By KARIN RONNOW, Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Writer
Montana’s wolf population increased 34 percent over the past year, to an estimated 422 wolves in 73 packs, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks reported Thursday.
The wolves are nearly equally distributed between northern and southern Montana, according to the agency’s annual wolf report, although the bulk of the population growth was in northwestern and far western Montana, where it increased by about 92 wolves, to 213.
In the Greater Yellowstone area, the population increased by 14 wolves, to 209.
Some of the growth can be chalked up to the birth of at least 163 wolf pups last year, the FWP report noted. But there were other reasons, too.
“Our monitoring is getting better and we have hunters, landowners and many others taking the time to tell us where and when they see wolves or wolf sign,” Carolyn Sime, the FWP’s wolf management coordinator in Helena, said in a written statement.
Wolves are still listed under the Endangered Species Act. Delisting was set for late March, but lawsuits are expected to delay that.
While the numbers are growing, 102 wolf deaths were recorded last year, according to FWP. Seventy-three of those followed livestock killings; seven were killed illegally; and six were hit by vehicles or trains. The others died from a variety of causes common in the wild n from poor health to old age.
“Despite the loss of 102 wolves, the Montana wolf population is still very secure,” according to the written statement on the report. … [more]
March 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
OLYMPIA — Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed a bill expanding the use of dogs in cougar hunts.
Under the measure, a pilot program allowing cougar hunts with dogs is extended another three years, on top of the four years it has been in place. The bill also allows all counties to join the program, instead of just the five currently enrolled.
Gregoire says the measure addresses safety threats that cougars pose to people and livestock.
Animal-rights activists contend using dogs is cruel and unfair, and that the big cats’ population is declining.
Voters banned the practice in 1996, by passing Initiative 655. [here]
March 14, 2008 | 2 Comments | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 12, 2008 (ENS) - The Alaska Board of Fish and Game has decided that about two dozen wolves from several packs on the southern Alaska Peninsula will be exterminated using aerial gunning to boost the caribou population.
The wolves have been killing newborn calves, said biologist Cathie Harms with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
The herd had an estimated 10,000 animals in 1983, but now numbers about 600.
Harms said Fish and Game staffers will use a helicopter to locate and kill the wolves from the air starting this spring. She said it is the first time since the mid-1980s that such an operation has been authorized.
A survey of the herd in 2006 discovered one calf per 100 cows, according to Fish and Game. That number decreased to 0.5 calves per 100 during a survey conducted last year, Harms said.
The department intends to give calves a chance to survive and restock the herd, which it says is important to subsistence hunters. … [more]
March 13, 2008 | 2 Comments | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
BY ROGER PHILLIPS, Idaho Statesman
Salmon anglers could see more salmon and changes to traditional fishing areas this spring and summer when chinook salmon return to Idaho.
Fish are just starting to enter the Columbia River and head upstream toward Idaho, but preseason predictions are for 83,550 hatchery chinook to cross Lower Granite Dam, which is the last dam before the fish reach Idaho. That would be four times more fish than returned in 2007 and the second highest return since 1975.
The bright forecast is prompting F&G to try to open a fishing season in April, well in advance of the fish arriving.
“We would like to open the season as soon as possible so the public can make preparations,” F&G’s anadromous fish manager Pete Hassemer said.
Anglers could see more fishing areas open on the South Fork of the Salmon River and the Upper Salmon, but fewer places on the Little Salmon River.
Private land on the Little Salmon River near the Swinging Bridge area has been posted after a new landowner bought the property. The landowner is still allowing some access on his property but not as much as the previously owner allowed, Hassemer said.
That could mean less access to the river and fewer parking and camping areas.
Changes could also be in store for summer salmon fishing on the South Fork of the Salmon River east of Cascade. Wildfires burned much of the river corridor last year, and Boise National Forest officials have asked F&G to reduce impacts to burned stream banks by spreading anglers over a wider area, Hassemer said. … [more]
March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
If wolves are delisted as expected on March 28, F&G would set hunting seasons in May.
BY ROGER PHILLIPS, Idaho Statesman
Idaho Fish and Game commissioners unanimously approved a five-year management plan for wolves that calls for fall hunts and maintaining anywhere from 512 to 732 wolves throughout the state, but they will wait until May to approve hunting season details.
