Domestic sheep removed from East Fork Bitteroot

Sheep tested positive for Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae

Bighorn sheep in Montana and elsewhere suffered severe losses this winter at the hands of pneumonia. In the East Fork herd bighorn were seen interacting with domestic sheep near Sula, Montana. Those domestic sheep were relocated earlier this year and another herd has been removed from the area to protect the remaining 87 bighorn sheep that survived the outbreak this winter.

Survival of lambs is the big remaining concern in the affected populations and it is being closely monitored.

Bighorn Sheep, Hells Canyon © Ken Cole

Domestic East Fork sheep removed.
by PERRY BACKUS – Ravalli Republic

Tests offer no proof of a wolf pack living in Colorado.

No wolf DNA found in suspected wolf scat.

The claims that a wolf pack has been living on a large ranch have been seen with skepticism by some.  It appears evidence, other than sightings of an individual, indicates that there is no pack present.

It doesn’t help that every wolf that ventures to the southern part of Wyoming is killed either.

Tests offer no proof of a wolf pack living in Colorado.
The Denver Post.

FDA takes steps to limit use of antibiotics in livestock

Wants livestock industry to use antibiotics just for the health of the animals and to remove from general livestock feed

Not only does the livestock industry foul waters with livestock waste, destroy public lands and habitat, and contribute the greatest to greenhouse gas emissions, it also threatens the health of humans by feeding antibiotics to livestock. They aren’t using it simply to protect the health of the animals instead, they use it to increase growth and reduce feeding which results in the creation of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Those bacteria are responsible for the deaths of many people.

Wolf pups slain after packs kill livestock

More on the recent killing of pups in Wyoming

The USFWS is effectively keeping wolves from dispersing into Colorado and Utah with its heavy-handed approach.

Wolf pups slain after packs kill livestock.
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr. Jackson Hole News & Guide

EPA orders Simplot Cattle to change watering practice

I recently attended a gathering of activists engaged in curtailing CAFOs/Feedlots and their many crimes against our common water and air.  With the success of California activists at bringing health and environmental regulation to the massive feedlots in their state, many other western states not so apt to test the water or otherwise regulate are seeing an influx of the operations.  Good folk are organizing and demanding federal regulators lean in given the local ‘good ol’ boys’ unwillingness to take appropriate measures.

EPA orders Simplot Cattle to change watering practice – Times-News

“Simplot’s watering system adds fecal bacteria to the Snake River,” said Edward Kowalski, Director of EPA’s Compliance and Enforcement office in Seattle, Wash, in the release.

Studies Confirm Presence, Severity of Pollution in US National Parks

Not all, but most pollution comes from nearby agriculture-

Studies Confirm Presence, Severity of Pollution in US National Parks. Science Daily

The worst of the problems is pesticides.

Proof that Asian carp have made it past barrier fence to Great Lakes

Twenty pound Asian carp caught-

An Invader, Near the Great Lakes. By Monica Dave. New York Times.

” ‘Asian carp are like cockroaches; when you see one, you know it’s accompanied by many more you don’t see,’ said Henry Henderson, of the Natural Resources Defense Council.”

Eight wolves killed in SW Wyoming because of the death of just one lamb

Two adult wolves and six pups killed by Wildlife Services in an area with just one confirmed wolf depredation, a mere lamb-

The state of Wyoming wants to confine wolves to 13% of the state, and Judge Molloy struck that plan down back in 2008.  Currently under federal wolf management wolves are allowed to inhabit anywhere in Wyoming under federal protection, dependent of course on their behavior.

It seems the wolves have to be very well behaved because in an area northwest of Kemmerer, USFWS told Wildlife Services to kill a lone adult male wolf and a female and all of her pups because one lamb had been confirmed killed by wolves. Other dead sheep (number not released) were found dead in the general area but the cause could not be determined.

Here are some thoughts (1) that is a lot of dead wolves to compensate for a dead lamb, (2) the federal government seems to be carrying out Wyoming’s illegal wolf plan but  in a de facto way, (3) this is an ideal way to make sure wolves never get to Colorado, northern Utah or southeast Idaho.

The story is in the official latest Wyoming weekly wolf report of June 25, 2010. I converted the Microsoft Word report to a pdf file and put emphasis (boldface) to the relevant parts of the story.

wyomingnews-June25-2010

Wyoming gubernatorial candidates praise the energy industry

Role of past Wyoming politicians in corrupting MMS doesn’t phase them-

And it’s bow down before Wyoming’s true rulers. Praise in the Casper Star Tribune. By Dustin Bleizeffer.  They would never hurt Wyoming like they did the Gulf of Mexico.

– – – – – –
Related
Oil companies have spent little on oil spill cleanup technology. Yahoo News. By Phuong Le and John Flesher. Associated Press Writers

Do they mean to say that all those pretty ads in TV about clean, safe oil production were not true?  I’m so shocked. Oh, and Congress did even less.

Utah anglers may have to buy access to streams

Utah’s new anti-access law effect’s on fishing could be overcome by access purchase-

We discussed this earlier in brief as part of the comments on the Salt Lake City, Chevron oil pipe spill into Red Butte Creek and the Jordan River.

Utah anglers may have to buy access to streams. By Brandon Loomis. The Salt Lake Tribune

Why Are Asian Carp So Fearsome?

Why doesn’t Wildlife Services get a job killing these rather than our native wildlife?

Instead we have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers doing nothing to stop their spread to the Great Lakes.

Why Are Asian Carp So Fearsome? By Karen Rowan. LiveScience.com as reported in Yahoo News.

Northern Idaho investigation begun on poisoning of domestic dogs

Carbaryl-laced sausages believed to target carnivorous wildlife-

As is the usual case, dogs ended up dead in an attempt to probably poison wolves.

Idaho Fish and Games news release. Investigation begun on poisoning of domestic dogs

Petition to Protect Mexican Wolves from Traps on Public Lands

Groups Request End to Trapping & Snaring in Mexican Wolf Habitat in NM

14 Mexican Wolves have Been Trapped by Private Trappers – Press Release – WildEarth Guardians

Santa Fe, NM. Today, WildEarth Guardians, the Sierra Club, and Southwest Environmental Center petitioned federal agencies and requested an emergency halt to all trapping and snaring on the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. Numerous Mexican gray wolves, which face imminent extinction, have been harmed by traps set throughout the recovery area. The groups sought immediate increased protections for Mexican wolves or lobos from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico.

More …

Wyoming wolf news June 18

This USFWS news also gives info from Oregon where the Imnaha Pack’s alpha male is missing-

wyomingnews-June18-2010 pdf file.

Climate change may favor nonmigratory elk

Migration is dwindling all over the Earth; Wyoming elk are one example-

Climate change may favor couch-potato elk. Heading for the hills every spring appears worse than staying put. By Susan Milius. Science News.

