Idaho wolf update July 12-July 27, 2008

The following report is by Idaho Fish and Game Department. It is put out once every two weeks. RM

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IDAHO WOLF MANAGEMENT
BI-WEEKLY PROGRESS REPORT

To:          Idaho Fish and Game Staff and Cooperators

From:        IDFG Wolf Program Coordinator, Steve Nadeau

Subject:    Status of Gray Wolf Management, Weeks of July 12-July 27, 2008

New: FWS – Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Status (WY, MT, ID):  The U.S. Federal District Court in Missoula, Montana, issued a preliminary injunction on Friday, July 18, 2008, that immediately reinstated temporary Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountain DPS pending final resolution of the case.  This includes all of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, the eastern one-third of Washington and Oregon, and parts of north-central Utah. The USFWS is evaluating legal options regarding the Court’s order and the ongoing litigation over the agency’s delisting of the northern Rocky Mountain wolf population.  All wolves in the southern half of Montana, all portions of Idaho south of Interstate-90, and all of Wyoming will be managed under the 2005 and 2008 Endangered Species Act nonessential experimental population 10j regulations.  The State of Idaho Department of Fish and Game will once again act as the designated agent for the USFWS in implementing day-to-day management of wolves under the MOU between the Secretary of Interior and Governor of Idaho signed January 2006. [boldface mine]

You may review past wolf weekly publications on our wolf webpage and links along with all pertinent and updated wolf information and publications at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/

Monitoring

Holder (NPT) verified reproduction for a pack in the northern part of the McCall zone, but was unable to see/hear pups.  She then teamed up with D. Ausband (UMT) to conduct a capture operation on the southern part of the same zone; a subadult female wolf was caught and radiocollared.

Ron Judd: My heart leapt a little. In a good way, one I almost had forgotten. Seeing those six wolf pups last week

Ron Judd. Seattle Times columnist writes about Washington’s wolf pack.

The Methow’s “Lookout Pack,” as it’s being called, is the first verified litter — emphasis on “verified” — in this state since the gray wolf was hunted to extinction in the 1970s. But the pack, living in the hills above Twisp, Okanogan County, probably isn’t the only one.

Do bighorn sheep roam Idaho’s rugged Pioneer Mountains!

Do bighorn sheep roam the Pioneers? Project seeks to determine if these elusive mountain climbers occupy rugged range. By Jason Kauffman. Idaho Mounain Express.

Agency makes it tough to keep tabs on animal kills

Wildlife Services has done away with easily accessible national tolls of the all the wildlife it kills for the livestock industry and others.  Now, you have to tally up the state tabs and do the math yourself yourself – carnivore “controls” keeps trending upward :

Agency makes it tough to keep tabs on animal kills – AP

Oil smeared Alaska senior senator, Ted Stevens, indicted.

“Uncle” Ted Stevens, the uncivil, anti-conservation, senatorial spokesman for Big Oil from Alaska, has been indicted on 7 felony charges.

Bye bye to another real villain! He will lose general election or the primary, but he is going to be gone.

Kate Sheppard. Senator Ted Stevens’ (Non-) Environmental Legacy — And The Alaska Senate Race. The Huffington Post. There are many other stories about his indictment elsewhere.

↓ Update. Look at this!!

Alaska’s Palin Faces Probe. Star GOP Governor To Be Investigated For Abuse of Office. By Jim Carlton. Wall Street Journal.

There was talk about Palin (being a woman) as McCain’s running mate.

Wyoming wildfires strengthen

Wildfires strengthen. By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole News and Guide.

Although the unusually early California wildfires have cast a pall over much of Nevada and Idaho for a month, the wildlfire season in the interior is finally underway.

Need a good laugh that isn’t funny? The Elk Vaccination Follies

Need a good laugh that isn’t funny? The Elk Vaccination Follies. By Bill Schneider. New West.

“FWP has doubled the elk quota around Yellowstone with minimal public input and is now talking about capturing 350 elk in the Paradise Valley to test the prevalence of brucellosis, which is commonly believed to be very low.”

Robert Fanning where are you to save the Northern Range Of Yellowstone elk herd now that it needs it? RM

States put wolf hunts on hold

Wyoming, Idaho and Montana put their planned wolf hunts on hold. By Bob Moen. Associated Press writer

Yellowstone Park fire closes part of the Grand Loop road

Fire burns 800 acres, closes road in Yellowstone. By the Billings Gazette Staff and Associated Press.

The powerline caused fire is near LeHardy Rapids. This is the first large Yellowstone Park fire of the season.

Anthrax strikes down 25 of Ted Turner’s bison

25 Ted Turner Bison Die of Anthrax. By Jennifer McKee. Billings Gazette State Bureau

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Aug. 5, 2008, update. Anthrax on Turner ranch prompts road closure. By Jessica Mayrer. Bozeman Chronicle staff writer.

Montana DOL, so vigilant about brucellosis has finally decided maybe anthrax is a danger to people!