Idaho Enacts Wolf Bill
Yesterday Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed the Idaho Wolf Disaster Bill [here].
Correction: As of Sunday afternoon, Otter has NOT yet signed the bill. Rumors that he had already were wrong, and I was wrong to rely on them. He is expected to sign the bill soon. I will report the signing when (and if) it occurs.
On Tuesday the bill passed the Idaho House by a vote of yes 64, no 5. On Wednesday the Senate approved on a 27-8 vote. Saturday, Gov. Otter signed it into law.
The full text of the Bill (now law) is [here].
The new Law directs the Governor to declare a “state of disaster” with regard to wolves, and to order actions to resolve the crisis, including wolf removal (specifically, the eradication of wolf packs) by the USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services and/or County Sheriffs.
The new Law also reasserts Idaho’s federally-approved 2002 Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (ILWOC 2002). That plan, drawn eight years after the USFWS illegally dumped Canadian gray wolves in Idaho, calls for retention of 15 breeding pairs (150 wolves).
There are currently between 800 and 1,500 wolves in Idaho [here].
Of interest is that the new Law designates the Governor´s Office of Species Conservation [here] as the primary implementer, rather than the Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG).
The Idaho Legislature is fed up with the IDFG and no longer trusts that agency to do anything right, and with good cause [here, here, here].
The test now is whether the Feds and the courts will allow Idaho to exterminate wolves or will instead put up legal roadblocks. This issue is nowhere near resolution, but Idaho has made a significant step forward.