The commissioners came to those numbers because they want to maintain between the number of wolves counted in 2005 (512) and 2007 (732).
The wolf management plan provides an overview of population goals and outlines ways to meet population objectives but does not set specific seasons or hunting rules.
The plan is the first for the agency, which will assume control of wolves March 28 unless lawsuits stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from removing wolves from Endangered Species Act protection.
F&G Chairman Cam Wheeler of Ririe said he is confident wolves will be delisted and added that developing the management plan was “probably the most emotional and controversial issue to ever face the department.”
Aside from population goals, the plan calls for a long-term viable wolf population with crossover between neighboring states, and at least 15 to 20 breeding pairs.
The plan also calls for a balance between wolf populations and prey populations, mainly elk and deer. This means more wolves could be killed in areas where elk and deer populations aren’t meeting F&G goals. … [more]
March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
One goal is to increase the moose numbers across Cook Inlet
By JAMES HALPIN, The Anchorage Daily News [here]
Apparently for the first time in Alaska, a private hunting group plans to give a state predator control program a big shot in the arm with a concerted effort to help hundreds of hunters indiscriminately, and legally, kill as many black bears as possible in a game unit west of Anchorage.
The Alaska chapter of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, a nonprofit founded here last year, hopes to rotate hunters through about a dozen camps and baiting stations in Game Management Unit 16B, where state biologists estimate there are only about two moose to every black bear.
Ralph Seekins, a founding SFW board member and former state senator, said the group’s mission is “management-for-abundance oriented” rather than pro-predator control. However, predator control often fits within the mission of the group, which is entirely funded by donations and has chapters in about a half-dozen Western states, he said.
“In a lot of situations, when you have a declining or depleted prey population, oftentimes the quickest turnaround is to apply some targeted predator management,” said Corey Rossi, a board member of sister organization Sportsmen for Habitat, which works with SFW. “That doesn’t mean a war on bears any more than it would mean a war on wolves or any other predator.” … [more]
March 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
STAFFORD, Kan. (AP) - Whooping cranes have waged a valiant fight against extinction, but federal officials warn of a new potential threat to the endangered birds: wind farms.
Down to about 15 in 1941, the gargantuan birds that migrate each fall from Canada to Texas now number 266, thanks to conservation efforts.
But because wind energy has gained such traction, whooping cranes could again be at risk - either from crashing into the towering wind turbines and transmission lines or because of habitat lost to the wind farms.
“Basically you can overlay the strongest, best areas for wind turbine development with the whooping crane migration corridor,” said Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The service estimates as many as 40,000 turbines will be erected in the U.S. section of the whooping cranes’ 200-mile wide migration corridor.
“Even if they avoid killing the cranes, the wind farms would be taking hundreds of square miles of migration stopover habitat away from the cranes,” Stehn said. … [more]
March 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
By EVE BYRON - Independent Record - 02/21/08 [here]
For the first time ever, Montana has a wolf hunting season.
The season’s commencement is contingent on wolves being taken off of the list of endangered species, which is expected to be announced by the federal government today.
That decision to delist also is expected to be litigated, which could tie up the matter in court, meaning that wolves might not actually be hunted for years.
Still, Wednesday’s decision by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to set the dates for the 2008 hunting season — Oct. 26 through Dec. 31 — is momentous.
The backcountry hunting season opener of Sept. 15 also will coincide with wolf hunting in those areas.
The 2009 season is similar, although opening day is Oct. 29. The seasons will be revisited in two years as part of the commission’s biannual setting of seasons.
Hunters will not be allowed to use dogs to hunt wolves, bait the animals or use artificial scents or lures.
Aerial spotting and hunting won’t be allowed, along with spotlights and other artificial lights, two-way communications devices, electronic calls or night-vision equipment.
Although trapping wolves was included in the two-season authorization, no permits will be issued. So in effect, trapping wolves won’t be allowed for at least the next two years. … [more]
March 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
BY KATY MOELLER - Idaho Statesman, 02/26/08 [here]
Idaho Fish and Game officials confirmed Monday that wolves fatally mauled a dog last week in a rural Boise County subdivision northwest of Idaho City.
The family pet was a 104-pound German Shepherd mix named Dawg. The attack occurred sometime between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday near Centerville, and the dog died the next morning.
