Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Wyoming approves fall wolf hunt – Wyoming’s Fish and Game Commission continued its preparations to hunt wolves this fall by adopting hunting regulations that will allow up to 52 wolves to be killed in the trophy game area surrounding Yellowstone National Park in the northwest part of the state.

The last official count from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated there were at least 328 wolves in Wyoming at the end of 2011 with about 100 of those within Yellowstone National Park. However, state wildlife managers have been saying there are now about 270 wolves outside the park, the majority of which are in the trophy game management area. About 30 wolves are in the predator zone where they can be shot on sight without a hunting license. That means about 30 percent of the wolves outside of Yellowstone are likely to be killed later this year if delisting of wolves in Wyoming moves forward. Until then, the fate of these wolves still rests in the hands of the Obama administration.

A herder and his dog round up a flock of sheep in central Idaho's Wood River Valley.

Wood River Wolf Project turns five – Defenders hosted a project planning meeting last week to finalize plans for our fifth project year in central Idaho. Wolf advocates, ranchers, scientists and county officials are collaborating to implement nonlethal deterrent strategies to prevent losses of wolves and livestock. Five years later, documented sheep losses to wolves in our project area are 90% lower than Idaho average. Additionally, no wolves within the project area have yet been lethally removed for livestock losses, while regionally over 1,600 wolves have been killed in attempt to address losses of more than 3,000 sheep and 1,500 cattle over the last quarter century. Recent research indicates lethal wolf control alone achieves short-term effects but fails to prevent future livestock losses and increases social conflicts concerning wolf losses.  The Wood River Wolf Project demonstrates that nonlethal methods help reduce management costs and social conflict while maintaining the wolf’s important ecological functionality.  At the request of participants, we are working to expand the Wood River Wolf Project to a county-wide scope.  Blaine County has publicly expressed support for wolves and other local wildlife and respects their community members’ diverse interests in agriculture as well as the environment.  The project training workshop kicks off the season on June 20 -21, 2012.  Contact Suzanne Stone, our regional wolf coexistence expert, for more information about these methods and our projects.

Week of wolf action – Stay tuned next week as we look back on the first year of wolf management in the Northern Rockies since federal protections were removed. The inauspicious anniversary on May 5 is a good chance to reflect on aggressive actions taken to limit wolf numbers and an opportunity to reflect on what changes need to be made. Defenders is launching a Week of Wolf Action to share our concerns. We hope you will participate to make sure your voice is heard as well!

Court upholds delisting and wolf hunting – Wolves can be legally hunted in Idaho and Montana. Maybe you already knew that, since more than 500 wolves have already been killed by hunters and trappers so far this season. But until this week there was still a legal challenge contesting the hunts as well as the constitutionality of the budget rider Congress passed stripping federal protections for wolves. A group of environmental organizations (Defenders was not a party in the lawsuit) challenged Congress’ authority to delist a single animal under the Endangered Species Act by legislative fiat. Unfortunately, the court upheld Congress’ ability to do so, setting a very damaging precedent for other species Congress might someday try to delist. Read more coverage from the Associated Press in the Oregonian.

Living with wolves in Wyoming – Some sad news was reported in Jackson Hole, Wyoming yesterday. A family’s pet dog was seriously injured by one of the wolves that have been spotted on the outskirts of town. While wolves are generally skittish around humans, like other wildlife they can be a danger to unattended pets. As canines, wolves often perceive domestic dogs as rivals and may try to challenge them if they feel threatened. This tragic incident is an important reminder that dogs should always be kept on-leash in wolf country or kept inside. Residents should also secure pet food, garbage, and other items with a strong scent that could attract wolves to the area.

Wyoming Game and Fish is working to raise public awareness about living with wolves and other large predators. This month and next they will be hosting public seminars to help educate people on what to do if they encounter a wolf, bear, or cougar. Click here to learn more.

Learning to live with wolves is the only way to ensure a healthy, sustainable future for the species once the state takes over wolf management. Early this week, Wyoming issued draft hunting regulations that would allow a total of 52 wolves to be killed in the trophy game area in the western part of the state outside of Yellowstone National Park. There are about 230 wolves living outside of the park, the majority of which are located in the trophy game area. Wolves found beyond the trophy game area could be shot on sight without a license.

