I think that most people think that poaching should be punished. Rammell seems to think that most people feel just the opposite and that they might side with him. I doubt he’s right and I think that this will make thing much worse for him. He doesn’t seem to be getting much sympathy either.
Rammell trial delayed pending new investigation.
Associated Press
This is bad news for Washington’s small wolf population but it sounds like the the case of a previous poaching incident from 2009 is still open and progressing. We’ve heard rumors that charges may be filed soon in the poaching of wolves from the Lookout Pack in north central Washington. The Lookout Pack is very important genetically because it came on its own from southwestern British Columbia, far from where the wolves reintroduced to Central Idaho and Yellowstone came from. They are also fully protected under the Endangered Species Act and the sentence for anyone convicted of killing them could be pretty severe.
Skinned corpse of wolf discovered, but state won’t say from which pack.
Conservation Northwest
I’ve rewritten this post as it appears that there is still a chance for a bill to move in the Senate.
The bill that would have removed wolves from the Endangered Species Act has failed and the bill which would have removed protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana introduced by Max Baucus of Montana was not successfully attached to the appropriations bill.
With so much else going on in Washington DC it appears that none of the bills to remove protections from wolves will be successful this congress but there is still a slight chance that the Baucus/Tester bill could move during the lame duck session of congress.
There is another dynamic here to take into consideration, the Baucus/Tester bill, which would require that Idaho and Montana maintain a number of wolves higher than the minimum of 10-15 packs, is opposed by many sportsman’s groups including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation because it gives wolves even some protection. If this bill is passed it would be considered by some as a win for Tester who is likely to face a very tough reelection battle in 2012. With that, it seems likely that Republicans will try to block it since their whole strategy of late has been to block anything that might benefit Democrats.
That being said, the Baucus/Tester Bill would still set a very bad precedent for the Endangered Species Act. It would set a precedent that would allow delisting of any species if it somehow becomes inconvenient for the powers that be or those who kick and scream the most.
Idaho senators fail in bid to remove federal protection for wolves.
Dan Popkey – Idaho Statesman
State of the species
Anti-wolf bills unlikely to pass before year’s end
By KATHERINE WUTZ – Idaho Mountain Express
Utah bill to delist wolves fails in Senate.
By Laura Lundquist – Magic Valley Times-News
Another form of poaching that is probably more common than this one incident might indicate. This case shows how difficult it is to convict many poachers. It took two years to catch someone using the bait station after it was first discovered.
Is poaching becoming more commonplace because of the recession and could it be the reason for declines in elk? The recent study in Oregon indicates that the level of poaching is very high there. Could it be just as much of a problem in the neighboring states like Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming? What is going on here?
Elk Baiting Poachers Fined, Lose Hunting Privileges.
Idaho Fish and Game News Release
Who knows? If there is a conviction in this case, it might solidify my theory that anti-wolf advocates are behind the decimation of elk herds 😉
Recall, Rex Rammel is the politician who joked about “Obama tags“. He also had a run in with then Governor and now Senator Jim Risch after his canned hunt elk escaped and were shot by Idaho Fish and Game agents.
We’ve written about him here before.
Rex Rammell vs. the Elk vs. the Law
Boise Weekly
Former Gov. candidate could face charges for allegedly killing elk .
KBOI 2 – Boise
– – – – –
Addition by Ralph Maughan. So this Karen Calisterio in North Idaho who just had a “scary,” but completely unverified encounter with wolves on her property was Rex Rammell’s campaign manager.
New story. Warden confiscates elk from Rex Rammell, plans to file poaching charges. By Rocky Barker – rbarker@idahostatesman.com
Idaho sheriff denies SSS raffle aims for wolves.
Washington Examiner
After one of the charges, a felony, had been dismissed due to improper procedure with rating the elk antlers on the Boone and Crockett scale, the charge has been refiled. Tony Mayer, the founder of an anti-wolf website, once again faces a lifelong hunting ban.
Felony refiled in poaching case.
Idaho Mountain Express
Beavers
On June 26th, 2010, I inspected the South Fork of Mink Creek to document conditions of the Box Canyon road culvert that was being plugged by beaver. Like many roads throughout the west, the South Fork Road parallels the creek and so problems with the road-creek interface are, at best, managed. From its confluence with the West Fork of Mink Creek, the South Fork extends to its headwaters near the southern flank Scout Mountain in southwest Bannock County. In the spring of 2010, I had seen no less than 25 beaver dams as far as the headwaters. I was eager to see how the beaver were doing.
As I followed the South Fork upstream, I noticed that the dams I had seen the previous spring were failing, a sign that the beaver were no longer working in the area. As I rode towards the Box Canyon Crossing, I observed more and more abandoned dams and receding water levels. By the time I reached the end of the road, four out of five colonies were abandoned.
I continued riding through the canyon up to the gentle plateau that forms the upper South Fork drainage. It was here that I hoped to see again the massive beaver ponds and the expanded willow acreage that ten years earlier was little more than dead sticks surrounding a marginal trampled, eroded stream. Now, these colonies were also gone. What once was a stream with approximately 35 potential cutthroat rearing ponds is now a silty, slithering stream, losing velocity and flowing muddily towards the Portneuf River.