No one witnessed the attack. It is unclear how many wolves attacked the dog, though tracks in the snow indicate it was probably three or four, said Steve Wilkins, one of Dawg’s owners.
“He was a good neighborhood protector. He turned out everybody who didn’t belong,” said Wilkins, whose family took in the dog when it showed up about four years ago. “But there was more of them than him.”
In 2007, there were eight confirmed killings of dogs by wolves in Idaho, and another six probable killings, said Steve Nadeau, large carnivore manager for Idaho Fish & Game.
“It’s primarily herding or guarding animals or hunting hounds,” Nadeau said. “This is kind of a rarity.”
The federal government recently approved a plan to remove Endangered Species Act protection from wolves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and parts of nearby states.
Wolves are territorial, particularly at this time of year, when they are breeding. Garbage left outside will attract the animals as well.
Nadeau said there are four to five wolf packs that live between Boise and Lowman - around 28 to 40 wolves. … [more]
March 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
by Patricia R. McCoy, Capital Press [here]
The removal of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act is being hailed by Idaho agricultural interests.
“Wolves have been a major, major fundraiser for the environmentalists over the years. They hate to let it go. They want to keep the issue alive,” said Stan Boyd, executive director of the Idaho Wool Growers Association. “Idaho met the 10 breeding pair standard many, many years ago, and so did our neighboring states. Technically, this delisting could have come three or four years ago.”
Livestock producers recognize the wolf is back and here to stay, Boyd said.
“It’s time for us to start managing it on the state level,” he said. “Those wolves are about half tame right now. They’re not afraid of people. if we start hunting them, they’ll become a lot more elusive and wily.”
Boyd is lobbying for state legislation, Senate Bill 1374, which would officially recognize wolves as predators so producers who lose livestock or domestic animals to them can receive depredation compensation for such losses, he said.
S1374 passed the Idaho Senate by 31-0 with four absent or excused on Feb. 15. It is currently before the House Resources and Conservation Committee, where it will receive another hearing before either being sent to the House floor or held in committee. … [more]
February 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service News Release [here]
The gray wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountains is thriving and no longer requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett announced today. As a result, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will remove the species from the federal list of threatened and endangered species.
“The wolf population in the Northern Rockies has far exceeded its recovery goal and continues to expand its size and range. States, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions can be proud of their roles in this remarkable conservation success story,” said Scarlett, noting that there are currently more than 1,500 wolves and at least 100 breeding pairs in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.
Service-approved state management plans will provide a secure future for the wolf population once Endangered Species Act protections are removed and the states assume full management of wolf populations within their borders. The northern Rocky Mountain DPS includes all of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, as well as the eastern one-third of Washington and Oregon, and a small part of north-central Utah… [more]
February 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
By TARAS GRESCOE, NY Times [here]
LATE last year, a flotilla of fluorescent jellyfish covering 10 square miles of ocean was borne by the tide into a small bay on the Irish Sea. These mauve stingers, venomous glow-in-the-dark plankton native to the Mediterranean, slipped through the mesh of aquaculture nets, stinging the 120,000 fish in Northern Ireland’s only salmon farm to death.
Closer to home, the Asian carp, which has been working its way north from the Mississippi Delta since the 1990s, is now on the verge of reaching the Great Lakes. This voracious invader, which weighs up to 100 pounds and eats half its body weight in food in a day, has gained notoriety for vaulting over boats and breaking the arms and noses of recreational anglers. Having outcompeted all native species, it now represents 95 percent of the biomass of fish in the Illinois River and has been sighted within 25 miles of Lake Michigan. The only thing preventing this cold-water-loving species from infesting the Great Lakes, the largest body of fresh water in the world, is an electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal…
In the absence of any concrete action by the shipping industry, I would like to make a modest proposal. To save our oceans and lakes from their apparently inexorable slide back to the Archaean Eon — when all that was moving on the face of the waters was primitive cyanobacteria — it is high time we developed a taste for invasive species.
Diners in Asia, where sesame-oil-drenched jellyfish salad has long been considered a delicious, wholesome dish, are way ahead of us…
… Returning from a fact-finding mission to China, a professor from Japan’s National Fisheries University offered up 10 different recipes for preparing Nomura’s jellyfish. “Making them a popular food,” he told a Japanese newspaper, “is the best way to solve the problem.”…
For years now, fisheries scientists have been telling us that, for our own health and the health of the oceans, we need to start eating down the food chain — closer to the level of oysters than tuna. So, next time you’re in the mood for seafood, ask the chef to whip you up a jambalaya (or a fricassee, or a ragout) of rapa whelks and Chinese mitten crabs, or maybe consider blackening up an entirely new species.