I have to wonder what the pollution of the Gulf of Mexico will do to the continent spanning bird migrations?

Idaho sockeye numbers cause for hope

Another good year for Idaho’s sockeye salmon?

Redfish Lake © Ken Cole

134,000 164,000 sockeye have crossed Bonneville Dam which is more than 3 times the 10-year average. Most of those are heading to lakes in Washington State but a few are returning to lakes in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. During the last two years Idaho saw exceptionally high returns of sockeye in comparison to many of the previous years where only a handful of fish returned.

Climate Expertise Lacking among Global Warming Contrarians

Yes, there are skeptical scientists, but climatology is hardly ever their field-

Climate Expertise Lacking among Global Warming Contrarians. “A majority of scientists who dispute global warming lack the climatological expertise to do so.”  By David Biello. Scientific American.

I would say that the “contrarians” have largely carried the day in public opinion.  Too bad scientific truth isn’t discovered that way.  Then the Earth would indeed be flat.

Perils of Collaboration/Collaboration in Peril ?

Two Contrasting Perspectives on the Collaborative Conservation Model

George Wuerthner continues his thoughtful critique of the collaborative process by illustrating a stark distinction between the act of “collaboration” and the art of “negotiation”:

Perils of Collaboration – George Wuerthner, Counterpunch

Rocky Barker gives voice to the pro-collaborative perspective, suggesting if collaboratives aren’t nourished with passage – their failure may end up fanning the flames of more principled/anti-establishment voices:

Other collaborative processes threatened if Simpson’s bill goes down – Rocky Barker, Letters from the West – Idaho Statesman

Wolf Delisting Court Hearing: Sense and Nonsense

Louisa Willcox of NRDC writes about the Delisting Hearing

Louisa Wilcox, of NRDC, has written a great piece about the hearing and how the arguments by the government were disjointed and more about the politics than the law. She raises some good points and gives more information about the judge’s questions of the government’s conflicting arguments.

“Is it rational for the states to manage wolves when their plans are not legally binding or enforceable? When their primary defense is a “trust us” argument? Was not the failure of the states to recover wolves a major reason that wolves got listed in the first place? Given the states’ track record, what rational person would be satisfied with a “trust us” defense?”

Investigation Launched Into Grizzly Bear Mauling of Botanist Outside Yellowstone National Park

This story gives more info on the dead botanist Erwin Frank Evert-

Story from National Parks Traveler. By Kurt Repanshek

Evert recently wrote Vascular Plants of the Greater Yellowstone Area. He knew the Yellowstone country well. His death certainly is a loss.

Oregon ranchers indicted for arson wildfires and threats-

Indictment indicates anger about BLM land use behind some of the fires-

They are accused of multiple arson wildfires, threats to federal officials,  even a fire set to drive out hunters. This began as early as 1982.  Some locals call them “good people,” “salt of the earth.” Bill Hoyt president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said there are no better people in the world than the Hammonds [family name of the accused].

Oregon ranchers charged with arson and threats. By Jeff Barnard. AP Environmental Writer

Update: The Hammonds are scheduled for arraignment in Eugene U.S. District Court on June 28 on the felony charges, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

NW Montana black bear bites through tent, into sleeping man’s ear near St. Regis

Injured man had a clean camp, but previous campers nearby clearly had not-

I think most of us keep a clean camp, but I worry precisely about this.  What went on at a camping spot in the past?

Of course, if there is obvious past food and trash it’s best not to camp there.

Story in the Missoulian.

– – – – –

Update 6-23: Man recalls nearly losing ear after black bear chomped through tent at campsite near St. Regis. By Jamie Kelly of the Missoulian
Update 6-25. FWP kills bear that bit man’s ear through tent; cub also euthanized. By Rob Cheney. Missoulian

NW Montana grizzlies are again way out on the Plains

Last year one grizzly almost made it to the Missouri River-

FWP to trap grizzlies on prairie. By Karl Puckett. Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer

– – – – –

Update: Plains grizzlies not seen since June 8. Great Falls Tribune.
High water on the Missouri River expected to deter them from swimming it.

Frank Rich On Oil Spill: Obama Must Come Clean And Clean House

This must mean that Interior boss Salazar gets the ax-

Clean the Gulf, Clean House, Clean Their Clock. By Frank Rick. New York  Times.

The President asked us to pray.  So I ask God that the President fire Ken Salazar.

The President says he would have “fired Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive” (currently yachting in the Irish Sea). We all would fire Hayward, but we can’t. The President can fire the man who did not clean up MMS after calling it his number one priority.
– – – – –

Related. A yachting trip? The 10 worst BP gaffes in Gulf oil spill. Christian Science Monitor. By Mark Sappenfield, Staff writer.
Related. BP oil disaster: How much oil is left?. Christian Science Monitor.
Unfortunately, it is well over 90%. Associated Press

As oil gushes in Gulf, eyes are on sands to north in Alberta

Tar sands said to be solution from reliance on “petro-dictators”-

Of course, this is all at the cost of another huge insult to the planet as well as the northern Rockies.

One of the things that few seem to understand is that the worst environmental degradation comes from exploiting marginal (actually submarginal) resources. Drilling in deep water, polar regions, and production of energy from sources where net energy (actual new energy) is relatively small such as tar sands, show a very depleted resource and a horrible future.

As oil gushes in Gulf, eyes are on sands to north in Alberta. By Kim Briggeman of the Missoulian

Officials kill grizzly bear suspected in fatal mauling near Yellowstone

This story has a lot of twists and turns from various officials-

This story, at least the earlier version of it, has already been discussed a lot in “have you hears any good wildlife . . .”

I decided it was time to post the outcome: dead man and dead bear.  Was this a screwup, bad luck ??  There hasn’t been very much accurate official information. The incidents took place in the Kitty Creek area, east of Yellowstone Park adjacent to the Washakie Wilderness.

Officials kill bear suspected in fatal mauling near Yellowstone. Billings Gazette. By Ruffin Provost.

June 23 Update. Griz victim knew of trap. Friend of slain botanist said the scientist went into bear area despite warnings. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide

Kevin Richert: Otter writes his sorry wilderness legacy

Governor Otter intervenes at last minute to dim hopes of settling 37 year old Idaho Wilderness controversy-

Below a prominent Idaho Statesman political columnist weighs in to Otter’s sorry move. Considering Otter’s last minute actions to turn once supportive congressional Republicans against this fairly good and delicately balanced bill, I am reminded of Otter’s position on wolves.  We can certainty trace the change from partial compromise on the Idaho wolf issue to one of nasty divisiveness to one man — Butch Otter. Thinking of all the other non-outdoor related things he has done, I think he’s Idaho worst governor, even including legendary “dumb” Don Samuelson back in the day.

