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