This should be so obvious, but I has finally dawned on me that many elk hunters think that those who have supported the wolf restoration, hate elk, or at best are indifferent to elk. Because wolves eat elk, deer, moose, etc. it should be obvious that wolf supporters have a great interest in the health…
Once upon a time it was the Idaho Watersheds Project. Now on the occasion of her losing battle with breast cancer, in the honor of the late Molly Ivins, here is her 1998 article as to how the Idaho Watersheds Projects was born (with colorful characterizations of Idaho politicians present and past . . .…
A small part of a herd of 300 or so elk on Ayers Meadow in the Frank Church Wilderness in July, Central Idaho. This has always been great elk country, but several years ago cattle grazing in the drainage was bought out, so now these public lands have more elk than ever. Idaho –mule and…
Lemhi and Custer counties are two large sparsely populated counties in central Idaho. Many of the posts to this blog are about events that happen there. Politicians often like to argue that the folks there are some kind of “real Idaho” — loggers, miners, grazers. There is hardly anyone more strident in this position than…
The Missoulian has an editorial lauding the current wolf management regime. However, I fundamentally disagree that wolf management requires active management, killing wolves if there are too numerous and proping them up if the numbers fall too low. The best way to manage wolves is to make sure there is good habitat for elk and…
Kathie Lynch, one of our Wolf Recovery Foundation directors, has just written one of her ever popular reports of Yellowstone wolf observations. Ralph Maughan —————————– YNP WOLF Field Notes, November 22-26, 2006 By Kathie Lynch. Thanksgiving in Yellowstone! If you want to escape the holiday frenzy, head to Yellowstone–where theonly crowds you’ll find are the…
Here is a detailed alert from the Wyoming Wilderness Association on your comments on the Bridger-Teton Forest Plan’s desired future conditions. Public comment is being accepted until September 30. Ralph Maughan
Today Ed Bangs sent out a list of recent Idaho wolf-caused “depredations” Here is what he wrote. “On the 10th, ID WS confirmed that wolves from the Timberline/Wangdoodle Pack killed 1 ewe on a Boise National Forest grazing allotment on Rock Creek, north of Idaho City. Another ewe and a guard dog had also been…
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.