Kevin Richert: Otter writes his sorry wilderness legacy. By Kevin Richert. Idaho Statesman.

Gulf oil full of methane, adding new concerns

The news just keeps getting worse on this blowout-

Methane gas (natural gas) is what caused the explosion. Natural gas not only profoundly depletes oxygen in the ocean at this concentration, it is also a much stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. I have to wonder if a gas emission of this magnitude is a climate  changer.  Some alternative theories of global warming suggest that sudden oceanic emissions of methane are what really brought on abrupt global warming.

Gulf oil full of methane, adding new concerns. By Matthew Brown. Associated Press.

Let’s really talk about taking down those Snake River dams

The merits of dam removal discussed.

There has been an ongoing discussion about the removal of the Lower Snake River dams for many years, in fact, there was opposition to building them in the first place due to concerns about salmon runs. This article examines the pros and cons of dam removal and I think that the pros far outweigh the cons.

Many people see that runs of salmon have been fairly strong during the last 10 years but they fail to realize that these runs are primarily hatchery fish that compete in many ways with the wild fish that are truly in danger of extinction.

Biologist Studies Wolves’ Possible Return to Colorado

Recent Colorado wolf sightings still not confirmed.

This is an interesting story about the possible return of wolves to Colorado. I’ve heard great skepticism about the earlier reports of evidence of breeding on or near the large ranch in northwest Colorado but it may be possible that there is an individual wolf present there. Results of the evidence is still pending.

Biologist Studies Wolves’ Possible Return to Colorado.
KUNC

Boulder-White Clouds bill still needs work, Idaho lawmakers tell Senate panel

Idaho Delegation supports the bill but Governor opposes it

The Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CEIDRA), the bill which would create a Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness, had its hearing yesterday in the U.S. Senate. There are some good and bad things about the bill but the land swaps to Custer County, except for very small exchanges, have been removed.

Additions by Ralph Maughan.  This bill seemed to be well under way to passage, shepherded by Idaho Republicans. Now it sounds to me they are looking for a excuse to kill it.

Boulder-White Clouds bill still needs work, Idaho lawmakers tell Senate panel.
BY LAUREN FRENCH – MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Update. Risch: Wouldn’t bet on Idaho wilderness in 2010. AP

For those who haven’t followed this closely, efforts to protect the area as Wilderness have been underway for over 30 years. The bill before the Senate Committee was essentially written by Idaho’s Republican Representative Mike Simpson. Since Governor Butch Otter says he opposes the bill even if his suggestions for changes are adopted and “now Simpson now says addressing Otter’s concerns is his top priority,” it sounds like Simpson may be abandoning his bill.

This bill was developed by the much hailed “collaborative process” championed by Simpson and Idaho senator Mike Crapo. I have always been skeptical of such a process because it takes so long and requires everyone’s agreement. If the bill is taken back now for more collaboration, there will never be a bill.

It is also notable that Otter’s objections are largely related to already existing Wilderness areas, not the Boulder-White Clouds area itself. The off-road vehicle people quoted opposing the bill have always opposed any bill at all.

June 19. See the latest post in this forum. Butch Otter . . . a sorry piece

EPA concerned about Monsanto pollution control dam

EPA wants the dam to release clean, treated water.

The dam built to keep selenium and heavy metals also blocks water flows to the Blackfoot River.

EPA concerned about Monsanto pollution control dam.
By JOHN MILLER – Associated Press

New World Mine claims all purchased

20 year threat of mining near Yellowstone National Park is over.

The New World Mine was proposed to be built just north of Yellowstone National Park in 1990 by a Canadian mining company but it received a lot of opposition because it greatly threatened the headwaters of the Clark Fork of the Yellowstone and Soda Butte Creek which flows into Yellowstone National Park from the northeast.

President Bill Clinton fought the mine and a settlement was reached in 1996 but the mining claims were still held by private interests. The Trust for Public Land has purchased the last of these claims and now the threat of the mines is finally gone.

The 1872 Mining Act needs to be changed so that mining companies cannot extort the American taxpayers or others by threatening to mine such sensitive areas.

New World Mine claims all purchased.
Associated Press

Judge Halts BLM’s Attempt to Revoke Valley Sun’s Grazing Permit for Lack of Use

BOISE — The Department of Interior’s Office of Hearings and Appeals has granted Western Watersheds Project (WWP) a stay of a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decision to cancel Valley Sun, LLC’s (Valley Sun) grazing permit on public lands along the East Fork and main Salmon Rivers in central Idaho. BLM had attempted to cancel the permit for reasons related to Valley Sun’s failure to graze livestock on the allotments. In granting WWP’s request for a stay of the decision, the court cited the threat of irreparable harm to the environment, including endangered salmon habitat, on the steep public lands at issue should the allotments be subject to livestock grazing.

“The stay vindicates our position that public regulators have a primary legal obligation to protect the public interest, land, wildlife and fisheries habitat.” said Brian Ertz, media director for Western Watersheds Project. “In this case, BLM’s loyalties appear to lie with the industry it’s supposed to be regulating.”

Have you seen interesting wildife news? June 16, 2010

Note that this replaces the 11th edition. That edition will now move slowly into the depths of the blog.

Nesting Sandhill Crane © Ken Cole

Please don’t post entire articles here, just the link, title and your comments about the article. Most of these violate copyright law. They also take up too much space.

Appeals court denies earthworm protection

Court says there is not enough evidence to show that worm is threatened.

The recently rediscovered giant Palouse earthworm won’t be given protection because not enough is known about it.

Appeals court denies earthworm protection.
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS – The Associated Press

Oil spotted in Great Salt Lake wetlands

Chevron’s broken pipeline has not been contained completely in the Jordan River at SLC-

More bad news about the Utah “oil spill.”

Oil spotted in Great Salt Lake wetlands. By Judy Fahys. The Salt Lake Tribune

Articles about today’s Wolf Delisting Hearing

Judge wonders why Wyoming was left out of the delisting decision.

It looks like Molloy’s decision will center greatly on the decision of the USFWS to leave out Wyoming. About that decision:

“I understand the practical argument, I understand the political argument. Those two things are very, very clear. But what I don’t understand is the legal argument. That’s not very clear,” the judge said.

Molloy: Why protect wolves in Wyoming, but not Montana and Idaho?.
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian

Judge hears arguments in federal wolf case
By MATT VOLZ (AP)

Rancher still quarantining herd after brucellosis

7 tested positive.

We wrote about this story last December: Second brucellosis case found in Idaho cattle herd. It turns out that 7 cattle tested positive in the herd that was assembled over the last two years. The origins of the animals have not been reported. The remaining animals are being kept in quarantine.

