Delisting Update
January 28, 2004

Great news, for now. Yesterday Federal officials formally rejected Wyoming's wolf plan and effectively put a halt on the delisting process for the entire Northwest Distinct Population Segment. Of biggest concern was Wyoming's dual-classification that included a "kill at will" predator status in close to 90% of the state. This simply did not fly with the feds, be it surprising or not since Wyoming had been getting vibes since the Scientific Review committee that their plan just "may" squeak by. But not so. Now its a wait and see situation and we will have to see what Wyoming Fish and Game does as far as a response.

In the meantime, although this is good news for wolves in the long run, it may prove to be fatal to Wyoming wolves in the near future with those who were adamant about delisting NOW taking matters into their own hands with a "shoot/shovel/and shut up" solution. I will keep you posted in upcoming days/weeks/months as to what Wyoming is going to do and what this is doing to wolves on the ground, not only in Wyoming but also in Montana and Idaho where anti-wolf folks are just as likely to react with hostile activities. But for now, lets be guardedly optimistic on this, at least Wyoming's horrific plan has been rejected! Read on (5 articles) -Renee

Gray wolf delisting stalled
By TED MONOSON
Missoulian D.C. Bureau

Federal officials divulge 'significant concerns' over Wyoming proposal

WASHINGTON - Plans to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list were derailed Tuesday when federal officials rejected Wyoming's controversial dual-classification plan for wolf management.

"Delisting cannot be proposed at this time due to some significant concerns about portions of Wyoming's state law and wolf management plan," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams wrote to Wyoming Game and Fish director Terry Cleveland.

Wyoming's plan proposed classifying wolves outside of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and adjoining wilderness areas as predators.

The wolf management plans crafted by Montana and Idaho officials were deemed "adequate," but wolves cannot be delisted in the West until all three states have Fish and Wildlife Service-approved plans.

The decision pleased environmentalists and upset Wyoming politicians and ranchers.

Williams cited three specific concerns in the letter to Cleveland: predator classification; the number of packs the state proposed maintaining and the minimum pack size.

Wyoming proposed maintaining eight packs within the parks and adjoining wilderness areas, and seven outside the parks and wilderness areas. In the letter, Williams called for Wyoming to "commit" to maintaining at least 15 wolf packs in Wyoming. Williams also called on Wyoming to increase its definition of a pack from five to six wolves.

Environmentalists vociferously criticized Wyoming's plan, but were concerned that the Fish and Wildlife Service would accept it.

"I am heartened to see the Fish and Wildlife Service has taken the flaws of the plan seriously and will not move forward until they are corrected," said Nina Fascione, Defenders of Wildlife vice president for species conservation.

Wyoming Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal noted that biologists had supported the state's plan, but added that state officials and lawmakers would work with federal officials and Wyoming's congressional delegation to craft an acceptable plan.

"Given the fact that scientific reviews of the state's plan largely endorsed its biological soundness, I can only conclude that the federal decision was based on little more than Potomac politics," Freudenthal said in a statement. "I am certainly disappointed in the Bush administration, but I believe that the executive and legislative branches of state government, working with our congressional delegation, can arrive at the appropriate steps to take in response."

The leaders of Montana livestock organizations were frustrated by the decision and contemplating their options.

"I am disappointed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services," Montana Stockgrowers Association executive director Steve Pilcher said. "I would have liked for the Fish and Wildlife Service to allow Wyoming's plan to be tried. I would have liked for them to give Wyoming a little latitude."

Pilcher said that he and other association leaders would evaluate the Fish and Wildlife Service's reasons for rejecting the plan and talk with Montana officials about how to proceed.

"We are at the mercy of the weak link, which is Wyoming's plan," Pilcher said. "This causes us to go back to the table and look at our options. We can sit back and let Wyoming work with their plan. We can also talk to the Fish and Wildlife Service about decoupling Montana and Idaho from Wyoming and allowing us to proceed. It is an option that should be analyzed."

Williams dismissed the option to permit Montana and Idaho to separate from Wyoming. He noted that there are three distinct wolf populations in the United States. One is in the East, a second is in the Southwest and the third is in the West.

