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February 8, 2007<=
/span>
Let’s
Manage Wolves Like We Manage L=
ions and Elk
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By Walker S. “Buddy” Smith, Jr.
Chairman of the Board
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
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If
there’s anything that ca=
n grab
the attention of an elk hunter faster
than the bugle of a big bull, it’s
the howl of a wolf. Want to st=
ir up
a roomful of elk hunters?
Don’t bother yelling Fire! Just
say wolf. Everyone has an opinion, mos<=
/st1:PersonName>t
of them passionately
held.
That=
passion
will always exist among hunters,
but I’m hoping over the next few years
it might ease down to a gentle=
roar.
The 1995 reintroduction of gray wolves
into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming has
been highly successful
from the viewpoint of most bio=
logists.
Whether you think that was the=
worst or best
idea anybody ever had, wolves =
look
to be a permanent part of the landscape
in the northern Rockies.<=
/o:p>
Wolf
populations in all three states
are well above the minimum thresholds for recovery set
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. They no longer need the help of the Endangered Species Act. On January 29, the Fish
and Wildlife Service proposed =
delisting wolves
in Montana and Idaho and handing control of them over to the game and fish department in those
states.
That’s great news.
I hope Wyoming and the FWS can hammer out their differences so wolves can be returned to state
control there as well. Each of=
us—the public—now has 60 days
to submit written comments on this
delisting proposal.
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Since the day wolv=
es were reintroduced, the Rocky Mountain Elk
Foundation has strongly encouraged the Fish
and Wildlife Service to remove wolves
from the endangered species list as soon as possible and transfer
management responsibility to the s<=
/st1:PersonName>tates. The Elk Foundation applauds
both the Fish and Wildlife Ser=
vice
and the individual states for all the hard work they’ve put in o=
ver
the last 12 years to reach this
point.
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/span>
A couple of years ago, Carter Ni=
emeyer,
Idaho wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fi=
sh
and Wildlife Service, told the Elk Foundation’s
magazine, Bugle, “The qui=
cker
we can start thinking about wo=
lves as just another game animal, the better off all inv=
olved
will be.“ Amen.
It i=
s time to set
politics and posturing aside
and define reasonable plans for wolf management. I’ve hunted elk in
Montana every fall since 1971.=
It’s one of the driving passions of
my life and I’m pretty good at it. In my experience, the deadliest, most
efficient elk hunter is not the
wolf. And much as I hate to say it, it’s=
not me, either. If you’re betting on who’s
going to bring home the elk st=
eaks, put your money on a mountain lion.
That=
’s why I think it’s
worth looking at how Montana<=
/st1:place>
manages its
lions. In 1978, the state changed the =
status of mountain lion=
s
from a year-round bountied animal to a licensed
big game species, with specific
seasons and quotas.
Since then, annual harvest ha<=
st1:PersonName
w:st=3D"on">s gone from 50 per year to 450 per year. The r=
ange
occupied by lions doubled. Yet
during that same time, elk and=
deer
populations flourished all across that expanded range. Hunting opportunity for=
elk,
deer and lions
is excellent. That’s because
the state teamed up with hunte=
rs as hands-on managers.
This is
where we need to get to with wolves.
Give=
the states
the ability to set seasons and region-by-region quotas
for wolves in the same way they do for lions
and black bears—and for =
elk
and deer—and we can have healthy populations
of both prey and predators.
Combined, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are now home to about 350,000 elk and
1,240 wolves. Elk hunting success, in terms
of both total harvest and matu=
re
bulls, is
strong across all three states. That doesn’t
mean that in areas where wolve=
s are active there aren’t fewer elk̵=
2;or
that the hunting hasn’t =
gotten
a lot tougher. It means we should be managing wolves
in those places.
Wolv=
es can and will impact game populations. But as
someone who loves to hunt in wild country, I’m convinced=
that
the greatest threat to both ou=
r elk
populations and the future of
hunting is . . . us.
There are now 300 million people in the United States
and a little over 1 million elk. The way we’re filling up elk country
with houses
and roads and strip
malls makes
me heartsick. That’s why I’m s<=
/st1:PersonName>o
proud that in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho alone, the Elk Foundation has permanently protected more than 220,000 acre=
s of prime wildlife habitat and greatly enhanc=
ed
another 1.2 million acres.
If y=
ou
care about the future of elk and elk country, I urge you to do two things. Speak up for state control of wo=
lf
management during the next 60 days.
And step up and support the conservation
groups that are working to en<=
st1:PersonName
w:st=3D"on">sure that future generations
have places to hike, hunt and =
enjoy.