Idaho State Veterinarian Bill Barton was quick to blame elk as the source of the outbreak but there has been no source identified. Will the results of the epidemiology be released?

Rancher still quarantining herd after brucellosis.
Idaho Statesman

Many skeptical of bison vaccination proposal

$9 Million plan won’t bring more tolerance by livestock industry.

The plan to dart bison in Yellowstone with vaccine is just another money pit in an unending battle against bison by the livestock industry. It is inconceivable that the government wants to waste even more money on a plan that even they say won’t rid Yellowstone bison of brucellosis or bring more tolerance for wild bison by the livestock oligarchy of Montana.

This is just another money pit that won’t accomplish anything. Quit pushing the rancher’s problems onto the taxpayers, let bison be bison and vaccinate the damned cattle instead.

Many skeptical of bison vaccination proposal.
By DANIEL PERSON – The Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Wolf delisting hearing stalled after attorney faints in courtroom

85 protesters show up at courthouse-

Wolf delisting hearing stalled after attorney faints in courtroom. KBZK.com

Clinton-Era Secretary Blasts Interior; Scientists Say Salazar Should Quit

Scientists & Conservation Groups: Time for Salazar to step down

Clinton-Era Secretary Blasts Interior; Scientists Say Salazar Should Quit featured in the New York Times

Read the letter

The Gulf Coast disaster is a cataclysmic failure. It’s a failure of insatiable industrial greed. But to leave it at that – to blame BP and demand accountability of BP alone – is too narrow. It keeps the reigns of control in the hands of the private actors who ought no longer be trusted, and it ignores the fact that the environment in which private industry’s over-step of influence took place was only made possible by a failure of our representatives to clean shop. There’s a systemic problem.

Idaho Fish and Game/Wildlife Services targets wolf and her 7 pups 8 months after last depredation.

Blue Bunch Pack near McCall and New Meadows hasn’t killed livestock since October and all other members have been killed

IDFG Director Cal Groen & Idaho Governor "Butch" Otter

It has been nearly 8 months since any member of southwest Idaho’s Blue Bunch Pack killed any livestock yet, on March, 16, members of the Blue Bunch Pack were killed by Wildlife Services under an order that has apparently extended to persist to this day.

As far as anyone knows there is only the collared alpha female tending 7 wolf pups in the mountains to the west of McCall, Idaho and the Idaho Fish and Game wants them dead. This, even though there is a standing policy memo in place which extends “the effective period for take orders by USDA Wildlife Services (WS) and kill permits (livestock owners) from 45 to 60 days following the most recent depredation incident” which, in this case, was October 2009. There have been no depredations since. The memo also authorizes “additional WS wolf removals and extended kill permits based on recurring incidents or chronic history of the wolf pack involved”.

It appears that this is how the IDFG plans on managing wolves into the foreseeable future. They plan on carrying out heavy handed control even long after any depredations on livestock have occurred. This means that any pack that has been deemed a chronically depredating pack will be killed even if they haven’t preyed on livestock for a long period of time.

Wickiup Wolves?

Are there wolves in the Cascades of Oregon?

This story came up in a Google Alert today and the first half of the article talks about radio tagging salmon, an interesting story but the second part of the article talks about an entirely different subject: wolves in the Oregon Cascades.

Over the last few years there have been a number of reported sightings of wolves in Central Oregon west of Bend. Are these truly wolves or could they be escaped pets? Certainly wolves could make the trek there from Idaho and there is a lot of wild country and a prey base that could support wolves here but are they there now?

On the air, alive and well from a fish’s stomach.
Bill Monroe – OregonLive.com

Crowds expected Tuesday as wolves return to court in Missoula

Tomorrow is the big day before Judge Molloy-

“”People simplify things,”[Ed] Bangs said. “They’ll say 300 wolves is not enough for recovery, but that’s not the recovery goal. That’s bogus. Or they’ll say the Service promised there’d never be more than 300 wolves. That’s not true either.” Rest of the story in the Missoulian.

Stop Alberta oil expansion

Stop the slow motion “gulf disaster” of Alberta tar sands oil-

Stop Alberta oil expansion. Guest column by Tom Woodbury. Western Watersheds Project. Montana Office.

It’s bad news for Idaho and Montana highways, but much more for Montana the world at large.

Have you seen interesting wildife news? June 3, 2010

Note that this replaces the 10th edition. That edition will now move slowly into the depths of the blog.

Antelope on the Big Desert NW of Mud Lake, Idaho. March 2010. Copyright Ralph Maughan

Please don’t post entire articles here, just the link, title and your comments about the article. Most of these violate copyright law. They also take up too much space.

The Ethics of Killing Large Carnivores

Is “bagging a trophy” really an amoral choice?

This is a very interesting article that discusses the very core of issues we discuss on this blog.  I thoroughly recommend that you read it as I think it represents how I feel about wildlife, and more specifically large carnivore, management today.  The proponents of trophy hunting (and I think the North American Wildlife Management Model as well) claim that it is an amoral matter while, as the article points out, it is a moral matter.

In his paper, Environmental ethics and trophy hunting, Dr. Alastair Gunn states that “Nowhere in the (scientific) literature, so far as I am aware, is hunting for fun, for the enjoyment of killing, or for the acquisition of trophies defended.”

This passage is particularly relevant:

Unfortunately, jurisdictions in both Canada and the United States are saddled with a policy framework for wildlife conservation that is carried out within an artificial construct in which ethical considerations simply do not exist and management is driven largely by values, attitudes and deeply held beliefs that are ensconced in the anachronistic North American Wildlife Management Model that dates back to the early 1900’s. This narrow approach is primarily rooted in an agricultural mindset, as opposed to an ecological one.

The Ethics of Killing Large Carnivores.
Chris Genovali – Executive Director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Gulf disaster stirs worries in Rockies

Could anything similar happen despite Wyoming’s inland location?

The corrupt and discredited Minerals Management Service (MMS) both regulates and collects royalties from off-shore oil and gas. Inland, the BLM does the same, and that agency is full of problems too.  You have to wonder if Salazar has been on the job correcting the BLM’s decline through the Dick Cheney years?

Oil and gas disasters are possible in Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana, etc.  A hydrogen sulfide (that’s the very lethal rotten egg gas) blowout from natural gas wells, natural gas explosions, massive river pollution affecting the critical Green and Colorado Rivers are all possible.

This article in the Casper Star Tribune looks at it a bit from the view of conservationists but even more from the Wyoming oil industry. Diemer True (True Oil Company), who is quoted several times at the end of the article is one of the most powerful people in Wyoming.

Is a political overreaction to the oil gusher really possible with the oil and gas industry so well placed at the national, state and, in many places, local level? Or is it more likely nearly impossible to do anything of lasting consequence in the face of such political power?