"All three states comprise a portion of the western population and they must be dealt with in their entirety," Williams said.

He later added: "If Wyoming does not amend its management plan we cannot proceed."

In 1974, wolves were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. They were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. Since then, their population has increased from 14 to more than 700. Under the law, the Fish and Wildlife Service was able to begin the procedure for removing wolves from the list once there were more than 30 breeding pairs for three consecutive years.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf coordinator Ed Bangs estimated that there are 190 wolves in Montana, 235 in Wyoming and 339 in Idaho. He added that there are approximately 61 breeding pairs within the three states.

Jim Magagna, Wyoming Stock Growers executive director, said that if the Fish and Wildlife Service would not accept Wyoming's plan to have wolves outside of the parks and adjoining wilderness areas classified as predators, he would rather have the federal government maintain management.

"Certainly we've survived federal management up to this point," Magagna said. "Once the federal government accepts a state plan we are bound by it. I'd rather see us wait than go forward with a bad plan."

Magana also said that he believed environmentalists would use lawsuits to block the delisting, even if Wyoming acceded to the Fish and Wildlife Services demands.

In a sign that he may be right, Fascione criticized William's approval of Idaho's plan. She said that Idaho's plan is too "vague."

"Idaho decided, 'Let's squeak it through by saying as little as possible'," Fascione said. "Wyoming took a more strident stand."

When explicitly asked if her organization would file a lawsuit if Wyoming adopted a plan that was identical to Idaho's, Fascione said, "We'd have to cross that bridge when we got there."

Fascione said that like Wyoming officials and ranchers, her organization would like to see wolves delisted.

"Our ultimate goal is to see wolves come off the endangered species list," Fascione said. "The key word is ultimate. The current reclassification plan is inadequate and premature." http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/01/14/news/top/news01.txt

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Billings Gazette
Wyoming lawmakers back to square 1 on wolf plan Associated Press

CHEYENNE - With the Legislature looming and an angry public demanding answers, state lawmakers scrambled Tuesday to respond to the federal government's rejection of a wolf management plan they struggled to hammer out last year.

The Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee was scheduled to meet Thursday in Laramie to hash out the decision with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representatives and determine a course of action.

Whether that will include compromise, litigation or nothing at all remains to be seen.

Rep. Mike Baker, R-Thermopolis, was tightlipped on a possible response, only saying he expects that Fish and Wildlife will want the committee to address its objections. He and committee co-chair Sen. Delaine Roberts, R-Etna, planned a news conference after the meeting.

Many state lawmakers were surprised and hurt by the delay of dropping federal protection for gray wolves.

"I personally think there's nothing wrong with the plan we have, as well as probably the majority of state legislators, but I probably don't have to tell you that the federal government has forced us into a number of things," Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, said.

Some also claim they got mixed messages from Fish and Wildlife while drafting the proposal last year, adding the plan recently passed muster with several wildlife experts and wolf biologists.

"(Fish and Wildlife) knew what was going on, but then through their counsel we didn't hear any of their concerns," Rep. Monte Olsen, R-Daniel, said.

Gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. They were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1995 after being nearly wiped out by hunting and trapping across the West.

There are now about 760 wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, where they are classified as "threatened" in some areas and an "experimental population" in and immediately around Yellowstone. Until last April, some gray wolves in Montana were listed as endangered, a higher level of protection.

In proposing the lifting of federal protections, the government asked the three states to draw up plans for monitoring and maintaining the wolf population. Montana and Idaho's plans were found to be adequate.

But Fish and Wildlife objected to Wyoming's plan to classify wolves in part of the state - away from national parks and wilderness areas - as predators, which would mean they could be shot with few restrictions. The agency also said the Wyoming plan did not provide for adequate monitoring, and it objected to the boundaries outlined by the state.

Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., said the federal government had indicated to him that Wyoming's plan was adequate. Gov. Dave Freudenthal added the decision was "based on little more than Potomac politics."

"I am certainly disappointed in the Bush administration, but I believe that the executive and legislative branches of state government, working with our congressional delegation, can arrive at the appropriate steps to take in response," Freudenthal said.

Nina Fascione, vice president of species conservation with the Defenders of Wildlife, said rejection of Wyoming's plan "should not be a news flash to them."

