By Rebecca Huntington
September 19, 2002
Jackson Hole Guide

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission's decision to classify wolves as predators, a status that allows unlimited killing of the species, across most of the state may stall plans to remove wolves from the federal endangered species list. Federal officials will not delist wolves if Wyoming does not do enough to regulate killing of the species, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "You can't just treat them like vermin and kill every one you see because they'll just disappear," Bangs said. The federal government cannot legally propose delisting if it is likely wolves will become endangered again in Wyoming, Bangs said.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted 3-2 last week in favor of giving the wolf a dual classification as a predator and trophy game animal. Under the motion, the commission would seek to reclassify wolves as trophy game animals only in wilderness areas in the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone national forests surrounding Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The wolf would remain classified as a predator across the rest of the state. That classification allows unlimited killing, including aerial shooting, trapping and poisoning. Other animals classified as predators include coyotes, skunks, jackrabbits, stray cats and red foxes. In contrast, trophy game status means that Game and Fish regulates killing of the animals, often through sport hunting. Mountain lions and black bears are classified as trophy game.

Commissioner Gary Lundvall, of Cody, who put forward the motion, said the state cannot afford to classify the wolf as a trophy game animal across all of Wyoming. State law requires Game and Fish to pay ranchers and farmers when trophy game animals damage livestock or crops. Since the wolf is classified as a predator, the state does not have to pay for damages caused by the species, he said. Presently, a nonprofit group compensates ranchers for livestock killed by wolves. Moreover, sport hunting will not be enough to keep the wolf population in check, Lundvall said..."They're a very prolific animal. I would rather see them as a predator outside certain boundaries," he said...Wolves are already protected in Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks, which, combined with surrounding wilderness areas, should be enough land to maintain the species, Lundvall said.

Bangs agreed that a dual classification could work, but not as the Game and Fish Commission proposed. "There's nothing wrong with dual status," he said. "They can call them spawn of Satan, I don't care". But the state needs to regulate killing across a large enough, contiguous swath of land to ensure the species' survival, Bangs said. Wilderness areas may be too fragmented to provide meaningful protection, he said. Individual packs of wolves would likely be exterminated if they are not protected across their entire home ranges, he said, noting that a wolf pack might live primarily in a wilderness area but range outside those boundaries occasionally. The average pack territory is 350 square miles, he said "So what if wolves are protected in 90 percent of their home range if there's unlimited killing going on in 10 percent," he said. "Wolves are just so susceptible to human persecution."

Lundvall said he would rather see the wolves remain on the endangered species list than be classified as trophy game animals across too large a portion of the state. If wolves remain listed, the federal government has to pay for managing the species, he said. Once they are delisted, the state must foot the bill, which he added could cost millions of dollars. "I don't want (wolves) classified as a trophy game animal in the whole ecosystem because we can't afford it," Lundvall said. Wyoming's position could affect Montana and Idaho.

This December, the federal government is expected to meet its recovery goal of 30 breeding pairs of wolves for three consecutive years across the three states, Bangs said. Federal officials are waiting for Wyoming to change the predator classification and write a wolf management plan before proposing delisting across all three states. Both Idaho and Montana will have completed those goals by December, Bangs said. Ultimately, the Wyoming Legislature will have to change the wolf classification. The commission's motion is only a recommendation to lawmakers. Game and Fish commissioners are expected to unveil a draft wolf management plan and revisit wolf classification at their next meeting, Oct. 28-29, in Jackson.