Likely wolf found dead in northern Utah coyote trap

An adult male canid, probably a wolf, was found dead in a coyote trap in Box Elder County in northern Utah. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it today. They are doing a DNA test. Wolf biologists have hundreds of blood samples of Yellowstone and Yellowstone area wolves, so they can tell if it is a wolf and if it came down from Wyoming. They might even be able to trace it to a certain wolf pack.

While a dead wolf may seem like bad news, the good news is they continue to make it to Utah. Eventually packs will form. In fact, I think there was a pack in the Bear River Range several years back, but I haven’t heard anything lately.

LATER

An article giving more information has appeared.

“Rare wolf pays visit to Utah, dies in trap. Discovery, second in Utah since ’02, revives talk of recolonization.” By Joe Baird. Salt Lake Tribune.

So, it was in the hills north of Tremonton, Utah. That’s not far from where a wolf was shot by a man from Pocatello — shot almost on the Utah/Idaho border several years back. In both cases the route down from Yellowstone is not so clear as it is for a wolf that shows up in the Bear River Range, which is more to the east.
Could be a wolf migrating down from Central Idaho.

More on the controversy over the escaped domestic elk in Idaho

The Missoulian has an editorial. “Game-farm breakout highlights risks.” “SUMMARY: Montana clamped down on game farms, but risks persist right across the Idaho line.”

So does the Idaho Statesman. “Our View: Elk escape shouldn’t tarnish industry.” The Stateman says most elk farms follow the rules and boost the economy, but the editorial says “canned hunts” on some elk farms do not reflect Idaho values.”

Residents of Rock Creek, MT fight back against Oregon developer

This is a microcosm of what is going on all over the West — out-of-state developer comes in; local residents are no longer passive, and they fight back.

Read about the Rock Creek struggle (Rock Creek is one of the most famous fishing streams in the West).

Unfortunately, and there has been little publicity so far, a New York developer and libertarian organizations have used paid signature gatherers to get a ballot initiative this fall in almost every Western state. This initiative basically says abolish all your laws regulating land use, or pay (usually a developer) for the diminishment of his or her land value (as when they can’t legally sub-divide agricultural land).

In Montana it is Initiative 154.

It is being advertised as a way to protect your property rights, but in fact the ones “protected” are those who are economically and politically powerful. For accuracy’s sake, these initiatives should be named “the bad neighbor empowerment act.”

Update, Great News on the Montana ballot initiatives!

“Judge throws out ballot initiatives”
By CHELSI MOY
Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer

Judge says a “pervasive and general pattern of fraud” in signature gathering! Nevertheless, Idaho, Washington, California, and other Western states still have to face this sleazy attack on their land by these out-of-state forces. It could shake down the taxpayers for billions of dollars even as it abolishes all land use laws.

Update on Sept. 19. Courts strike down “property rights” initiative in three more states.”

Read about it in New West.

Warming Climate May Put Chill On Arctic Polar Bear Population

Polar bears are getting skinnier and pushing inland as the polar ice continues to melt. Because they are inland longer and deeper, more people see them, giving the impression that the population is actually growing when the opposite is true.

Read the article in Science Daily