By David Gaillard
In the last issue of The Home Range (Summer 2000), PCA reported on the problem of wolves getting killed due to conflicts with livestock and our efforts to face this problem head-on. Three months later, the problems are only escalating, and PCA's response is quickly ramping up as well: here is the latest on both fronts.
Idaho Citizens Save
the Stanley Pack ... For Now
Ketchum, Idaho resident Lynne Stone stood her ground in the middle of the road, right in front of the government trapper's truck that threatened to run her over. When she put her hands on the hood the truck finally stopped. Lynne managed some dialogue with the USDA Wildlife Services agent inside about the fate of the Stanley Pack wolves, accused of killing three sheep and unknowingly ordered to move out of the area or be killed. Lynne and other members of the grassroots Boulder-White Clouds Council had to go to these lengths to get some answers. Thankfully no one was hurt, and the group's efforts made a difference.
This initial conflict in early August resulted in the relocation of one female wolf before sheep were moved out of an allotment in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, near Stanley, Idaho. Yet the conflict flared again in early September, when the sheep were temporarily moved back to the area. Once again, Lynne and other citizens went to the conflict site looking for alternatives to killing more wolves. Thus far, the rancher has steadfastly refused their help to prevent further wolf/sheep conflicts. He has little incentive to do so, since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has assured him that any further conflicts will result in more wolves moved and/or shot.
Similarly, the Forest Service has refused to tell the rancher to make any changes to his sheep operation, despite the fact that the area is designated a "National Recreation Area" where wildlife and recreation are supposed to take priority over other uses.
Instead, FWS has ordered that two of the Stanley Pack wolves be killed. Fortunately the wolves have left the area for now. And thanks to the vigilance of Lynne and her colleagues, the Stanley Pack may survive this season largely intact. The Forest Service Supervisor has finally agreed to consider changes to the area's livestock policy for next year.
FWS Grants a "License To Kill" Wolves on Public Lands
Elsewhere in the northern Rockies, there have been relatively few conflicts between wolves and livestock on other property this summer, but some wolves are still in jeopardy. A new pack recently settled in the southern Madison Valley, just west and north of Yellowstone. The area is rich with wildlife, with few people or developments but plenty of livestock.
Two sheep and a dog were injured by this pack in August, and in response FWS issued a permit for the local ranchers to shoot two wolves. The permit was granted due to conflicts that occurred on a National Forest, where native wildlife should be most diligently protected.
Growth of the Greater Yellowstone wolf population has faltered, two to four packs shy of recovery targets in recent years because wolves have not successfully established themselves outside of Yellowstone Park.
FWS set this "license to kill" precedent last summer, in a case where repeated conflicts occurred on a private ranch in Wyoming, and FWS repeatedly failed to capture the wolves. The agency assured us this was a unique situation, not to be repeated-yet now we find it is a "first response" to a new conflict on public lands. As this issue of The Home Range goes to press, the permits have not resulted in any dead wolves yet, but that surely does not make it right to shoot first and ask no questions.
Sheep Mountain Pack
Loses Its Mother
At the time of our last newsletter, the Sheep Mountain Pack was trapped in its territory north of Yellowstone and moved to a pen on Ted Turner's ranch to undergo aversive conditioning. Tragically, the alpha female of this pack died in the pen this summer, which may reduce the chances that the pack will stay together when and if they are released back into their former territory this fall. As in the conflict situations above, this follows the familiar pattern of FWS trying to solely change wolf behavior, rather than the more balanced approach of changing livestock and human behavior along with that of wild wolves.
PCA Entering the Fray
In response to these conflicts, PCA organized a wolf control meeting this summer at the FWS office in Helena, Montana, to air concerns and propose solutions to the escalating problems. It was clear from the meeting that there are no easy answers, but that more resources need to go to the specific sites where the conflicts are occurring. Alternatives to killing wolves can be used in some areas of known "first conflict," and successful methods can be passed along to other areas. Non-lethal wolf control methods don't always work but should be attempted before wolves are killed. Simple methods, such as the type of monitoring done by the Boulder-White Clouds folks above, may hold promise. Though this level of management is intensive, it appears to be necessary is some areas in order to get wolf recovery back on track.
PCA itself has begun the process of identifying "hot spots" of wolf/livestock conflict in Greater Yellowstone, toward the end of prioritizing areas for new approaches. With the aid of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and data on wolves, livestock and land ownership provided by the National Park Service, Forest Service, and State of Montana, the mapping work has come together quite well. PCA may expand this effort to include the Idaho and northwest Montana wolf populations, and may add additional data on grizzly bears, for instance.
Finally, PCA is working to articulate a clear vision for wolf recovery in the northern Rockies. We are motivated both out of frustration from a rash of new wolf policies that represent a new "race-to-the-bottom" for wolf protections (e.g., Idaho wolf plan, FWS reclassification policy, FWS control plan), and out of a growing realization that wolves have done a remarkable job at recovering with minimal help from us humans thus far, but they cannot finish the job alone. Our vision will be based upon simple goals: (1) ensuring enough wolves are present in the northern Rockies, well-distributed so that they will continue to survive and thrive; and (2) enough wolves are allowed to fulfill their crucial ecological role across an intact northern Rockies landscape. Our intent is to provide a benchmark by which current and future wolf policies can be measured toward attaining a proper balance between people, predators and places.