More surprises from Bitterroot elk study – Wolf opponents may have one less excuse to scapegoat wolves for the decline of select elk herds. A long-term study of elk mortality in Montana’s Bitterroot valley is finding that wolves take far fewer calves and cow elk than expected. According to a story in the Billings Gazette this week, researchers discovered that only one collared cow elk was killed by a wolf last year. One was killed by a cougar, and four died of other natural causes. Of the 97 elk calves that were tagged earlier this year, a total of 38 had died. Cougars killed 13, black bears killed four, and wolves killed four. While we can’t draw specific conclusions about the impact that wolves have on elk populations, it’s becoming clearer that they are just one piece of the puzzle.

The story behind the story – What really happened with wolf delisting last year? Chris Ketcham tells the whole sordid story for The American Prospect. He chronicles the special interest politics played by anti-wolf extremists in the hunting and ranching community that ultimately led to the delisting. It’s a long read, but well worth it to get the inside scoop on how it all went down.

Gray wolf in South Dakota? – It’s true. The AP reported this week that federal officials confirmed a wolf was shot in South Dakota a month and a half ago. Before that, the last confirmed sighting was 2006 when another wolf was hit by a car. Single wolves have often shown up in the Dakotas but there are no federal plans to restore wolves to this region.

The state of Wyoming took swift action this week to approve a misguided wolf plan that would allow wolves to be killed by anyone at any time by any means across the majority of the state. On Monday, the Wyoming House voted overwhelmingly in favor of the wolf bill, and Gov. Matt Mead signed it into law late yesterday.

The following is a statement from Mike Leahy, Rocky Mountain director for Defenders of Wildlife:

“This isn’t responsible wolf management, it’s predator control under the guise of wildlife management. The current plan would allow unrestricted killing of wolves across the majority of the state, including in our national forests. What we need is a plan that will ensure the long-term future of a sustainable wolf population. This plan, however, potentially threatens the viability of the wolf population in Wyoming. It could also have severe impacts on the dispersal of wolves to neighboring states and impair the genetic health of wolves in the region.

“Wolves are an important part of Wyoming’s wildlife heritage and play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. They have already boosted tourism revenue near Yellowstone and have the potential to do so in other parts of the state as well.  The species should be managed as wildlife by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department based on the best available science, not politics.”

Wyoming’s approved wolf management plan would treat wolves as trophy game in the northwest corner of the state surrounding Yellowstone National Park, where they could be hunted with a license during a specified hunting season. Wolves would be considered predators in the rest of the state where they could be killed at any time by almost any means. An additional “flex zone” would extend the southern boundary of the trophy game area into the predator zone for five months of the year. The plan would require the state to maintain 100 out of the 243 wolves currently residing outside of Yellowstone National Park. About 100 wolves currently reside within the park and would remain protected.

Federal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies were removed in 2011, except in Wyoming. Now that Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has approved the plan, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is likely to publish a proposed delisting rule to remove protections for wolves in Wyoming as well.

We’ll need the support of all our members to stop the federal government from putting this ill-conceived plan into action, so stay tuned for updates on Defenders next steps.

Learn more about what Defenders is doing to protect wolves in the Northern Rockies

Get weekly updates of wolf news on Defenders blog

A proposal for 136 new oil and gas wells in a sensitive wildlife area south of Jackson Hole, Wyoming has been put on hold pending further review, announced the U.S. Forest Service yesterday. The Forest Service is now considering an alternative to the original drilling plan with fewer roads and infrastructure relocated from the western end of the project where it poses the greatest harm to the endangered Canada lynx and other wildlife.

Defenders lynx expert David Gaillard has been working with a broad coalition called Citizens for the Wyoming Range to prevent the project from destroying critical wildlife habitat. This summer he placed remote cameras along the Upper Hoback Rim and documented mule deer, elk, moose, a black bear, a bobcat, pronghorn antelope and a fox or coyote all using the area. These species and many others will be at risk if the project moves forward. (See video below)

Defenders’ members helped generate a record 60,000 comments raising concerns about this project, a key factor in the Forest Service’s decision to withdraw the plan for further analysis.  But the battle isn’t over until we know the lynx and other vulnerable wildlife are safe. The expanded environmental review is slated for completion in early 2012, before Bridger-Teton National Forest officials decide whether to approve the drilling project and under what conditions.

