Wyoming commission seeks dual designation for wolves
September 12, 2002

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - The state Game and Fish Commission voted to seek a dual class designation for the gray wolf that would include a trophy game designation for the animal in some forest wilderness areas and a predator classification in the rest of the state.

The commission's decision Tuesday went against the advice of Game and Fish Department directors who urged the commission to delay the move until a draft state wolf management plan is completed.

Bill Wichers, Game and Fish deputy director of external operations, told commissioners that Wyoming would need to change the current predator classification of the gray wolf or risk delaying the process to remove the animal's federal protections under the Endangered Species Act.

Wyoming, Idaho and Montana must have state management plans in place and approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before a delisting petition is submitted.

Wyoming is in the process of developing a draft plan that will be presented to the commission for approval at its February meeting.

Wichers said the USFWS has told state Game and Fish officials that it will not begin the delisting process until the state predator classification is changed.

The gray wolf is classified as a predator in Wyoming. That means the wolf could be killed anytime, any way, anywhere, much like the coyote, jack rabbit and skunk, if its federal protection is removed. Animals classified as trophy game are subject to state hunting regulations, including licensing and specific hunting seasons.

Wichers said it was "appropriate and inevitable that wolves be classified as a trophy game animal" and said such a change would require legislative action.

Any delay in the delisting process, he warned, could mean the state will have to manage even more wolves in the future.

But Commissioner Gary Lundvall said he was not sure whether classifying the wolf as a trophy game animal and using hunting to control wolf populations would achieve the agency's management and population objectives.

"I personally don't think we'll be able to control that (wolf) population with just a sport hunting season," he said.

Lundvall made a motion directing the department to seek a dual classification that would make the wolf a trophy game animal within the confines of Bridger-Teton National Forest and Shoshone National Forest wilderness area boundaries.

In all other areas of the state, the wolf would be classified as a predator.

"That would leave us some waggle room ... and perhaps those (population) measures can be met," Lundvall said. He said it could also save the agency money that would be used for population control efforts under the management plan.

But Wichers and Game and Fish Acting Director Tom Thorne questioned whether the dual classification would be acceptable to the federal government or if the federal agency would reject the state plan, thereby delaying a delisting petition.

"I'm not sure we can get the USFWS to accept that classification and move forward with delisting ... that may not allow the Service that comfort zone for delisting," Thorne said. "We're playing a real high-stakes game here."

The commission, by a 3-2 vote, decided to pursue a dual classification while at the same time writing to the Service asking if it would reject the plan with a split classification.

"If it's not acceptable, then we can revisit this motion when we meet in October," Commission President Doyle Dorner said.

Wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 and 1996. All of the wolves in the three-state Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are the product of the U.S. Department of the Interior's recovery program aimed at restoring populations of the gray wolf in the northern Rockies.

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