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Wyoming may put wolves under ag department
Associated Press
11/25/02
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - State officials are discussing a plan in which agriculture officials, not wildlife biologists, would manage wolves, and the proposal is drawing firing from environmentalists.
The state has been working on a wolf-management plan that seeks to pass muster not only with the federal government but Wyoming ranchers, legislators and other interests as well.
A lawmaking committee recently declined to recommend a bill outlining the plan until officials work out details such as whether wolves should be designated as predators in parts of the state, which would allow them to be killed with only a few restrictions.
Under the latest plan, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture would manage wolves rather than the state's wildlife agency, the Game and Fish Department.
"They're not wildlife. They're predators," State Agriculture Department Director Ron Micheli said.
But conservationists question the wisdom of turning wolf management over to agriculture interests.
"The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will be managing wolves for wolves," said Carl Schneebeck of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. "The Wyoming Agriculture Department will be managing wolves for cows and sheep."
Micheli said any plan likely would set a limit on the number of wolves that could be killed if the population falls below a certain threshold.
"There's going to be opposition, but if we can give assurances that whatever we do will not jeopardize the wolf population then I think there should be some comfort level for people," he said.
The agriculture industry is backing the proposal, said Bryce Reece, executive director of the Wyoming Wool Growers Association.
Livestock producers are more comfortable working with the Agriculture Department and do not want to go through Game and Fish to obtain permission to kill wolves, he said.
"We want them to have the ability to take a wolf when their livestock is threatened," he said.
Game and Fish staff had initially proposed reclassifying wolves as trophy game animals, which would give the department authority to manage wolves throughout the state.
But the Game and Fish Commission, an appointed panel that oversees the Game and Fish Department, rejected the proposal and opted for dual classification.
Wolves would only be classified as trophy game animals in national forests and wilderness areas and be designated as predators elsewhere.
The predator provision has raised eyebrows from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials who are concerned that there might not be enough protection.
Two years ago the federal agency agreed to remove the animal from the Endangered Species List and hand over management to the states but only if plans are developed by the states that keep the animal from becoming endangered again.
For managing wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Idaho has approved a plan and Montana expects to sign off on a plan soon.
"Somehow the state of Wyoming has to be able to control the mortality of wolves, and that's the bottom line," said John Blankenship, deputy regional director for Fish and Wildlife Service.
Jim Magagna, president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, downplayed the importance of the predator classification.
"It's not so important what the label is as what the management is," he said.
Tom Thorne, acting director of the Game and Fish Department, said his agency needs to finish collecting public comments on a draft management plan being circulated around the state before moving ahead with the predator proposal.
The deadline for comment is Dec. 12.
WY wolf mangement plan http://gf.state.wy.us/html/wildlife/wolf/w...fmanagement.htm
Associated Press
11/25/02
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - State officials are discussing a plan in which agriculture officials, not wildlife biologists, would manage wolves, and the proposal is drawing firing from environmentalists.
The state has been working on a wolf-management plan that seeks to pass muster not only with the federal government but Wyoming ranchers, legislators and other interests as well.
A lawmaking committee recently declined to recommend a bill outlining the plan until officials work out details such as whether wolves should be designated as predators in parts of the state, which would allow them to be killed with only a few restrictions.
Under the latest plan, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture would manage wolves rather than the state's wildlife agency, the Game and Fish Department.
"They're not wildlife. They're predators," State Agriculture Department Director Ron Micheli said.
But conservationists question the wisdom of turning wolf management over to agriculture interests.
"The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will be managing wolves for wolves," said Carl Schneebeck of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. "The Wyoming Agriculture Department will be managing wolves for cows and sheep."
Micheli said any plan likely would set a limit on the number of wolves that could be killed if the population falls below a certain threshold.
"There's going to be opposition, but if we can give assurances that whatever we do will not jeopardize the wolf population then I think there should be some comfort level for people," he said.
The agriculture industry is backing the proposal, said Bryce Reece, executive director of the Wyoming Wool Growers Association.
Livestock producers are more comfortable working with the Agriculture Department and do not want to go through Game and Fish to obtain permission to kill wolves, he said.
"We want them to have the ability to take a wolf when their livestock is threatened," he said.
Game and Fish staff had initially proposed reclassifying wolves as trophy game animals, which would give the department authority to manage wolves throughout the state.
But the Game and Fish Commission, an appointed panel that oversees the Game and Fish Department, rejected the proposal and opted for dual classification.
Wolves would only be classified as trophy game animals in national forests and wilderness areas and be designated as predators elsewhere.
The predator provision has raised eyebrows from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials who are concerned that there might not be enough protection.
Two years ago the federal agency agreed to remove the animal from the Endangered Species List and hand over management to the states but only if plans are developed by the states that keep the animal from becoming endangered again.
For managing wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Idaho has approved a plan and Montana expects to sign off on a plan soon.
"Somehow the state of Wyoming has to be able to control the mortality of wolves, and that's the bottom line," said John Blankenship, deputy regional director for Fish and Wildlife Service.
Jim Magagna, president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, downplayed the importance of the predator classification.
"It's not so important what the label is as what the management is," he said.
Tom Thorne, acting director of the Game and Fish Department, said his agency needs to finish collecting public comments on a draft management plan being circulated around the state before moving ahead with the predator proposal.
The deadline for comment is Dec. 12.
WY wolf mangement plan http://gf.state.wy.us/html/wildlife/wolf/w...fmanagement.htm
