tooele County.

"The bounty is there to help protect pheasants, chuckars and deer. It also helps ranchers protect their livestock," said Commissioner Dennis Rockwell.

He said the county will pay $20 per coyote. If someone kills a coyote they should call the county for further instructions. Sometimes there are designated wildlife specialists who want to see the animal. Most the time all that is needed are the ears of the coyote to receive the $20. The county pays out the money and is then reimbursed through the state. The commissioner said the county paid for nearly 500 coyotes last year.

"Coyotes are a problem, but it is a manageable problem," said Leland Hogan, president of Utah Farm Bureau.

Mike Tamllos is an agent for the USDA in Vernon. He also said the government participates in reducing coyote numbers near sheep herds. He said that wildlife organizations are more active in eliminating coyotes to protect deer and pheasant populations than are sheep ranchers.

"Back in 1927 there were 2.7 million sheep in Utah, now there are about 300,000," Tamllos said. The government used to poison coyotes, but that practice was banned in 1972, he said.

"Raising sheep in Utah is a dying business. It is more difficult because of environmental movements and complaints about over-grazing. And people don't go into the sheep business unless they inherit the business. There used to be a lot more sheep than cattle in Utah, but now there are 350,000 head of cattle and dwindling sheep numbers," Tamllos said. The United States receives most of its wool from Australia, Tamllos said.

Central Region wildlife information manager Scott Root said there is a debate among wildlife biologists as to whether cougars or coyotes kill more deer fawns. "We used to think cougars killed more deer, but coyotes may kill more. They are everywhere & in the mountains and deserts. Sometimes when I'm up in the mountains I can hear 20 coyotes howling. Controlling coyotes helps the deer population."

Hunters are allowed to shoot coyotes at any time during the year.

"Utah Environmental Congress strongly opposes the county offering bounty for coyotes," said Kevin Mueller, executive director for UEC. "First it is immoral and second it is not sound biological. It does not reduce the number of coyotes."

He explained that when members of a coyote pack are reduced, it stresses the pack and instead of one or two females bearing litters, additional females have litters and numbers increase.

"Then you have more juvenile coyotes which creates more problems for wildlife," Mueller said.

"Also, ethically speaking, it is a horrible way to treat animals," he said. Quoting Mahatman Ghandi, Mueller said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

Tooele Transcript Bulletin

Wolves have made huge comeback in U.P.

MARQUETTE, Mich. It's Wolf Awareness Week in Michigan, and the state is hoping to clear up misinformation about the animals.
Nearly exterminated from the state during the 1970s, wolves began to return to the Upper Peninsula through Wisconsin and Ontario in the late 1980s. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says as of last winter, there were 436 wolves in the U-P and 30 more on Isle Royale.

While many fear wolves, D-N-R wolf coordinator Brian Roell says no wolf attacks against humans have ever been documented in the lower 48 states.

Roell says the state is updating its wolf management plan to reflect that wolves have moved beyond recovery in Michigan.

WLNS-TV

Targeted Vaccinations Could Save Ethiopian Wolves

GLASGOW, Scotland, October 12, 2006 (ENS) - Specific groups of Ethiopian wolves must be targeted for rabies vaccination in order to prevent the world's rarest carnivore from the infectious disease, scientists said Wednesday. Rabies nearly drove the Ethiopian wolf to extinction in the 1990s and conservationists fear future outbreaks could wipe out the species entirely.

"Theoreticians have devoted a lot of effort to working out how to vaccinate populations in ways that prevent epidemics getting started, but this requires coverage that is impractical in wild populations," said lead author Dan Haydon, a University of Glasgow scientist. "We've looked at vaccination studies that don't prevent all outbreaks, but do reduce the chances of really big outbreaks - ones that could push an endangered population over the extinction threshold. These strategies turn out to be effective and a lot more practical.'

The study, published in the journal "Nature," suggests that vaccinating 30 percent of the wolf population that comes most in contact with domestic dogs would prevent a widespread outbreak of the disease.

The findings are important for a species at major risk of extinction. Found in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, the species is at risk from habitat destruction, but rabies has proven a more imminent threat.