Thanks to Defenders activists and others who responded to our alerts on this issue and helped us gain this important reprieve. We’re likely to need your support again in 2012 to make sure that this and other harmful projects do not threaten native wildlife on our national forests in Wyoming.

Smile, wildlife! You’re on candid camera.

Canada lynx are highly elusive forest cats that prey on snowshoe hares in remote alpine reaches of the Rockies.

When Defenders’ Northern Rockies Representative Dave Gaillard set up cameras in the wilds of western Wyoming in early August, he wasn’t sure what he would find. Dave knew the area was a vital movement corridor for many species (see slideshow in original blog post), including mule deer, elk, moose and pronghorn antelope. But, as an expert on mid-sized carnivores, he was most interested in capturing on film one of the most elusive animals of all—the imperiled Canada lynx.

Lynx are extremely rare and stick to remote alpine regions where they can hunt snowshoe hares, their primary prey. Because of their unique habitat requirements, lynx populations are spread very thin in isolated mountain forests across the Rocky Mountains at very low densities. In fact, scientists believe there may be as few as 10 individuals in the entire greater Yellowstone ecosystem encompassing the national park and surrounding areas.

In three consecutive years, lynx were tracked moving through the Hoback Rim of the Wyoming Range. The white box indicates the corridor where cameras were placed in hopes of documenting lynx in the area.

That’s why protecting their habitat is so important. The area where Dave put the cameras is along the eastern portion of the Hoback Rim of the Wyoming Range in Bridger-Teton National Forest, a relative “hot spot” of lynx activity in previous years. (One research study shows lynx using the area in three consecutive years. See map at left.)

Unfortunately, the U.S. Forest Service has been considering a proposal to allow oil and gas exploration smack dab in the middle of this important wildlife corridor. Dave’s hope is that by documenting the wildlife that use the corridor, we can help convince the Forest Service not to approve the project, or at least not without substantial modifications to ensure lynx and other affected wildlife will not be harmed..

What Dave found was impressive indeed. See the video below compiled from all the footage captured by three remote cameras in just over a month. Mule deer, moose, a giant bull elk, a black bear, a bobcat (we think)**, either a fox or a coyote (too hard to tell)**, a couple domestic cows, even a few human hunters wandering by.

Sadly, no lynx this time. But the video is an excellent reminder of the great diversity of animals that we’re fighting to protect on our public lands.

Thanks to Dave and citizen scientists Kerry Gaillard and Michael Osgood for all their hard work!

Learn more about Defenders work in the Northern Rockies and our joint efforts to protect the Wyoming Range

**In case you missed them, here are some still images of the suspected bobcat and fox/coyote.

Have you heard about what’s happening in Wyoming?

The state is gunning to shoot wolves on sight across nearly 90% of the state — even on national forests and other publicly owned lands. Worse, state officials are now pushing the policy with the blessing of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!

This is the greatest threat to the recovery of wolves in the Rockies today!

Defenders of Wildlife has set an ambitious goal of sending 100,000 messages to save our wolves. Already, nearly 60,000 people have taken action, but we need your help to meet our goal.

Here are two ways you can help right now:

1. Take action. Tell U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe that you OPPOSE the premature delisting of wolves in Wyoming.
2. Spread the word: Post this action on Facebook and Twitter.

The Obama Administration’s proposal allows indiscriminate wolf killing across the vast majority of Wyoming… even on national forests and other lands owned by the American taxpayer.

Congressional action has already eliminated important federal wolf protections in Idaho and Montana. Now the Obama Administration is walking away from its responsibility to ensure a healthy wolf population in the region by backing Wyoming’s flawed wolf plan.

Under these plans, wolf numbers in Wyoming and throughout the Northern Rockies may be driven below sustainable levels.

Vital dispersal of wolves to other states where wolves have historically made their homes – particularly Colorado and Utah, which have no established wolf packs yet – may also become next to impossible.

And states like Idaho and Montana may even be tempted to follow Wyoming’s lead, ushering in new policies that would allow wolves in those states to be killed on sight as well.

We only have until January 13th to make our voices heard. Please speak out for the future of wolves in the West. Take action now.