Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Washington wolves under legislative attack – Our top wolf expert Suzanne Stone was in Washington this week meeting with political leaders and agricultural representatives  to discuss the future of wolf management. She reports from the front lines that new legislation could undermine the state’s efforts to restore wolves:

“Washington stakeholders spent four years working to develop a comprehensive, science-based wolf management plan that underwent statewide public review.  It is a balanced plan that promotes nonlethal deterrents to help livestock owners protect against losses to wolves. It also allows wolves to be killed if they become habituated to killing livestock and provides compensation to livestock owners to cover documented losses.  But now powerful ranching advocates in the state senate are making an end-run around the plan to strip protection from wolves and allow their constituents to serve as judge, jury and executioner in killing wolves on private and public lands.  Without state oversight to ensure that wolves are even responsible for the losses blamed on them, innocent wolves could be killed by those who oppose their very presence in Washington.”

We’re asking wolf supporters in Washington to help us oppose state Senate bills designed to stop wolf recovery in its tracks. We need your voice to stand up to those who want to  cripple the plan and eradicate wolves. Please call your local legislators and tell them to VOTE NO on all senate wolf bills (SB 5187, SB 5188, SB 5193) . Access contact information for the senator in your area here.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced last week that the wolf population had nearly doubled since last year. That’s great news, but there are still only about 50 wolves in the state. We’ve got a long way  to go before Washington’s wolf conservation objectives are achieved, so let’s keep those numbers growing!

Fladry works – For years we’ve been promoting flag fencing, known as fladry, as an effective nonlethal tool for keeping livestock safe from wolves. We’ve worked with many ranchers who have used it effectively to protect both cattle and sheep, but now we have video evidence to prove it. Last year, through the support of donors, we provided Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife with  fladry that field biologists have used several times to successfully deter wolves from livestock.  These biologists cleverly tested the fladry with a video camera recently by stringing it around a cow carcass – a serious temptation for a hungry wolf. Even after repeated visits over several days, the wolf never crossed the fladry line. See for yourself:

Wyoming collars more wolves – There’s a lot to complain about when it comes to wolf management in Wyoming. At least 74 wolves have been killed since the state took over wolf management in September – 42 in the trophy game area and 32 (out of approximately 50 wolves) in the “predator zone,” where wolves can be killed at anytime  . But Wyoming Game and Fish does deserve a little credit for continuing to carefully monitor its wolf population. Early last week the department announced that they had collared 16 wolves in the trophy game area, putting a collar on at least one wolf in nearly every major pack. While collaring alone doesn’t protect wolves –as we’ve seen with the killing of several iconic, collared wolves from Yellowstone—it will help ensure that state and federal biologists have the information they need to accurately assess the health of the population. Without this information, wildlife managers can’t make informed decisions about how their actions are affecting the wolf population. Good management must be based on good data, and at least they’ve got that second part down.

IDFG approves $50K for Wildlife Services – Wolf supporters voiced strong opposition in Boise this week to Idaho Fish and Game Commission’s plan to eliminate more wolves in order to boost elk herds for hunters. But the commission voted to approve the measure nonetheless. See what our wolf expert Suzanne Stone had to say about the decision on KTVB-Boise:

By the state’s own count, more than 400 wolves were killed in Idaho in 2012—more than half the 2011 year-end estimate for the total number of wolves living in the state (746). Yet the commission still approved the transfer of $50,000 from their coyote control program to pay USDA’s Wildlife Services to kill more wolves. In the past, Wildlife Services has removed entire packs via aerial gunning, and the state is also considering paying seasoned trappers to increase their efforts to kill wolves in certain parts of the state. The silver lining on this dark cloud is that the commission was open to hearing more about nonlethal methods of reducing conflict with livestock and willing to explain their approach to wolf and ungulate management.

Meanwhile, the state legislature continues to entertain new bills that make it easier to kill wolves, including one that would allow dead wolves (and other animals) to be used as bait. Read more in the Idaho Mountain Express.