First exposed to rabies via contact with domestic dogs, the wolves suffered an outbreak in the 1990s that killed nearly 75 percent of the population. Another outbreak in 2003 hit the species hard, leaving only about 500 wolves spread across six subpopulations.

In the wake of the 2003 outbreak, an emergency vaccination program was introduced. Analysis of that program by Haydon and other British researchers with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program (EWCP), suggests that a targeted vaccination program is a far more effective strategy that a blanket vaccination effort.

Blanket vaccinations are too difficult because the wolves live in remote, inaccessible mountain enclaves.

The alternative strategy adopted by the EWCP is an effective reactive response to outbreaks, whereby Ethiopian wolves living in the mountain valleys close to infected packs are targeted.

The researchers suggest that in the event of a single suspected case, monitoring should be intensified and once two rabid carcasses are found, vaccination teams should be dispatched to target subpopulations living in connecting valleys.

Additional measures, such as vaccinating between 10 and 40 per cent of wolves in affected packs, if targeting the particularly large and highly connected packs, can further reduce overall mortality due to these outbreaks.

"We have shown that the vaccination of Ethiopian wolves, when appropriately and strategically used, is a safe, direct and effective method of reducing extinction threats," said coauthor Karen Laurenson, a University of Edinburgh researcher. "With the advent of new generations of oral vaccines, such methods are becoming ever more feasible and cost-effective."

The researchers note that vaccination of domestic dogs is also critical to protecting the wolves.

"Canid diseases, such as rabies and distemper, transmitted from domestic dogs pose the most immediate threat to their persistence, and targeted reactive vaccination intervention presents a useful tool to protect the remaining small wolf populations from extinction," said Dr Claudio Sillero-Zubiri, from Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).

Researchers with the WildCRU have been studying the wolves for two decades and in 1995 established the EWCP to address the most urgent threats to the species' survival.

"The WildCRU's aim is to put innovative science to practical use," said WildCRU Director David Macdonald. "These discoveries would have been impossible without long-term field-studies, and they show how cutting-edge science can have down-to-earth practical significance both for the protection of a very rare, and spectacular, wild species, and also for human well-being."

Environment News Service

Forest Workers Evacuated After Hearing Wolves

KETCHUM, Idaho The sound of howling wolves prompted two "very scared" U.S. Forest Service employees from Utah to call for a helicopter evacuation from the Sawtooth wilderness, officials said.

The employees became frightened Sept. 23 after seeing wolves chase a bull elk across the meadow and later hearing the animals howl, said Ed Waldapfel, a spokesman for the Sawtooth National Forest.

The news shocked a wolf expert at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

"Holy moly - sounds to me like someone's read too many of Grimm's fairy tales," Steve Nadeau said. "I'm flabbergasted that (the Forest Service) would go to that extent over wolves howling in the woods because wolves howl in the woods all the time. That's how they communicate."

Waldapfel did not know the employees' names, but said they were from the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Ogden, Utah, and were conducting a forest inventory in the Sawtooths.

"They called on their radio or satellite phone and asked their supervisor if they could leave the area," Waldapfel told the Idaho Mountain Express.

"No matter which way they went they said they could hear the wolves," he said. "They admitted they were very scared and wanted to get out of the area."

The employees' supervisor called national forest officials and "asked for a helicopter to come in and retrieve them," Waldapfel said.

The wolves never made any aggressive moves toward the pair. There are no documented cases of wolves attacking humans in Idaho, though the employees may not have known that, Waldapfel said.

"They're not part of our regular work force and so they hadn't had training for this kind of wildlife encounter," he said.

Howling, especially in rocky, mountainous areas, can echo, said Lynne Stone, a Stanley resident who regularly observes wolf behavior.

"There are great wolf-howl acoustics. They probably weren't surrounded by wolves," Stone said. "I'd be more afraid of running into a moose cow with calves, or a black bear with cubs, than encountering howling wolves."

Sawtooth National Forest officials will review training procedures to better prepare out-of-area Forest Service personnel for the wildlife they may encounter while in Idaho.

KUTV-TV