Upsurge since 2012 brings year end population to 109- The long struggling population of Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico has finally topped the initial (interim) reintroduction goal of 100 wild wolves. At the end of 2014, the official estimate was a minimum of 109 wolves. The population was close to equal between Arizona…
About the politics of wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies- Jim Yuskavitch begins his book with the story of wolf B45, the first Idaho wolf to venture into Oregon. She (B45) was a first generation offspring of the wolves brought down from British Columbia for release in Idaho in 1996. Most of his examples and descriptions…
Send public comments now on new EA for predator damage management by Wildlife Services in Idaho- USDA’s Wildlife Services in Idaho is writing a new environmental analysis (EA) on how to manage damage by predators in Idaho. It will replace all existing EAs. According to the announcement, “Predator species involved in the majority of conflicts…
Unanimous vote is a first such pro-wolf measure in Idaho- Ketchum, Idaho. The city council of Ketchum, Idaho, the largest town in Blaine County, has voted unanimously in favor of non-lethal management of wolf and livestock conflicts that occur in the county. While Ketchum does not set policy for either Blaine County or the state…
Group wants to publicize any hunt violations- A new group has formed to go into the lightly monitored backcountry to protect the Yellowstone Park boundary from any violations in the Montana wolf hunt, which is now underway for archery. The general wolf rifle hunt begins September 15. Calling itself “Yellowstone Wolf patrol,” a news release…
Hunters split. So were wolf advocates- The wolf stamp hearing is over. It was teleconferenced. It seems like those for it were about equal to the number of opponents. Just as interesting is the hunters were divided on it, and so were wolf advocates. The split among the latter has been mirrored at the Wildlife…
By Brooks Fahy, Executive Director, Predator Defense Recently one of our county’s most highly respected environmental organizations, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), proposed that wildlife advocates improve the plight of wolves in Montana by purchasing a special wolf “conservation” stamp for $20. The money raised would allegedly be used to resolve wolf conflicts nonlethally,…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with revisions to the reintroduction program for the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in Arizona and New Mexico. Notwithstanding the fact that this should have been a full recovery plan, and that FWS has to divorce the highly imperiled lobos from…
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.