Gulf disaster stirs worries in Rockies. By Dustin Bleizeffer. Star-Tribune energy reporter. Casper Star Tribune.

Western Watersheds Project fights for fish, wildlife, and fiscal responsibility

Online Messenger #177

Western Watersheds Project wins in Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho and Continues our Push For Environmental & Fiscal Responsibility Throughout the West ~ Jon Marvel Friends, Western Watersheds Project, with the help of many of our allies in the conservation community, has been bringing much needed change to public lands and wildlife management throughout the west. Recently, WWP’s efforts have resulted in a favorable settlement on a Nevada allotment that served as center-stage of the controversial Calico free-roaming horse roundup, an extended closure of cattle grazing on key fish and wildlife habitat on the Payette National Forest in Idaho, and protections for hundreds of miles of fish habitat on the Malheur National Forest in Oregon. Also, WWP continues our push to insist that the federal government address the massive budget shortfall with its destructive public land grazing program in the west. Payette National Forest Closure of Cattle Allotment in Key Wildlife Area The Rapid River area near Riggins, Idaho provides some of the most important spawning waters in Idaho for chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout, all fish listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.  This area also has critical winter habitat for mule deer, elk and bighorn sheep, and is also home to the rare mountain quail.  With its scenic backdrop of the Seven Devils Mountains and plentiful wildlife, the Rapid River also provides outstanding recreation and hunting. A large cattle allotment of over 21,000 acres is located in the Payette and Nez Perce National Forests, the Fall Creek/Whitebird Allotment.  The Rapid River forms this allotment’s western boundary.  The Forest Service has documented ongoing degradation from livestock grazing, including to the springs and headwaters in this allotment, as well as problems with invasive weeds and unmaintained improvements.  Despite these documented problems, in 2009, the Payette National Forest New Meadows District Ranger approved continued livestock grazing, which WWP successfully appealed to Payette Forest Supervisor Suzanne Rainville. The Payette National Forest has agreed with the permittee to a voluntary closure to cattle grazing on the Fall Creek/Whitebird Allotment for resource protection for at least 7 years.  WWP is pleased that the Payette and the permittee reached this voluntary agreement, which will remove livestock from these outstanding public lands, and promote improved habitat for fish and wildlife. WWP and Partners Challenge Destructive Public Lands Grazing Subsidy Today, Western Watersheds Project and partners Center for Biological Diversity, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Oregon Natural Desert Association, and Wildearth Guardians sued the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to compel them to respond to a 2005 rulemaking petition that seeks to increase the fee for livestock grazing across 258 million acres of federal public land. Read the News Release Read the Complaint Read the Grazing Fee Petition WWP and Partners Win Protection for Steelhead trout on the Malheur National Forest Western Watersheds Project, along with our partners at the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) and the Center for Biological Diversity, have won litigation against the Malheur National Forest in Oregon in regard to livestock grazing on hundreds of miles of streams designated as critical habitat for Endangered Species Act listed ocean-run steelhead trout. WWP was well represented in this litigation by Dave Becker and Mac Lacy of ONDA with help from Kristin Ruether of Advocates for the West. Read the News Release Read the Decision Jon Marvel Executive Director

Banner: Black Rock Area in Soldier Meadows, Nevada © Katie Fite, WWP 2010 Big-head clover (Trifolium macrocephalum) © Katie Fite, WWP 2010 Click for more … WWP is now accepting donations via Paypal ! Photos: Thanks to Katie Fite and Don & Joyce Clarke ! WWP Wins Favorable Settlement of Soldier Meadows Allotment, NW Nevada The Soldier Meadows Allotment contains Bureau of Land Management public lands enjoyed by wildflower, wildlife, wilderness and free-roaming horse enthusiasts. Livestock use of this public land allotment is largely responsible for the controversial ‘Calico Roundup‘ of free-roaming horses. WWP is pleased to bring this victory to recreationists and non-consumptive users of all stripes, whose interests in these magnificent public lands are commonly diminished by public land ranching. WWP was ably represented by Advocates for The West‘s attorney, Todd Tucci. Read the Settlement Agreement You Can Help

BC-03-M-02 | 2001-2010

Born in British Columbia, the lynx travelled more than 2,000 km to finally make it back home

An interesting story of a lynx that was translocated into Colorado from B.C. only to return there 8 years later. I don’t think, however, that the lynx really “wanted to die close to home”

BC-03-M-02 | 2001-2010
by Kate Lunau – Macleans.ca

Wildlife underpass to be built on Idaho 21 this summer

This is an area where many wildlife collisions occur each spring and fall.

Good news for deer and elk which cross the highway to and from winter range. I’ve had a few close calls here myself.

Wildlife underpass to be built on Idaho 21 this summer.
Idaho Statesman.

Feds propose extending minerals extraction ban on bighorn habitat

Wyoming herd is a big tourist attraction

The Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Locatable Mineral Withdrawal may be extended to protect bighorn sheep habitat from development for another 20 years. The herd there is estimated to be about 1,000 bighorn.

Feds propose extending minerals extraction ban on bighorn habitat.
Casper Star Tribune

The Spill, The Scandal and the President

The inside story of how Obama failed to crack down on the corruption of the Bush years – and let the world’s most dangerous oil company get away with murder

A revealing article in Rolling Stone points out how Obama and Salazar did nothing to reform the well known corruption at MMS. It is expected that industry will try to cut as many corners as possible but the culture at the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service did nothing to curb the corruption of gas and oil companies and instead facilitated the current destruction of the Gulf of Mexico.

“Bush owns eight years of the mess,” says Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California. “But after more than a year on the job, Salazar owns it too.”

Wolf-recovery program now ‘at risk of failure’

Cumulative impacts of many factors cited

A new report by the Us Fish and Wildlife Service assesses the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program and the news isn’t good.

Cumulatively there are many risks for the population.  Among them are poaching, too many controls related to depredation, small litter sizes and low pup survival possibly related to inbreeding.

The report states:

While it is not biologically reasonable to expect the population to track exactly with predictions or to increase every year, population swings over the last 5 years, coupled with a steady decline in the number of breeding pairs over the last 3 years, and inability of the project to achieve its objective to increase the minimum population by 10 percent in each of the last 2 years, indicate that the cumulative effects of identified threats coupled with the population’s biological parameters are putting the population at risk of failure.

Wolf-recovery program now ‘at risk of failure’.
Tim Steller Arizona Daily Star

The West needs more, not fewer, wolves

George Wuerthner responds to anti-wolf claims and asks wildlife managers to consider the ecosystem, the whole community of life, in assessing wolves’ influence in the west:

The West needs more, not fewer, wolves – Missoulian, Guest Column – June 7, 2010 :

Despite the dire predictions from hunter advocacy groups that wolves are “destroying” elk herds, the real problem for Montana and other western states is not that wolves eat too many elk; rather the problem is that they do not eat enough.

