Commission reviews wolf plan
January 22, 2003
By JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2003/01/22/news/wyoming/f6d7a884f5

CHEYENNE -- The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission was urged Tuesday to delay the adoption of a final state wolf management plan until the Legislature can change state law to allow for a dual classification of the animal. Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials said the dual classification of the wolf -- as a predator in some parts of the state and as a trophy game animal in Yellowstone recovery areas and in nearby forest wilderness areas -- will allow for two independent management scenarios to be in effect across the state.

The agency recommended during a meeting Tuesday that the commission direct the department to seek a change in state law that would retain "wolf" in the predatory animal statutes and also define the "gray wolf" as a trophy game animals.

The department also recommended the commission direct the agency to seek a statutory change that adds gray wolves to the list of animals that property owners are allowed, or their agent is allowed, to legally kill when a wolf is damaging personal property, including livestock. "We have tried to develop recommendations that would lead to delisting and leave ourselves some flexibility in the management plan," Game and Fish Department acting director Tom Thorne told commissioners. "Probably most important is the change in the timeline you've given us," Thorne said "We're asking that the department not be required to finish the plan until this legislation is in place," he said. "We can't really write a (final) plan until we know what kind of legislation we'll have." Wolves were reintroduced into the Yellowstone area in 1996 and 1997. Federal officials believe the endangered animal has met the necessary three-year population targets that will allow the agency to consider a petition to remove its federal protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as early as next year.

Currently in Wyoming, the gray wolf is classified as a predatory animal all across Wyoming, which means it can be killed anytime, anyplace, anyhow, much like the coyote or skunk. Animals classified as trophy game, such as mountain lions, are subject to state hunting regulations, including licensing and specific hunting seasons. The House chairman of the Legislature's Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources interim committee, Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, told commissioners a bill has been drafted that "parallels" the agency's dual- classification proposal.

"We have to move on this issue now ... that's the one statement in the plan that has universal support," Baker said. "I think we have moved significantly from where we were a month ago." Also on Tuesday, the department recommended that the commission direct the agency to revise portions of the draft gray wolf management plan to better reflect the commission's desire for a dual classification and to update the plan with newly acquired 2002 data.

The department presented commissioners with a nearly 3,000-page special report on the draft Wyoming gray wolf management plan that analyzed the public input submitted by residents, nonresidents, organizations and others during a recently-completed public comment period on the plan. Under the department's proposed statute change, the department would be responsible for managing wolves in areas where the animal is classified as trophy game, and the Wyoming Department of Agriculture would manage wolves in areas where the animal is classified as a predator. Agency officials said it would be preferable if the trophy game and predator areas were not designated in statute. The department felt the areas should be designated in the final wolf management plan and by commission regulation. The special report contained 18 recommendations to the commission, including two related statutory changes and 12 related revisions to the management plan. Commission President Doyle Dorner said the board did not have enough time to discuss the recommendations late Tuesday afternoon. He said the board will act on the suggestions when the meeting resumes today. "It will be the first order of business," he said.

Chris Burkett, Strategic Management Coordinator for the Game and Fish, told commissioners the agency received 6,623 pieces of correspondence during a public comment period that ended Dec. 12. He noted it was the second highest number of comments, next to the grizzly bear management plan, ever received by the agency on a wildlife management issue, but with greater content.

"Many comments were dripping with emotion. ... they included everything from fear and loathing to enthusiasm" for the wolf management plan, Burkett said. He said 92 percent of the comments came by email and that 90 percent, or nearly 6,000 comments, came from out-of-state residents. The agency received 624 comments on the plan from state residents, which Burkett said was "far below" what was expected by the agency. Of the resident comments, over 67 percent originated from residents within Park, Fremont, Sublette and Teton counties in western Wyoming. The vast majority of nonresidents oppose the dual classification proposal and the plan, according to the special report. Nonresidents felt strongly that it would result in the unregulated killing of wolves and hurt Wyoming as a tourist destination.

Nearly equal number of residents supported and opposed both the dual classification and the draft plan, the report said. Reasons for opposing the plan varied, but many residents did express support for a statewide trophy game classification. Nearly all of the comments from residents and nonresidents said funding should be better addressed within the plan. Additional management plan changes recommended by the department Tuesday included:

• Revising the "Introduction" section of the draft plan to better reflect the statutory authority of the commission to manage trophy game animals with a dual classification; and to better reflect the location of wolf pack territories, as of Dec. 31, 2002.
• Revise the distribution section of the draft plan to reflect where in Wyoming gray wolves would be managed by the department as trophy game animals. The area must be large enough to maintain a recovered wolf population under recovery requirements and allow the federal delisting process to move forward.
• Revise the population management section of the plan to indicate the state would manage wolves using a threshold of 15 packs, including packs in Yellowstone and the National Elk Refuge. Maintaining a 15-pack minimum will assure at least 10 breeding pairs in order to meet federal recovery criteria.
• Revise the funding section to better reflect the nature of funding sources immediately available to manage wolves.

Baker said he expects to see a draft bill by the end of the week and hopes to have a bill through the House by Feb. 10. He said he hopes to have a "completed and accomplished" dual classification bill through the Legislature by the end of February. Under the bill, if the number of wolf packs falls below the 15-pack threshhold level for the Yellowstone recovery area, the dual classification would revert to a single, trophy game classification for the entire state. The Game and Fish Department would assume all management authority. The commission has indicated in past meetings its desire to have a final management plan in place and ready for adoption by the commission at its Feb. 24 meeting in Casper.

The three states bordering Yellowstone -- Wyoming, Idaho and Montana -- must have U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-approved management plans in place before the federal agency can submit a petition to delist the gray wolf. Officials said the Idaho legislature has approved that state's wolf management plan and Montana has issued a draft management plan for public comment.

The commission meeting resumes today at 9 a.m. at the Plains Hotel in downtown Cheyenne.