"I am pleasantly surprised and encouraged that the service doesn't think open season on wolves is a decent management plan," she said.

Wyoming ranchers and outfitters argue wolves are killing too many cattle and state wildlife, putting their livelihoods in jeopardy. Giving the state control over wolves, they add, would give them more of a say.

"I still maintain that the federal government does not have the legislative or regulatory authority over wildlife in the state of Wyoming," Grover outfitter Maury Jones said. "And if they believe they do I would like them to put up or shut up."

Rancher Jon Robinett, who lost about 8 percent of his 400 cattle near Dubois to wolves last year, supports delistment but didn't like Wyoming's plan and thinks a Fish and Wildlife recommendation to designate wolves as trophy game statewide is the better route.

"(Wyoming's plan) didn't have any accountability for maintaining the wolf population and it didn't have any controls in place to guarantee what Fish and Wildlife wanted," he said.

The government also wants Wyoming officials to clearly commit to managing at least 15 wolf packs across the state and conform its definition of a wolf pack with those of Idaho and Montana - at least six wolves traveling together in the winter.

Some state lawmakers indicated a willingness Tuesday to compromise and fix the government's concerns, saying that is the only way Fish and Wildlife will step aside and remove federal wolf protection.

Others want the federal government to step up and help with tracking and other costs.

"We have an opportunity to still draft some legislation to hopefully ease the pain that (the government) doesn't seem to understand," state Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, said. "But it's very, very discouraging. Ö I think they missed it on this one."

<>http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/01/14/build/wyoming/25-wolfprotectionsreax.inc

Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Wolf delisting stuck while feds wait for acceptable Wyoming plan
By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

The process toward delisting the wolf screeched to a halt Tuesday, when federal officials declared that Wyoming's wolf recovery plan simply isn't up to snuff.

Both federal and state officials had said the complicated process of removing wolves from the endangered species list could begin this year.

That isn't likely to happen now, unless Wyoming's state government undergoes a large and rapid transformation of its attitude toward wolves.

"Delisting cannot at this time be proposed because of significant concerns about Wyoming's existing state law as well as its wolf management plan," said Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency that administers the Endangered Species Act.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, defended his state's plan, noting that a review by independent scientists had "largely endorsed its biological soundness" last year.

"I can only conclude that the federal decision was based on little more than Potomac politics," Freudenthal said in a prepared statement. "I am certainly disappointed in the Bush administration."

Williams, in a conference call with reporters around the country, said his agency found three major flaws in the Wyoming law and plan:

Ä It designates wolves in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and adjacent wilderness areas as trophy game animals, which means limited numbers can be killed. But in the majority of the state wolves would be classified as predators, meaning they legally could be shot on sight, like a skunk or a jackrabbit.

Ä It defines a pack as five animals traveling together, rather than six, a number Williams said is "based on sound biology."

Ä While the plan calls for 15 packs in Wyoming, as do Montana and Idaho's plans, state law allows only eight packs in the areas with some protections. That means the other seven packs would be unprotected.

That law "appears to conflict with Wyoming's management plans," Williams said.

He praised Montana and Idaho officials for creating plans that would allow 15 packs to roam each of those states, with provisions to kill wolves that cause problems with livestock.

Those states, along with Wyoming, must all submit approved management plans before federal officials will delist wolves, Williams said, and wolves in Idaho and Montana cannot be delisted until Wyoming comes up with an acceptable plan.

The decision comes even though wolves are thriving in the three states. A recent count found at least 764 wolves, with 190 in Montana, 235 in Wyoming and 339 in Idaho, according to Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for FWS.

Montana Gov. Judy Martz, who has in the past pressured Wyoming to come up with a better plan, said in a statement that she will work with that state to gain approval for its plan "so the three states can move forward to better deal with issues related to wolf reintroduction."

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont. said the FWS decision is a "disappointment."

Delisting is an important goal "and I hope the state of Wyoming is ready to help us get there," Burns said.

Delisting an animal is a long and complicated process, Williams said, and FWS will hand off wolf management to states only when the states craft plans that guarantee wolves won't again become endangered in the foreseeable future.