Eagle wolf poacher loses cash and hunting rights

$1000 fine and loss of hunting privileges for one year

Randy Strickland shot the wolf pup from a road near Tyndall Meadows last fall before the season had opened there.  There were many witnesses who reported him.

Eagle wolf poacher loses cash and hunting rights.
Idaho Statesman

Young Grizzly Victim of of HIt-and-Run in Yellowstone National Park

Second Collision in a Week

Highway 191 is deadly to wildlife and a number of elk, wolves and bears have been hit along this stretch over the years. It is likely the most deadly stretch of road for wildlife anywhere in Yellowstone National Park. The stretch of highway 191 between Bozeman and Big Sky to the north is also the most deadly stretch of highway for motorists in Montana. I’ve been passed a few times on snowy roads where there was a double yellow line.  It pays to drive carefully on this highway.

Highway 191 through Yellowstone

Young Grizzly Victim of of HIt-and-Run in Yellowstone National Park, Second Collision in a Week
National Parks Traveler.

BP Well Bore And Casing Integrity May Be Blown, Says Florida’s Sen. Nelson

The News from the Gulf is getting worse and worse. It’s almost paralyzing.

Essentially, what the Senator is saying is that the pipe leading down to the oil may be leaking.  The oil isn’t just leaking from the pipe at the top but that it may be leaking into the ground from lower and there may be no way to stop it except through a relief well which isn’t expected to be done until August.

BP Well Bore And Casing Integrity May Be Blown, Says Florida’s Sen. Nelson.
Emptywheel

Opinion poll in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle to vote on.

There is a poll today Bozeman Daily Chronicle which asks:

Do you agree with the decision by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to at least double the number of wolves that hunters can kill next year?

There is a concerted effort by wolf foes to manipulate this poll so I thought it would be good to jump into the fray as well. I think it is time the pro-wolf folks speak just as loudly as those who are willing to intimidate and lie at the top of their lungs to rid the Northern Rockies of any meaningful benefit of wolves. We should speak just as fervently but we can do it without the intimidation and name calling and we don’t have to make up crap because the facts are on our side.

You can vote here:

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/poll_eebadb72-6139-11df-a987-001cc4c03286.html

Grizzly bear with rare four cubs delights visitors in Yellowstone

Grizzly bear with rare four cubs delights visitors in Yellowstone.
San Francisco Examiner

Alberta grizzlies listed as threatened

Will this help?

Conservationists have been raising the alarm for years about the declining grizzly bear population in Alberta.
Alberta grizzlies listed as threatened.
The Associated Press

Wyoming Governor complains about ‘venue shopping’

Would rather have a distraction away from real issues affecting the landscape

The Wyoming Governor continues his complaining about wolves and the litigation surrounding them by claiming that the groups suing over delisting are “venue shopping”. He wants to be the one to decide where a case is heard because he likes the judges where he lives. Frankly, he probably would rather have the Feds managing wolves in Wyoming anyway so they have someone else to blame things on and have a distraction for the wholesale destruction of their landscape by energy developers. Wyoming simply doesn’t want the responsibility of wolf management.

As Ralph accurately states:

“Regarding WY Gov. Freudenthal’s bitching about favorable judicial forums, he seeks a favorable court when he sues. Everyone does.

Regardless, the wolf case should have been handled in Montana, not Wyoming. The federal headquarters of the wolf project is in Helena, MT.

He’s a hypocrite.

Jenny Harbine from EarthJustice puts it well too:

“To hear him tell it, you would think wolves only exist in Wyoming, and that Wyoming should have the first crack at deciding the fate of any resource in the entire region,” Jenny Harbine said. “But the truth of the matter is that wolves exist in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, and Wyoming hasn’t cornered the market on judicial resolution of the conservation issues.”

Gov raps ‘venue shopping’.
By CHAD BALDWIN – Casper Star Tribune

Hunt for wolves in Boise Foothills suspended

Hunt for wolves in Boise Foothills suspended.
Idaho Statesman

Giant whitebark pine in south central Idaho get protection from beetles

Trees to receive ” ‘verbenone pouches’ that contain a synthetic pheromone to trick beetles into thinking the trees are already full of beetles”-

Fighting pine bark beetles is very expensive, but these giant, ancient trees have been determined to be worth it. Good news!

Whitebarks in Pioneers [Pioneer Mountains] get protection from beetles. Associated Press.

US Fish and Wildlife Service must rule soon on the Mexican Wolf

Conservation groups seek endangered species status. Judge tells USFWS to make up their mind quickly-

The restoration of the Mexican wolf under the experimental, non-essential rule that guided the restoration of wolves to the Northern Rockies has been a fiasco. Groups want to give the rare wolf fully endangered status, which has more teeth.  USFWS has dragged its feet on making a decision. Now a federal judge tells the Service to decide by the end of July.

Agency must decide on proposed endangered species listing for Mexican gray wolf by end of July, judge rules– Sue Major Holmes, Associated Press

Endangered Species Act: Noah’s Ark or Titanic?

Do we need an Endangered Ecosystems Act?

Many biologists believe we have instigated the 6th great extinction episode in Earth’s history; some estimate the pace of extinction has soared to 100,000 species a year. Renowned paleoanthropologist, Richard Leakey, believes half of the Earth’s species will vanish within 100 years and warns that this die-off could come sooner if greenhouse gases wreak havoc with the Earth’s climate. Preserving biodiversity is no longer an altruistic enterprise—it’s a matter of human survival.

Endangered Species Act: Noah’s Ark or Titanic?.
The Berkeley Daily Planet

Big Oil wants a permanent corridor through the Lolo

More on the attempt to make U.S. Highway 12 an oil industry corridor-

This from the new group, the Rural People of Highway 12.

U.S. Highway 12: Idaho’s Northwest Passage Scenic Byway and All-American Road

• • •

Big Oil: One-Time Deal or Permanent Takeover?

Promoters of turning Idaho’s Northwest Passage Scenic Byway and All-American Road into an industrial truck route for gargantuan loads argue that currently planned and pending ConocoPhillips and Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada mega-load shipments are a “one-off deal;” a one time event. Actually, the ExxonMobil Canada shipments alone number 207, and for successive 15+ minute segments, will close the highway to all traffic five nights a week for an estimated 9 months. But the truth about the oil companies’ intentions lies well beyond those 207 loads……

• The Port of Lewiston, both on their website and in grant applications for port expansion with taxpayer money, states, “If one oil company is successful with this alternative transportation route, many other companies will follow their lead.”