“It’s exploiting the wolves’ sense of family bonding… It sounds like what they’re proposing is using members of the pack to bait other family members. [Wolves] keep very close track of each other. They worry if a member is gone, and they would go looking for it.” –Suzanne Stone, Idaho Mountain Express

Lopsided wolf meetings show difficult road for wolves in eastern Washington – The house was packed in Spokane this week for one of three public meetings hosted by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to learn more about the state’s wolf management efforts. Wolf advocates raised serious concerns last fall after the entire Wedge Pack was removed in response to reported livestock losses. Wildlife managers said they will continue to explore nonlethal management options, including range riders and guard dogs, but lethal removal will remain an option. While there was much discussion about how to deal with problem wolves and the challenges facing wolf recovery, there was almost no discussion of the myriad benefits that wolves can bring to the ecosystem and the economy. From public questions it was clear that anti-wolf rhetoric is alive and well in eastern Washington. Improving social tolerance and understanding of wolves will be critical to wolf recovery in this region.

FWP re-considers Yellowstone closures – Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has re-opened its public comment period on a proposal to close wolf hunting districts just outside Yellowstone National Park (see FWP news release and AP coverage on Huffington Post). The state still faces a legal challenge in court from anti-wolf groups who opposed the closures, though a second decision slated for Jan. 29 after the comment period closes could moot the case. The FWP Commission implemented the closures in mid-December to protect wolves that spend most of their time inside the park but occasionally wander beyond its invisible borders in search of food or a mate. Several Yellowstone wolves had been killed by hunters just outside the park, and a few wore tracking collars used by researchers to study wolf behavior.

You can submit comments to FWP supporting the closures through January 25^th. Submit online here.

More wolves in Oregon – 2012 turned out to be a relatively good year for wolves in Oregon. Conflicts over livestock were kept to a minimum, thanks to diligent management by the state and cooperation from several ranchers who have adopted nonlethal, preventative measures. As a result, the estimated number of wolves increased to 53, including five breeding pairs (see ODFW’s news update). However, all seven confirmed packs are still confined to the northeast corner of the state. Dispersing individuals have yet to establish packs across the vast majority of the state, which means there is still important work to do.

2013 off to a rocky start –  Montana’s legislature only convenes every other year, so you’d think they’d have more important business to attend to than figuring out how to kill more wolves. But you’d be wrong. One of the very first bills introduced this year aims to limit the number of wolves in the state to 250. That’s 400 less than the end of year total in 2011 (653), and only 100 more than the scientifically dubious federal minimum (150).

A female wolf follows her nose through the Wood River Valley of central Idaho.

In the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks committee hearing yesterday (find archived video footage here), bill sponsor Ted Washburn (R-Bozeman) trotted out the same old tired arguments about decimated elk herds and impacts on livestock producers that have little basis in reality. He also ignored the fact that Montana is already taking unnecessarily aggressive action to limit wolf numbers statewide. Last year, hunters killed 166 wolves. This year, the state did away with most of its quotas and added trapping to the mix as well. So far, hunter and trappers have killed 146 wolves this season and there are still seven weeks left. In addition, state wildlife managers killed another 103 wolves in 2012 in response to livestock depredations, even though only 99 confirmed losses were reported (which falls below the 5-year average). Montana should be looking for ways to better manage the wolf population that’s already on the ground, not mandating further reductions.

Meanwhile, Idaho Fish and Game Commission will be voting next week to increase funding for wolf-killing in the parts of the state where elk herds are considered “below objective.” Instead of letting nature strike its own balance between predator and prey, the state is proposing to pay USDA’s Wildlife Services to shoot more wolves to attempt to boost elk herds for hunters. Having a federal agency kill America’s native predators to subsidize hunting is not an appropriate use of our nation’s precious resources, especially when more than 400 wolves were already killed in Idaho last year. If you are in the Boise area, please consider testifying at the hearing. It starts at 7pm at Idaho Department of Fish and Game Headquarters, 600 South Walnut St., Boise, ID 83712. If you’re in Idaho and can’t attend the hearing, please contact the IDFG commissioner in your area to oppose hiring federal agents to kill more wolves.