Jonathan Proctor, of the Predator Conservation Alliance, said he agreed with the FWS decision. His group has praised Montana's wolf plan in the past, but has criticized Wyoming's.

"That predator label wasn't going to work," he said, noting that in most of the state, it would be open season on wolves. "They would have been under the gun right away."

Williams said he will send a representative to a Thursday meeting of a Wyoming legislative interim committee in Laramie.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/01/14/news/02wolvesbzbigs.txt

Billings Gazette
Gray wolf delisting delayed: FWS cites Wyoming's predator designation
By MIKE STARK

Wyoming's plan to classify some gray wolves as predators will keep the federal government from trying to remove the animals from the endangered species list throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains.

Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), told Wyoming officials Tuesday that although the wolf populations in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have met recovery goals, he won't ask for wolves to be delisted until Wyoming changes its approach to handling the species when management is passed to the three states.

"Delisting cannot be proposed at this time due to some significant concerns about portions of Wyoming's state law and wolf management plan," Williams wrote in a letter to Terry Cleveland, director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

The three states have been waiting to hear whether FWS will accept their management plans and move forward with a delisting proposal, possibly sometime this year.

Williams restated concerns about Wyoming's "dual classification" proposal that would consider some wolves to be predators, where they could be killed any time and in any way, and others as trophy game, subject to hunting and other regulations.

The potential for unregulated killing and an inadequate monitoring plan "do not provide sufficient management controls to assure the service that the wolf population will remain above recovery levels," Williams wrote.

He also said Wyoming must "clearly commit" to managing 15 wolf packs in the state and must define packs as at least six wolves traveling together in the winter.

"I wasn't shocked, I guess, at the response, but I was disappointed," said Bill Witchers, deputy director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal said he was disappointed by the decision. He said he plans to meet with other state officials and lawmakers and members of the congressional delegation to formalize a response.

Lara Azar, Freudenthal's spokeswoman, said it's too early to say whether the governor will seek changes to Wyoming's wolf plan, lobby the federal government or pursue other measures.

"It's not safe to say we've ruled anything out or that we're planning on heading in any one direction," Azar said.

In his announcement, Williams said he was pleased with wolf plans developed by Montana and Idaho and hoped to continue talking with those two states about assuming some management duties in the near future.

But with the significant concerns about Wyoming's plan, Williams said, the federal government will have to put on hold its long-sought goal of taking wolves off the endangered species list, where they've been protected since 1974.

Since wolves were reintroduced to the Northern Rocky Mountains in 1995 and 1996, the population has expanded across the landscape and grown to about 760.

Last year, FWS announced that the population had reached a key recovery goal by maintaining 30 breeding pairs for three years in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Federal officials have touted the wolf recovery as a significant milestone under the Endangered Species Act.

But before wolves can be removed from the endangered list, the three states had to develop plans showing that the wolf population would remain viable under the states' management.

Eleven wolf experts who reviewed the three state plans last fall said the proposals appeared adequate to ensure a minimum population of 30 breeding pairs distributed among the three states.

But some of the reviewers also raised concerns about a reliance on federal funding to carry out the plans, Wyoming's "predator" classification and a lack of detail in Idaho's proposal.

Wyoming's insistence on considering some wolves as predators drew solid support from lawmakers, ranchers and others who saw it as necessary to protect livestock, game and property from wolves.

But Williams told the Game and Fish Commission in 2002 that the dual classification proposal probably would not be accepted by the federal government. State officials got another warning from FWS in July ñ this time from Ed Bangs, the FWS wolf coordinator in Helena ñ that the predator classification "could derail and will certainly prolong" efforts to remove federal protections.

But Freudenthal and others in state government said they were getting differing opinions from the FWS and the Interior Department.

The states' plans

Montana, Wyoming and Idaho state governments have each drawn up plans to manage wolves if federal protections are lifted. Each plan contains provisions for monitoring and limits on where wolves will be allowed. Here are other key components of each plan.

Montana: Will manage for 15 packs within the state, generally under rules similar to those for other large animals. Some hunting eventually will be allowed. If the number of packs falls below 15, tighter restrictions will be imposed. If the 15-pack threshold is exceeded, more liberal hunting could be allowed.