• The CEO of Sungjin Geotec, the Korean company that manufactured the 207 ExxonMobil Canada modules, told a Korean news agency his company expects to receive future orders for additional modules from Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil Canada totaling $1.5 billion. The 207 loads now scheduled for U. S. 12 cost $250 million, suggesting that $1.5 billion would pay for about 1200 modules. The Edmonton Journal of Alberta, Canada, recently reported that a Sungjin representative in Calgary confirmed that his company expects to build hundreds of additional modules.

Missoulans protest Alberta-bound tar sands equipment trucking

Over 200 trips of these giant oil equipment pieces to go through U.S. 12 in Idaho and NW Montana-

I think perhaps there has been too much attention in this forum on elk in Lolo.  Elk are important, but fishing, scenery, wilderness, and property of local people are more important. U.S.Highway 12 is one of Idaho’s most scenic highways. It goes through scenic canyon and between wild country following the Clearwater River, then the Lochsa River up and over Lolo Pass into Montana.

The exploitation of Alberta’s tar sands are well known as perhaps the single most environmentally destructive project on the planet (at least until the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico). Now that destruction has spread to Idaho and Montana with these massive loads which require “improving” Highway 12 and other highways in Montana.

Some of the good folks in Missoula are fed up with oil company damages and protested. Protest rally. By Rob Chaney. Missoulian.

We will be following this more from now on.

Nanosunscreens threaten your health

Nanoparticles of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are not safe-

This is very important for outdoor enthusiasts.

There has always been controversy over sunscreens — about their effectiveness, screening UVA versus UVB, and migration of sunscreen chemicals into your body.  Two you could always count on for safety, however, were the mineral oxides (zinc oxide and titanium dioxide), bright white and inert.

However, people didn’t like the white film they left on their skin.

In recent years very small particles over many elements and chemicals have been developed.  The physical and chemical properties of these tiny particles are amazing, useful, and sometimes dangerous. Nano-sized particles of a chemical often behave very differently than powders of a larger size. With zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, the white film and somewhat greasy feel disappears.  They are invisible soon after application. They still reflect UV rays. However, they sink deep into your skin. This allows the reflected rays to bounce sideways into your skin. Much worse, some of the oxide sinks right through your skin into your blood. From there they are distributed throughout your body.

These are very hard powders, even nanosized.  Your body cannot expel them. They stick in your organs and they provide a surface for many kinds of chemical reactions. Almost all sunscreens with these oxides today are nanosized, and they don’t have to tell you.

Friends of the Earth just put out an alert on them, but I have rejected their use for about three years now.  You can still get the effective, safe, old-fashioned oxides, but it usually means ordering online. You won’t find them at the grocery or drug store. I ordered some at Amazon.com.

Big-head clover (Trifolium macrocephalum) II

It’s that season (again) ! Bighead clover in Artemisia rigida sites (click for larger picture).

Photograph © Katie Fite, WWP 2010

Photograph © Katie Fite, WWP 2010

BP oil spill could spread to Atlantic Ocean

As the slick is posed to hit western Florida coast, a model predicts a much wider spread-

BP oil spill could spread to Atlantic Ocean. Christian Science Monitor.

This comes amid predictions that the gusher won’t be stopped until relief wells intersect the oil reservoir in August.  Even then, relief wells sometimes fail to work.

– – – –

Update  June 4. BP finally captures some oil from leaking well. MSNBC
Update June 4. Scientists Warn Oil May Spread Up Atlantic Coast (good graphics and video). AP/Huffington Post

Idaho April Wolf Report released

IDFG/Wildlife Services’ war on wolves has begun. 42 wolves killed for 23 depredations.

The monthly update from IDFG, which contains little useful or timely information, has been released for the month of April. It appears from the numbers that Wildlife Services has been given the permission to conduct extensive revenge killings on behalf of livestock producers.

I wonder how much the number has risen in the last month as there have been reports of Wildlife Services planes in the Wood River Valley, Salmon area, and the Boise Foothills this month. I have been told that Wildlife Services has put orange collars on wolves in an attempt to make them easier to spot from the air, in turn, making it easier to avoid killing the “Judas” wolf. In one instance they accidentally shot this wolf so the remaining wolves will be harder to “control”. I guess the lazy, expensive way of managing wolves didn’t work out so well 😉

Idaho Wolf Management Progress Report April 2010

YEAR	Depredations1				Wolf Mortality
	Cattle	Sheep	Dogs	Total	WS2	10j / 36-11073	Other 4	Hunter Harvest	Total
2003	7	130	3	140	7	0	8		15
2004	19	176	4	199	17	0	21		38
2005	29	166	12	207	24	3	16		43
2006	41	237	4	282	35	7	19		61
2007	57	211	10	278	43	7	27		77
2008	104	215	14	333	94	14	45		153
2009	76	295	14	385	87	6	45	135	273
2010 (1/1 – 4/30)	17	6	0	23	36	6	5	46	93

¹ Includes only confirmed wolf depredations of cattle, sheep, and dogs that resulted in death or injury.
² Wolves taken by USDA Wildlife Services in response to depredation on livestock.
³ Authorized take under 10j, or legal take after delisting under state law for protection of stock and dogs (Idaho Code 361107).
⁴ Other includes of mortalities of unknown cause, documented natural mortality, collisions with automobiles, and illegal
take.

Have you seen any interesting wildife news? May 23

Note that this replaces the 9th edition. That edition can be found slowly moving down into the depths of the blog.

Lewis' woodpecker © Ken Cole

Please don’t post entire articles here, just the link, title and your comments about the article. Most of these violate copyright law. They also take up too much space.

Mountain lion management plan angers conservationists

Rare lions are to be killed to protect rare bighorn sheep.

Ron Kearns, a frequent commentator on this site and retired wildlife biologist of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, was recently interviewed for a story about mountain lion management on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. The refuge has set a policy which requires mountain lions which have killed more than two bighorn sheep in a 6-month period be lethally removed. Meanwhile bighorn hunting is allowed on the refuge.

Mountain lion management plan angers conservationists.
YumaSun

Norm Bishop’s comments at Montana wolf meeting

There will be media stories, good comments, and ignorant angry comments, but here’s one from a person who knows-

Without commenting specifically on numbers or distribution of hunting quotas, I offer just these notes for your consideration.

Aldo Leopold; forester, wildlife ecologist, conservationist, father of game management in America, lived from 1887 to 1948.  In 1944, he reviewed Young and Goldman’s Wolves of North America, which chronicled the extirpation of wolves.  In his review, Leopold  asked, “Are we really better off without wolves in the wilder parts of our forests and ranges?”  He also asked, “Why, in the necessary process of extirpating wolves from the livestock ranges of Wyoming and Montana, were not some of the uninjured animals used to restock the Yellowstone?”  Thirty years later, in 1974, the planning began, and in 1995, twenty years later, wolves were restored to Yellowstone.