No wolves for RMNP – So much for trying to restore wolves to Rocky Mountain National Park to keep exploding elk populations in check. Park managers didn’t even consider the option, deciding they would rather have sharpshooters do the job. Some of our colleagues in the conservation community took the National Park Service to court to try to force them to reconsider bringing back wolves instead of using sharpshooters. But a federal appeals court decided it was fine for the park to ignore the more balanced option, which also had the potential to bring ancillary ecological and economic benefits as well. As researchers have discovered in Yellowstone, restoring wolves has led to a cascade of positive changes in the ecosystem and booming business for those connected to wildlife tourism. That’s something that sharpshooters will never bring. Read more about the court’s decision in the Denver Post.

Heads up for Washington state wolf supporters – The state is hosting a series of wolf meetings next week, and it’s important that they hear from Washington state residents who support wolf recovery. This is your chance to show your support and to ask the Department to avoid losing more packs under circumstances like those that led to the killing of the Wedge Pack last summer.

• January 16 – Center Place Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place, Spokane Valley, 6-8pm
• January 17 – Office Building #2, at 14th Ave. & Jefferson St., Olympia, 2:30-5pm
• January 18 – Magnuson Park’s Garden Room, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, 6-8pm

Please tell the state officials:

• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife needs more focus on nonlethal deterrents to reduce wolf and livestock conflicts.
• The state should manage wolves according to the 2012 Washington Wolf Management Plan that was created through broad public involvement.
• The Plan acknowledges that wolves are a rare species, endangered in parts of the state, and deserve greater tolerance and consideration than more common species while their population level is so low.
• As directed by the Plan, while wolf numbers are so low, they should be managed under the state’s Endangered Species Division and not as Big Game.

If you can’t attend in person, please call or send a note to newly-elected Governor Inslee alerting him to your concerns for wolves in Washington.

Where the Wild Things were – Watch the trailer below for a preview of a new film that our friends at NRDC have commissioned, documenting the cruel and excessive practices of Wildlife Services. We’ll be working together in the coming years to push Congress to reform this broken federal agency that appears to be stuck in the 1930s with its myopic focus on killing America’s native predators.

’06, a.k.a. 832F, “Queen of the Lamar” was killed by a hunter in Wyoming last week.

Reprieve for YNP wolves in Montana – At least someone out West is listening to the concerns of wolf supporters. Montana wildlife commissioners voted 4-1 this week to temporarily halt hunting and trapping north of Yellowstone National Park. Montana’s decision followed public outcry from wolf enthusiasts and scientists alike, after at least 10 Yellowstone wolves were killed by hunters outside the park. The most recent victim was the alpha female of the Lamar Canyon pack. Known to researchers as 832F and to avid wolf watchers as ’06 (“oh-six”), she was highly visible in one of the most popular areas of the park and became famous worldwide (see tribute from photographer Jimmy Jones). She also wore a GPS-tracking collar that allowed scientists to study her movements and better understand her pack’s behavior.

Unfortunately, wolf opponents are already complaining about efforts to protect Yellowstone’s wolves, so we are encouraging Montana wildlife supporters to thank the commission and Governor Schweitzer for establishing these important closures. Please call or write:

• Governor Brian Schweitzer. Governor@Mt.gov  Tel: 1.406.444.3111  Fax: 1.406.444.5529
• Governor Elect Steve Bullock: Kevin@Stevebullock.com or follow this link:  0r call toll free 1.855.318.0809.
• Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks Deputy Director Mike Volesky at 1.406.444.4600

We hope you will join us in thanking the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission for creating a buffer zone around Yellowstone, and we need your help urging them to make it permanent. We’ll also be working with our colleagues in the region to push Idaho and Wyoming to do the same. These wolves are too valuable and important to continue losing them.

Listen to an NPR interview with Yellowstone Wolf Project leader Doug Smith and our own expert Suzanne Stone as they discuss the significance of losing America’s most iconic animals:

Click here to listen to an extended interview about Yellowstone wolves with a panel of experts and advocates that aired on KCRW’s To The Point.