Asian carp, Cajun-style, anyone?
Taras Grescoe is the author of the forthcoming “Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood.”
February 20, 2008 | 2 Comments | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
The two most controversial subjects in the world of hunting in Nevada have got to be deer management and predator control.
Thinking back over my 30-year career with Nevada Department of Wildlife, I can’t recall any subjects that caused more people to call, write or attend Wildlife Commission meetings — and even contact their elected officials on a state and national level.
Most recently, I wrote two columns about why there aren’t more deer-hunting tags available and what NDOW is doing to increase deer numbers in Nevada. I expect that every longtime Nevada deer hunter would be willing to give his or her opinion on what is causing deer numbers to remain relatively low, much lower than record population levels in 1988. But I decided to go to the expert, NDOW big game staff specialist Mike Cox, who thinks the major problem with low deer numbers in many areas of the state is due to the poor condition of their habitat.
This did not set too well with a reader from Fallon, who wrote a lengthy e-mail, saying Cox was “…creating ’smoke and mirrors’ for NDOW.” Based on knowledge he obtained running the “…operational Predatory Animal Control program throughout the state for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Program,” the e-mailer thinks predators are totally responsible for the condition of state deer herds.
“Today, the Nevada landscape is filled up with coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions with some prowling the alleys of towns and cities. Predators have a ‘free roll’ statewide,” he said… [more]
February 15, 2008 | 5 Comments | Topic: Latest Wildlife News
Ashes and carcasses are the aftermath of failed government policies and environmental lawsuits
by Judy Boyle, Range Magazine, Winter 2008
At over 650,000 acres, the Murphy Complex Fire of last summer was the largest range fire in Idaho’s recorded history. Judy Boyle and Range Magazine tell the story of dead livestock, murderous backburns, idle firefighting crews, unkempt Federal lands, crippling enviro lawsuits, and the incineration of overgrown allotments ungrazed due to those lawsuits.
A thousand square miles of sage grouse habitat was destroyed in the Murphy Fire and 75 of the area’s 102 known sage-grouse leks, or breeding areas, incinerated. Newspapers reported flaming jackrabbits dashing across roads and spreading the fire.
For a heartrending account, please read Wildfire–Ashes and Carcasses [here].
February 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment | Topic: Latest Wildlife News, Latest Fire News
How the Environmental Extremists Manipulate the Masses
by Carole “CJ” Williams, January 26, 2008, NewsWithViews.com
Last March, global warming fanatic Al Gore used a picture of two polar bears purportedly stranded on melting ice off the coast of Alaska as a visual aide to support his claim that man-made global warming is doing great harm to Mother Earth. The one he chose, but didn’t offer to pay for right away, turned out to be a photo of a polar bear and her cub out doing what healthy, happy polar bears do on a wave-eroded chunk of ice not all that far from shore in the Beaufort Sea north of Barstow, Alaska.
The picture, wrongly credited to Dan Crosbie, an ice observer specialist for the Canadian Ice Service, was actually taken by Amanda Byrd while she was on a university-related research cruise in August of 2004, a time of year when the fringe of the Arctic ice cap normally melts. Byrd, a marine biology grad student at the time, was gathering zooplankton for a multi-year study of the Arctic Ocean.
Crosbie, who was also on the trip, pilfered the polar bear photo from a shared computer onboard the Canadian icebreaker where Ms. Byrd downloaded her snapshots; he saved it in his personal file. Several months later, Crosbie, who is known as an avid photographer, gave the photo to the Canadian Ice Service, which then allowed Environment Canada to use it as an illustration for an online magazine.
Today that photo, with credit given to photographer Dan Crosbie and the Canadian Ice Service, can be found all over the Internet, generally with the caption “Two polar bears are stranded on a chunk of melting ice”.
It’s a hoax, folks. The bears, which can swim distances of 100 miles and more, weren’t stranded; they were merely taking a break and watching the boat go by when a lady snapped their picture … [more]
January 29, 2008 | 1 Comment | Topic: Latest Climate News, Latest Wildlife News
