Life for wolves in the Northern Rockies is getting tougher by the day. And winter is still a couple months off.
The proposed stripping of protection for the gray wolf (canis lupus) under the Endangered Species Act has met with unbridled support in Wyoming and Idaho. Not so much in Montana.
An active project to control predators in the West, funded by the federal government, began in 1915. Agents using guns, traps and poison eradicated the entire wolf population in just 10 years. The U.S. Biological Survey reported all wolves to be gone from the West in 1926. After that, the National Park Service changed its policy and ended predator control in the parks, but not in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
It wasn’t until the ’60s that the NPS began to move toward “natural” management of animal populations and realized it wouldn’t work without the wolf. Canadian Wolf Biologist Doug Pimlott began pushing for wolf restoration in Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff and Jasper by 1968. But it would be nearly three decades of political and judicial wrangling before the first Canadian wolves were released into Yellowstone.
After initial setbacks, they thrived. But life, even protected in the parks, was perilous. Wolves were killed in thermal accidents, by cars, avalanches and interpack fighting. They were shot legally for preying on livestock and illegally by coyote “getters” and men who apparently just hate wolves.
As the packs multiplied and spread out of the parks and into surrounding ranchland, they were always subjected to the ire of stockmen protecting their herds. Defenders of Wildlife developed a Compensation Fund to reimburse ranchers for livestock lost to wolves.
With the announcement in December of 2000 that there were approximately 165 wolves in 16 packs and 11 breeding pairs, the talk of delisting became loud. The states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana were told to prepare management plans to meet delisting criteria. Idaho and Montana went to work on plans; Wyoming refused. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accepted Montana and Idaho’s plans in 2003. Wyoming’s was rejected and the state sued the federal government. The court ruled against Wyoming in 2006. And so it went.
Now, with an estimated 1,545 wolves in the three states, Idaho is taking issue not on behalf of ranchers, but hunters. They say their renowned elk population is dwindling because they can’t hunt wolves. Elk are also in decline from poor habitat, mountain lion and bear predation. The Natural Resources Defense Council says nearly 600 wolves could be killed in Idaho and Wyoming through aerial gunning that would be allowed under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife proposal.
Meanwhile, Montana rancher Roger Lang has been issued a federal citation for the July killing of a wolf on his 26,000 acre Sun Ranch, where wolves had taken yearling heifers. He had a permit to kill two adult wolves.
A little back-story is needed here.
I met Lang, a California entrepreneur, and his wife Cindy, two years ago when they hosted a photographic expedition on the ranch and surrounding Madison Valley. Lang had gone to great lengths to accommodate migrating herds of elk, erecting a system of fencing that can be raised and lowered to allow the elk safe passage. We were also shown a wolf den and were reminded that we must keep the same distance required within the park.
He protected his cattle herd with dogs and nightriders, convinced that wolves and cattle could share the same landscape. He even changed his herd from cows and calves to grass-fed steers. Inevitably, he lost some and told his staff that he might reluctantly have to take a more aggressive stance against the wolves. Two of his ranch hands apparently went overboard and killed an injured female. They said they believed chasing the wolf away from the herd and running it down with an ATV was allowable under the 10(j) rule of the Endangered Species Act. And that a pup was shot in error.
Lang, who condemns all inhumane treatment of animals, expressed sorrow that the event happened at all, let alone on his ranch. He says he will not fight the charges.
My point here is Lang, a committed defender of predators, wildlife and livestock, is being cited by federal law enforcement over his employees’ mistake. He had no intent for them to break the law. Shouldn’t the feds be targeting those lined up for the aerial gunning attack? Their intent is clear. As is the state governor who vowed to be the first to shoot a wolf when wolves are delisted.
Something’s wrong with this picture.