Conservation groups are asking the USFWS to retrieve telemetry equipment from ranchers and change the frequencies of the radio collars on the wolves so that people with receivers cannot find wolves and kill them. They argue, correctly in my estimation, that the radio frequencies are compromised.
New Mexico ranchers’ use of technology to track wolves debated
El Paso Times
Wow! 425 wildlife violations committed by 68 people from 62 percent of the wildlife brought in to the shop.
“As it turned out, 62 percent of the wildlife brought in for mounting at the undercover taxidermy shop had been killed illegally in some manner, Cravens said.”
Undercover taxidermist busts illegal Missouri hunters
By DAVID A. LIEB – Associated Press Writer
One possibility that might be considered by the investigators is the possibility that those with government issued telemetry equipment may not be using it to kill the wolves but they may be giving the frequencies to those who are.
Gray wolf shot in AZ; officials probe use of radio tracking.
Tony Davis Arizona Daily Star
USFWS contact: Tom Buckley, 505-248-6455
Arizona Game and Fish Department contact: Bruce Sitko, 928-367-4281
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Law Enforcement Agents recovered the body of another dead Mexican wolf on Thursday July 15, 2010. The wolf, AM 1189, is the second adult male of the Hawks Nest Pack found shot, and the third Mexican wolf found dead within the past month. Killing a Mexican wolf is a violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.
The carcass of male wolf 1189 was located northeast of Big Lake, within 2 miles of where the carcass of another wolf from the hawks nest pack, 1044, was found on June 18. The pack traditionally uses the area east of Big Lake on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests as their spring-summer breeding territory.
Two alpha males Mexican gray wolves have been found dead under suspicious circumstances and another collared alpha male wolf is missing. This is a disaster for the struggling population of wolves in Arizona and New Mexico.
US investigates wolf killings.
Tony Davis Arizona Daily Star
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
The ex-wife of one of the men reported the 2003 incident to the authorities in 2007.
Washington man receives suspended sentence for poaching Bitterroot bighorn, mule deer
By PERRY BACKUS Ravalli Republic
This is in relation to a story that was first reported last year in March about someone who allegedly tried to send a package that was dripping blood and contained a wolf pelt.
Charges for killing the wolves have not been filed yet but charges for state game violations have been filed. Wolves in this part of Washington State are fully protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Lookout Pack is thought to have originated from dispersing wolves from the coastal region of British Columbia.
The original story can be found here: Poachers kill wolves from Washington state’s first pack
Wolf pelt investigation yields other wildlife charges for two Twisp men
Methow Valley News
Over on a popular, unnamed anti-wolf website there has been discussion of using radio receivers to track and hunt wolves and the frequencies of the radio collars on them so I asked the IDFG about this. I sent them the exchanges which have taken place there and, specifically, I asked “I would like to know if there is any language which prohibits the practice of hunting wolves, elk, or deer with the aid of radio tracking.”
The reply I received from Jon Heggen, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau for the Idaho Department of Fish & Game:
There is currently no prohibition against the use of radio tracking equipment for the taking of big game.
Radio collar frequencies are considered [just] a trade secret and therefore their disclosure is exempt from Idaho’s public records law.
The problem is that the radio collars frequencies are not a secret. A quick search of documents obtained through public records requests does reveal radio frequencies of wolves and it is common practice to give ranchers receivers with the frequencies of collared wolves. Are we to believe, that with the animosity towards wolves and, frankly, other wildlife, that this information will remain only in the hands of those with the authority to have it?
This is not only a problem with wolves. There are hundreds of elk, deer, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, wolverines and many other species that are burdened by radio devices. It appears, based on my question and the answer given, that there is a gaping hole in wildlife protection that needs to be filled legislatively or through the commission. Is the state legislature or IDFG Commission going to fill this hole as quickly as they do when the profits of the livestock industry or outfitting industry are threatened or are they going to scoff it off because it might result in the death of a few more wolves and possibly other species?
Is the idea of “fair chase” a thing of the past?
The Idaho Fish and Game has issued a press release asking for information regarding the death of six wolves.
Is poison involved? Anyone who plans on visiting the area should be cautious about taking along their dogs.
Here is the press release:
Contact: Jon Heggen 208-334-3738
For Immediate Release
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is investigating the deaths of six juvenile wolves on national forest land north of Fairfield.
Fish and Game conservation officers found the partially decomposed wolves on Friday, August 21.
Preliminary necropsies have been performed. But the cause of death is still unknown. Additional test results are forthcoming.
Anyone with information is asked to the Citizens’ Against Poaching hotline at 1-800-632-5999, or Fish and Game’s Magic Valley regional office at 208-324-4359. Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward for information leading to a citation or conviction.
IDFG
08-25-09
Story. Scientist spends days delving into carnivores’ decomposition. By Rob Cheny. Missoulian.
Oddly the hiker that stubbled onto this study site (described the the article) reported it to a regular poster to this blog.
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