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Idaho Fish and Game tells advocacy groups to
stop crying "Wolf" |
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February 3, 2015 |
January 29, 2015
To the Editor:
It's important for state agencies to understand
and respect differing points of view. But when a
few advocacy groups try to grab headlines by
skewing Idaho Fish and Game scientific wolf
monitoring data in ways that simply aren't true,
it's also important to set the record straight.
Here are the facts:
Idaho has more than 100 documented wolf packs
and over 600 wolves. Idaho's wolf population far
exceeds federal recovery levels of 10 breeding
pairs and 100 wolves.
After meeting federal recovery levels in 2002,
Idaho's wolf population grew largely unchecked
for the remainder of the decade, resulting in
increased conflicts with other big game
populations and livestock.
After 4 harvest seasons since the 2011
delisting, livestock depredations have declined.
Wolf predation continues to have unacceptable
impacts to some elk populations, but there are
signs elk populations are responding positively
to wolf management.
Wolves in Idaho continue to be prolific and
resilient. Idaho will keep managing wolves to
have a sustainable, delisted population and to
reduce conflicts with people, livestock, and
other big game populations.
Despite these facts, a few advocacy groups chose
to take the breeding pair metric out of context
to make claims that Idaho wolves are "teetering
on the brink of endangered status once again."
That's hogwash. And it's the kind of polarizing
misinformation that undermines responsible
wildlife conservation and management in Idaho.
Confirming a pack meets U.S. Fish and Wildlife's
narrow definition of a "breeding pair" is costly
and labor-intensive. With vast reductions in
federal funding to the state and Nez Perce Tribe
for wolf monitoring, Fish and Game has focused
our effort on demonstrating Idaho has at least
15 "breeding pairs" to comply with federal
recovery requirements. Idaho closely surveyed 30
packs and confirmed that 22 of them met the
breeding pair standard at the end of 2014.
Because Idaho has shown it is well above federal
recovery levels, we may rely on less intensive
monitoring for the other 70 + packs as we
complete our final 2014 population estimates.
One can assume these 70+ packs include some
additional breeding pairs. We will publish our
annual monitoring report in March.
As trained scientists, Idaho Fish and Game
stands by our data and our wildlife management
plans. We manage wolves to ensure we keep state
management authority and address conflicts with
people, livestock, and other big game
populations.
I hope people who truly care about wildlife
conservation ignore the exaggerations and
misinformation and help Fish and Game focus on
the real issues affecting Idaho's wildlife.
Virgil Moore
Director, Idaho Fish and Game |
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