Leopold’s thinking about deer, wolves, and forests is epitomized by his essay, “Thinking Like a Mountain.”  In brief, he shot a wolf.  In later years he came to “suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain (and its plants) live in mortal fear of its deer.”  To deer, we could add elk.  In Yellowstone, the lack of wolves led to woody species like willow and aspen being suppressed by elk browsing.  With the return of wolves, willows are growing, once-rare birds are nesting in them, beavers are building dams from the willows, and the wolves are feeding a couple of dozen species of scavengers, including eagles and grizzly bears.

I’m far more concerned about disease than about predators on our large game.

Chronic wasting disease could wipe out our elk and deer.  Wolves test elk and deer, looking for vulnerable animals all day, 365 days a year.  You and I can’t do that.   N. Thompson Hobbs (2006) evaluated the potential for selective predation by wolves to reduce or eradicate chronic wasting disease (CWD) in populations of elk in Rocky Mountain National Park.  If it works, can we afford to throw away our only means of controlling CWD?

9 injured when lightning strikes Old Faithful watchers

Just one needed hospitalization!

9 injured when lightning strikes Old Faithful watchers. AP

Before Deepwater Horizon Disaster – Wyomingites Had Key Roles in MMS

Randall Luthi. David J. Gribbin III, Thomas Sansonett, Rejane “Johnnie” Burton, Rebecca W. Watson and more-

“Cody Coyote” has commented here numerous times about the importance of several Wyoming politicos in the scandal ridden performance of MMS under George W. Bush.  Many were chosen by Dick Cheney.

Now WyoFile has a detailed article on these people and their maneuvering. Before Deepwater Horizon Disaster – Wyomingites Had Key Roles in MMS.  By Rone Tempest. WyoFile

Hiker Shoots Grizzly Bear in Denali

New law allowing guns in National Parks has its first casualty

Grizzly bear shot killed in Denali National Park.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The real animal danger to recreationists now back in the high country

Sheep guard dogs return to central Idaho for summer-

The Idaho Mountain Express has an article today about how recreationists, bikers especially, should be aware of and deal with danger of sheep guard dogs. And we thought the danger was wolves! 😉

Domestic sheep return to local ranges. Recreationists should be prepared for possible run-ins with grazing bands. By Jason Kauffman. Idaho Mountain Express Staff Writer.

The Mountain Express circulates in south central Idaho.  The danger from guard dogs is, of course, general throughout the mountains of the West.  One biologist I knew in Eastern Idaho always walked with pepper spray in one hand and a club in the other when near bands of sheep.

June 2. Wolf hearings in Montana.

Montana could double or triple wolf quota. Please attend-

Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks will be holding them.  The meetings will be held at the following locations on June 2 from 7-9 p.m.:

* Billings—FWP Headquarters; 2300 Lake Elmo Dr.
* Bozeman—Holiday Inn; 5 E. Baxter Lane
* Glasgow—Valley County Court House; 501 Court Square
* Great Falls—FWP Headquarters; 4600 Giant Springs Rd.
* Kalispell—FWP Headquarters; 490 N. Meridian Rd.
* Miles City—FWP Headquarters; 352 I-94 Business Loop
* Missoula—Double Tree Hotel Missoula Edgewater; 100 Madison

Proposed Wolf Hunting Season for 2010—major changes from last year:

• This year FWP is proposing to at least double or triple the number of wolves that can be shot by hunters. There are 3 “quota” options for public comment and consideration: 153, 186, or 216 wolves. (Last year’s hunting quota was 75 wolves.)
• The proposal Wolf Hunting Units—14 smaller units proposed with several sub-units (last year’s structure was comprised of 3 large units statewide).
• Extended season length—the season will run until December 31, 2010 unless the quota is met sooner. A new archery-only season beginning Sept. 4. A new backcountry rifle season beginning Sept. 15.
• Only one wolf license per hunter.

There are 3 proposed rules that tighten hunting regulations that may help reduce illegal wolf killing, and which can be supported:

• Any illegal take (poaching) will be subtracted from the hunting quota.
• Any “over-run” of the quota in an individual sub-unit will be subtracted from the quota in the larger area.
• A new 5-day waiting period—wolf hunting licenses will not be valid until 5 days from the date of purchase.

You may comment on any of the proposed regulations above, as well as the quota numbers.

You could also ask FWP Commissioners to ban hunting within 10 miles of Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks to protect core populations.

FWP Commissioners will read public comment until June 14, and then vote to select one of the three quotas, and vote to approve or disapprove individual regulations at their July 8 meeting.

For more details on the proposed wolf hunting regulations, see: http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/default.html

Tis the season for hantavirus, tick fevers

Forget the manufactured scare about tapeworms, it’s time to be alert for real disease dangers if you are outdoors-

I got my first tick the other day while hiking the foothills in the Deep Creeks SW of Pocatello. Despite numerous forays this year, I haven’t seen many ticks — luck? Nevertheless, this is the time of year when ticks are most active, and the number of cases of Lyme Disease from the small deer tick is a silent epidemic in its expanding range. Fortunately, there are few infected deer ticks so far in the interior West. In Idaho the much larger Rocky Mountain wood tick is much more common. Every year they transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, and Colorado tick fever.

This is also the time when hantavirus cases peak as people clean out their cabins, second homes, and outbuildings where deer mice have spent the winter. The mortality rate of this disease is high.

Risk of Lyme, other tick-borne disease peaks in spring. Daily Herald.

Nationwide now, mosquitoes carry West Nile Virus, and, of course, they are often most fierce in late June, depending on the elevation. The percentage of mosquitoes that are infected rises throughout the summer, however. So a bite is more cause to worry in August than in June. I wear long shirts and netting a lot more than I used to.

Imnaha pack’s breeding pair to be protected in Oregon control action

Wildlife Services authorized to kill only two uncollared wolves after pack kills 5 head of livestock-

The state of Oregon seems to be to be taking a reasonable, measured bit of action after that state’s only confirmed wolf pack killed a handful of livestock in the upper Wallowa Valley.

According to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, “The lethal action is aimed at killing wolves that are showing an interest in livestock, not wolves simply in the area, and will be limited to an area where three of the confirmed livestock kills are clustered. Under the terms of the authorization, the wolves can be killed a) only within three miles of three clustered locations with confirmed livestock losses by wolves and b) only on privately-owned pasture currently inhabited by livestock. ODFW’s authorization will be valid until June 11, 2010.”

If Idaho and Montana took this kind of approach, the wolf controversy would be much less.

ODFW authorizes lethal removal of wolves
Breeding pair to be protected
News Release from ODFW