Also, be sure to tune in next week to the Jane Velez-Mitchell show on the HLN network to see our senior staff attorney Jason Rylander talk about the latest developments! The show starts at 4 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Eastern, and Jason will be on in the second half hour.

Feeling the heat from all sides – USDA’s Wildlife Services agency continues to receive harsh criticism for its lethal approach to managing wildlife—this time from FOX News and a Republican lawmaker from California. Rep. John Campbell, along with his colleague Peter DeFazio (D-OR), has accused the agency of refusing to cooperate with an investigation of animal abuse. The incident in question involved an employee of Wyoming Wildlife Services who allegedly allowed his dogs to attack a coyote caught in a leg-hold trap he had set. Campbell and DeFazio have called such practices inhumane, and have said taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be spent to kill native wildlife for the benefit of ranchers.

“We believe there’s kind of a pattern here that this has become almost sport to put out these traps,” Campbell continued. “We think there are a lot of non-lethal ways to protect livestock. But instead, they use these leg holes, which are extremely cruel. The animal takes a long time to die.”

Campbell also said he has “increasing evidence” of taxpayer money being used for “private purposes,” including protecting the livestock of four private ranchers.

“I have cattle myself,” Campbell said. “I don’t think it’s the taxpayer’s responsibility to protect my cattle. That’s my responsibility.”

Wolf killed on Spokane reservation – A lone wolf was accidentally killed this week on the Spokane Indian Reservation after getting caught in a trap set for other animals. Though wolves are currently protected as an endangered species under Washington state law, the rules only apply outside of tribal lands. The wolf is believed to be from the Huckleberry Pack, which had at least five pups this summer (see clip from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife).

We’ll be keeping a close eye on wolves in Washington and hopefully working with the tribes to prevent more wolves from being killed unnecessarily.

by Alex Slippen

Our nation has long been thought of as a “melting pot” of different human races living side by side. But humans and wildlife need to live side by side too. They need to coexist.

And although this necessary coexistence can lead to conflict, there are good faith actors out there trying to make it work. And Defenders is helping to lead the way.

Over the years, Defenders has worked with numerous collaborators and experts to prevent and mitigate conflicts between humans and wildlife, particularly with predator species such as wolves, grizzly bears and panthers. Recently, Defenders hosted a policy forum in Washington, D.C. on the topic of coexistence to bring many of these partners together.

Opening remarks were delivered by Defenders president Jamie Rappaport Clark, who stressed that peaceful coexistence should be the new norm when it comes to living with predators, not the exception. And she praised the forum panelists for their pioneering work in making that happen.

Wolves are one of many animals that depend on coexistence efforts like those discussed during this forum.

Following a brief video produced by Defenders on helping people coexist with wildlife, a diverse panel of four experts from various fields and locations took turns discussing their coexistence work.

First up was Lawrence Schoen, a board member of the Blaine County Commission in south central Idaho. Schoen spoke about his involvement in Defenders’ Wood River Wolf Project, which uses a combination of deterrents and good old-fashioned foresight to keep nearby sheep separated from wolves in the area.

He was followed by Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, who spoke of his experiences with coexistence projects in Florida as “proactive, adaptive solutions” to human-panther conflicts.

Next up was Nancy Gloman, vice president of field conservation for Defenders of Wildlife, who reiterated the organization’s long-term vision of human populations as tolerant, appreciative and accepting of the wildlife around them.

And closing out the panel was David White, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (a section of the U.S. Department of Agriculture), who tied all the panelists remarks together by discussing coexistence efforts at the federal level. Some of NRCS’ landscape conservation initiatives include the protection of the sage grouse in key agriculture areas.

Defenders is committed to a collaborative approach to living with wildlife, and the variety of different perspectives that comes from experts like these panelists will go a long way towards bridging the gap between humans and wildlife.

Save California’s Wolves – On Oct. 3, California’s Fish and Game Commission will be deciding the fate of protections for OR-7 and any other wolves that might venture into the Golden State in the future. Commissioners will be voting to accept or reject a petition to protect wolves under California’s Endangered Species Act. If they approve the petition, wolves will get immediate protection in the state while the California Department of Fish and Game develops a status review to determine whether wolves should be protected over the long-run. If they deny the petition, wolves could be on their own against some hunters, ranchers and others who still see wolves as an unwanted nuisance once federal protections are lifted.

