Wolves thriving
Text 
Friday, March 23, 2007 | 
No Comments [ Add Comment ]
No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Standard-Examiner wire services
Home » News 
» Story View
By Standard-Examiner wire services
The number of wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming continues to grow, with at least 1,300 in the three states at the end of 2006, federal officials say.
"I keep thinking we're at the top end of the bubble," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "I can't see that there's room for any more, but we'll see."
As wolf populations expand, the number pushed into new territory, such as the Top of Utah, is also growing.
Roaming wolves have visited Utah before and sightings continue to trickle in from northern Cache, Box Elder, Rich and Daggett counties, according to Kevin Bunnell, mammals program coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. Since dispersing wolves often move more than 25 miles a day, sightings can be difficult to verify.
"I suspect we have some wolves moving in and out of the state. But we don't think we have any breeding pairs," Bunnell said.
The state has had two verified wolf sightings -- one alive in a Morgan trap in December 2002 and another dead in a Box Elder trap in September 2006 -- since wolves were reintroduced to the West. These days, DWR averages about one credible wolf report each month, Bunnell said.
With the right political climate, a breeding pair in Utah is certainly possible, though sportsmen and ranchers' groups say Utah's relative lack of habitat makes conflicts more likely.
"We just don't have the vast, large areas of wilderness and roadless areas that Idaho and Wyoming have," said Byron Bateman, South Weber resident and president of Sportsmen for Habitat.
"We don't have a real large ungulate (deer, elk and moose) base, and we want to protect what we have."
In Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the wolf population has, on average, grown by about 26 percent a year for the past decade.
The reports of livestock being killed by wolves have also increased, as has the number of wolves killed after livestock attacks.
There are at least 316 wolves in Montana, 311 in Wyoming and 673 in Idaho, according to the 2006 federal report.
Bangs said the wolf population will eventually level off, and will likely decrease once state agencies take over management of the predators and are able to control the population through hunting.
The fastest-growing area for wolves last year was in Wyoming outside Yellowstone National Park, where the number of wolves jumped 31 percent, from 134 in 2005 to 175 in 2006.
With that increase, 123 cows were reportedly killed by wolves, more than has been recorded in Wyoming since the reintroduction. In response, a record 44 wolves were killed.
Two southwestern Wyoming packs have been established -- one near Daniel, Wyo., in 2003, another near Farson, Wyo., in 2005 -- less than 75 miles from the Utah border.
Last year, wolves killed cattle near Kemmerer, Wyo., less than 30 miles west of the border, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2006 report on Wyoming wolves.
In Yellowstone, the wolf population grew by about 15 percent last year from 118 to 136.
That growth comes after a decline in 2005 attributed to a canine disease that wiped out scores of pups.
Yellowstone wolves killed in 2006 were most likely killed by other wolves. Social strife, especially on the densely populated Northern Range, and competition for prey meant more territorial skirmishes that can be deadly.
The number of elk, which are wolves' primary winter prey, has declined 50 percent in the area since 1995. A decreasing prey base and increasing wolf density is likely to mean a decline in wolf numbers over the next several years, biologists said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said the wolf population has, for seven years, met basic recovery goals of 30 breeding pairs distributed across the three states, and the agency has recommended removing wolves from protection under the Endangered Species Act.
However, the federal government and the state of Wyoming haven't reached an agreement on a management plan.
The latest proposal is to delist wolves in Montana, Idaho and all of Wyoming except for the northwest corner, where they would still be managed by the federal government. Along with eastern Washington and Oregon, the boundary would also extend into the Top of Utah. Wolves would be delisted north of Interstate 80 and east of interstates 15 and 84.
Before the proposal is finalized, Bunnell hopes the agency will extend the boundary to give the state management of wolves throughout Utah.
"We think we have a good plan and the right laws in Utah, and there's no reason why wolves shouldn't be under state management," he said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to finalize the rule by the end of the year, but legal challenges are expected.
There are no comments for this page.
Add Your Comment
