Utah Senate Bill calls for removal of all wolves that may enter the state.

It appears that some Utah legislators are reactionary too.

One line of the bill states that “[t]he division shall capture or kill any wolf it discovers in the state, except for a wolf lawfully held in captivity.”

At the bottom of the bill is the Legislative Review, which is written by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, which states “This bill has a high probability of being held to be unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause to the United States Constitution because federal law and regulations prohibit conduct allowed by this bill.”

Read it here: S.B. 36

260 Human Caused Wolf Mortalities in Idaho for 2009

Preliminary wolf mortality numbers from the Idaho Fish and Game released.

Wolf © Ken Cole

Officially, a total of 273 wolves died in Idaho from all causes. 260 were human caused mortalities which is up 120 from last year resulting in a 178% increase in overall mortality.

Also from the report:

From September 1 through December 31, 135 wolves were legally harvested. During this period three wolves were documented to have been either shot illegally or wounded and not retrieved, another was killed in a closed area, and a fifth wolf was accidentally killed in a snare legally set by a trapper. These wolves were all counted against the harvest limit for the zone in which they were killed. The heaviest harvest occurred October 10-12 when 16 wolves were taken by hunters over the three-day weekend when deer season opened in most of the state. Hunters harvested 21 wolves in December.

94 packs present in Idaho at the end of December. Reproduction was confirmed in 62 packs, and 50 packs are believed to meet Breeding Pair criteria (at least two pups produced and currently surviving). Biologists documented 15 new packs during 2009. Three packs were eliminated by control actions to address livestock depredations, and five previously documented packs were dropped from the count because of a lack of confirmed activity during the year.

Idaho Wolf Management Progress Report December 2009
Idaho Fish and Game Department

U.S. Fish and Wildlife misses deadline on jaguar recovery plan

On last day of court-ordered deadline, USFWS does not announce plan, but asks for an extension-

U.S. Fish and Wildlife misses deadline on jaguar recovery plan. By Susan Montoya Bryan. Associated Press.

Idaho biologists recovering from helicopter crash

Cause of crash is still not known-

Idaho biologists recovering from helicopter crash.  The Associated Press

Although this has been discussed and we have been told a good investigation of matter has taken place over the last three days, the AP article says the cause of the crash is not know. It was a wolf, elk, and moose darting flight.

Let’s hope the biologists and pilot recover from the accident and that their hospital costs are paid. State employees often don’t have much in the way of health insurance anymore.