Currently, wolves are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, but there’s no guarantee they’ll remain protected. In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has made it abundantly clear by their actions in the last couple years that they’re ready to get out of the wolf protection business. Further, recent discussions with federal biologists suggest that a delisting for gray wolves nationwide is likely waiting in the wings. If that happens, California is on its own.

Tell the California Fish and Game Commission to help ensure a future for wolves in California by approving statewide protection (here’s how to submit comments and information on the wolf petition). The Feds may be ready to give up on wolf recovery, but that doesn’t mean California should too.

Why Wolves Matter – With wolf hunting underway in Idaho and Montana and starting in Wyoming in a couple weeks, it’s important to take stock of what’s at stake. This beautiful video from our colleagues at Greater Yellowstone Coalition puts wolf recovery in context with an excellent interview with Yellowstone National Park’s top wolf biologist Doug Smith. It reminds us why considerable efforts were undertaken to bring wolves back into the ecosystem. Watch below:

Greater Yellowstone Coalition – WOLVES from GYC on Vimeo.

Good breeding — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that yet another of the state’s wolf packs has pups. Photos taken with a remote trail camera show at least two pups traveling with eight adults in the Walla Walla Pack. That brings the total number of breeding packs in Oregon to six, and the total number of wolves to at least 58—twice the number of wolves that were counted at the end of 2011.

Oregon Wildlife Services needs to shape up – Defenders has long had serious concerns with USDA Wildlife Services, the elusive  federal agency noted for killing wildlife that comes into conflict with livestock. We’ve repeatedly asked the agency to focus its efforts instead on implementing nonlethal wildlife deterrents, to no avail. So we took the latest opportunity in Oregon to weigh in on an environmental assessment of Wildlife Services’ wolf management activities in that state. Here’s the crux of the comments we submitted:

1. Wildlife Services should engage in nonlethal wolf management efforts, but they will need to provide more training, different resources, and possibly more experienced personnel to accomplish this goal;
2. Lethal control measures alone are ineffective over the long term and should only be used as a last resort to temporarily address livestock and wolf conflicts;
3. The Oregon Wildlife Services program has significant and ongoing problems with misidentifying unrelated causes of death or injury as wolf predation. This inaccuracy in determining actual cause of death has led to a substantial lack of confidence in the program and immediate actions should be taken to rectify this serious problem;
4. Until the significant problems with investigation procedures are fully addressed, the agency should limit their involvement to nonlethal control methods.

Yellowstone gateway goes anti-wolf — Montana’s Gallatin County is the primary gateway to Yellowstone National Park. As such, it benefits greatly from wildlife tourism to the region. But that didn’t stop local county commissioners from proposing a predator policy this week that supports reduction of the wolf population from over 600 statewide to just 150. This is in stark contrast to Wyoming’s Teton County, another gateway to Yellowstone, where residents identified wildlife as their number one value in the county’s comprehensive plan, and commissioners petitioned Wyoming Governor Mead to prevent wolves from being killed as predators anywhere in the county (though he dismissed their request).

The Gallatin commission tries to justify killing off wolves and other predators in order to protect people and livestock, and to artificially boost elk, deer, and moose herds for hunting. Yet attacks on people are extremely rare, and there has never been a confirmed livestock lost to wolves in the county.

Defenders’ Rockies and Plains Director Mike Leahy, a resident of Gallatin County, was quoted in the local news opposing the Gallatin County Commissions anti-predator proposal:

“You have the Gallatin County saying they’re gonna prioritize one species over others and so they’re getting into micro-managing predator and prey relationships and those are better left alone. Predator and prey will figure out some sort of balance between the two and we already have one government agency that’s responsible for managing wildlife, that’s Fish Wildlife and Parks and so now we have another layer of bureaucracy, the Gallatin County Commission getting involved in predator management and I think it’s a waste of resources,” said Leahy.