Idaho: Will manage for 15 packs and eventually will allow hunting. If there are fewer than 15 packs, hunts can be called off and state officials can implement stronger measures to monitor the population. With more than 15 packs, the state would have more flexibility in controlling the number of wolves.

Wyoming: Will manage for 15 packs, but that count will include wolves within Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Outside the parks and adjacent wilderness areas, wolves will be classified as predators and subject to unregulated killing. Inside the wilderness areas, wolves would be classified as trophy game and regulated through hunting seasons. If the wolf population drops below seven packs outside the parks, state officials can classify more wolves as trophy game.

"There's been some mixed signals we've gotten (about dual classification): 'No it's not OK, yes it's OK, no it's not OK,' " Witchers said.

Freudenthal, who last year voiced frustration with the process, said in a statement Tuesday that the federal government needs to explain the decision to reject Wyoming's plan.

"Given the fact that scientific reviews of the state's plan largely endorsed its biological soundness, I can only conclude that the federal decision was based on little more than Potomac politics," Freudenthal said in a statement.

State officials are left to decide what to do next. The option proposed by Williams is for legislators, who passed a law last year outlining a wolf plan, to reconsider the issue and make the suggested changes, including scrapping the "predator" provisions.

The Legislature's Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Interim Committee is scheduled to discuss the matter at a meeting Thursday in Laramie. The full Legislature meets next month in a short budget session.

Tuesday's decision affects not only Wyoming, but also Idaho and Montana, where officials have been pushing to see wolves taken off the endangered list. Because wolves in the three states are considered a distinct population segment, delisting has to happen in all three states at the same time.

"We're all tied together on this," said Jeff Hagener, director of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

He felt "positive" about the praise for Montana's plan "but obviously we're a little bit disappointed that the overall delisting isn't going to move because of the Wyoming plan," he said.

Steve Nadeau, of the Idaho Fish and Game Department, said Idaho officials are prepared to help Wyoming, if necessary, to get an acceptable plan.

"We just hope they can produce what's necessary in a timely fashion to satisfy the Service," Nadeau said.

Meanwhile, Montana and Idaho are talking with FWS about taking over certain wolf management duties, including monitoring, enforcement assistance and providing input on decisions about coping with problem wolves.

"We're preparing to implement state management as soon as that's feasible and logical," Nadeau said.

The wolf controversy is expected to continue and may well wind up in court. The environmental group Defenders of Wildlife, which filed a lawsuit last year, praised Williams' decision Tuesday.

"We're absolutely encouraged by the fact that the Fish and Wildlife Service recognized how flawed the Wyoming plan was and took significant steps to rectify that," said Nina Fascione, vice president for species conservation with Defenders of Wildlife. "The ball's back in Wyoming's court."

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?ts=1&display=rednews/2004/01/14/build/wyoming/20-wolfprotections.inc

Arizona Central
Gray wolf protection continues
U.S. stalls plans to curb program in parts of West

Becky Bohrer
Associated Press
Jan. 14, 2004 12:00 AM

BILLINGS, Mont. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delayed plans to drop federal protection for gray wolves in parts of the West, saying Tuesday that Wyoming had failed to submit an adequate plan for protecting the animals if the federal government stepped aside.

Gray wolves, once hunted and trapped nearly to extinction, have made a remarkable comeback since being reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas in the 1990s.

There are now about 760 wolves in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, where they are classified as "threatened" in some areas, and as an "experimental population" in and immediately around Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho.

Up until last April, some gray wolves in Montana were listed as endangered, a higher level of protection.

Before moving ahead with a proposal that the wolves be removed from federal protection in the Northern Rockies and some other Western states, Fish and Wildlife asked the three states for their plans for protecting the animals.

Montana and Idaho's plans were found to be adequate. But Fish and Wildlife objected to Wyoming's plan to classify wolves in part of the state as predators, which would mean they could be shot with few restrictions.

The agency also said the Wyoming plan does not provide for adequate monitoring, and it objected to the boundaries outlined by the state.

"If Wyoming doesn't amend its management plan and present one with adequate controls to maintain wolf numbers, then we will not proceed," said Steve Williams, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

<>http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0114wolves14.html