JUNK SCIENCE?
Nez Perce Oppose Idaho Wolf Killing Plan
By Bill Schneider, 2-04-06
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Two weeks ago, I wrote about Idaho moving too fast by proposing a major wolf-killing plan before the ink was dry on the handoff from the federal government. Now, as a follow-up to that posting, it seems that I’m not the only one thinking this. The Nez Perce Tribe, which co-manages the wolves in the targeted area, also thinks the state might be jumping the gun.
The Nez Perce has been cooperating closely with the State of Idaho on wolf management ever since the 1995 reintroduction, and now tribal leaders believe the state is moving too quickly and along with several conservation groups say the evidence isn't conclusive that wolves are devastating elk herds.
Rebecca Miles, chairwoman of the Nez Perce in Lapwai, was recently quoted in the Seattle PI saying tribal wolf managers aren't convinced studies of elk herds in the Clearwater River basin support the plan to reduce wolf numbers in region to as few as 15, from about 60 animals now. The Nez Perce Tribe, she said, would prefer to see the state focus on restoring habitat, not killing wolves, to build up elk populations.
The Idaho Fish and Game Department claims wolves are responsible for about 35 percent of recorded elk cow deaths since 2002 in two hunting units in the region. But tribal wolf managers dispute this claim. "It is junk science," Aaron Miles, the tribe's natural resource manager, countered in the same article "There's no peer review. It's jumping from one conclusion to the next."
He also contends the state is only yielding to political pressure from hunters and ranchers who want to see more active wolf control. Moving too quickly with the control plan, he fears, could incite lawsuits from conservation groups. Several conservation groups including the Defenders of Wildlife and Sierra Club have, in fact, already rattled their sabers about a possible lawsuit over the Idaho plan.
State Fish and Game officials concede that hunters have been pushing them to more aggressively control wolves. "Wolves are the biggest single issue we've heard from hunters, almost since the day of reintroduction,� Fish and Game Wildlife Bureau chief Jim Unsworth told the PI. “They're the folks that pay the bills at Fish and Game, so we listen to what they say, but we wouldn't have come forward with the proposal if we weren't making a pretty strong case now."
He also said Idaho would prefer to hold a controlled hunt for wolves, but wolf hunting won’t happen until the wolf is delisted from the Endangered Species Act. Wyoming has held up delisting for years by insisting on a state plan that allows wolves to be shot throughout most of that state.
Idaho plans public hearings in Boise and Lewistown to discuss the proposal. After that, the U.S. Fish and wildlife Service has to approve the plan. Ed Bangs, FWS wolf manager, says science will dictate the decision, not political expediency.
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Comments
I used to hunt around Pierce, Idaho. Used to be game now just wolf tracks. I say get rid of all wolfs there has always been a few around our house just out of Pierce they were fine, now there is so many they eat every thing they can get.
The fact is, elk habitat is ephemeral in the Clearwater basin. Until fires on the scale of the 1910 and 1914 fires return, range will continue to succeed into forest and elk numbers will continue to decline. IDFG elk productivity goals are out of whack with the ecosystem. Long term health of the ecosystem should be a priority not producing elk numbers "like they did in the good old days."
Sincerely,
Will Boyd
Education Director
Friends of the Clearwater
Moscow, ID
If elk numbers decline its going to be pretty hard to sustain pack density at those levels is it not? The point being that as forest progression occurs and elk dwindle in the range, wolves will lose their prey base.
It interests me that we never got any support for a more logical proposal, to whit, returning the ecosystem to what its condition was before the introduction of the horse and steel. Where is the call for getting the woods buffalo back into the Northern Rockies ecosystem to replace the non-native elk? In our deep canyon country and in the more mature forested areas, that variety of bison was dominant until the tribes took up horses and traded for steel. Look at all the old jump sites that occur on tribal lands and all the skulls you can find in the back country. They were hunted out of existance by the introduction of new technology and they are a heck of a lot more endangered than are wolves or bears.
http://www.taiga.net/yourYukon/col299.html
These are not Plains Bison, the ones which are having such a hard time at Yellowstone. The Woods bison is very adapted to life in snowy country and very good at surviving in heavy wooded areas. If a deal could be struck with the Canadians for genetic material, we could assist their programs and at the same time add some balance to the areas of the Lolo and for that matter to much of the Frank Church.
Evelyn Warford
Bears are not much on live elk and deer.
As for cougars and coyotes, wolves actually reduce their populations significantly. Wolves scout out their territory and chase out coyotoes and cougars and will even dig into coyote dens to remove them from a terain.
Will Boyd is actually correct that lack of large fires is moving the herds from the area to other locations.
I noted that you mentioned existing wolves in Peirce prior to the introduction. Did you folks up there save any information on that population?
Here is a link to the latest news concerning the Idaho wolf kill plan.
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/idaho_wolf_kill_shot_down_anybody_surprised/C41/L41/
Bill
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It is Because of Cattle Ranchers. who think because they have moved in on wolf terretories and put thier cattle up there, Kinda like putting the goat in the velociraptor cage!! they should be able to kill any thing that eats them ( get them out) They think they are intitled to put thier cows up there on alot of public land at pennies on the dollar with no concern for any thing, I enjoy going with my family and picknicing but half of the time you cant get around all the cow crap to even find a place to sit.
Wolves were here before us we keep moving in on them, we need to secure a place for the wild even if cattle ranchers like it or not.
Why don't lovers of the outdoors mount a campaign to go out and kill all the cattle fouling our public land with their dung? How much of the cow dung on public land actually leaches into public waterways (streams, lakes, etc.) making them polluted? Because of the ineptitude of public officials and because of the political crookedness of these officials, sometimes it is necessary to begin
a public revolt to correct laws meant to benefit a selected few at the expense of many.
of these o
Man has runined most of what the Great Spirt gave us. HE gave us balance, asking only that we follow HIM and do HIS will. But man decided to do it his way and look what a mess he has made of just about everything.
I cry for the might Wolf ~ for all that man has ruined. I now pray for Man.