Ranchers don`t like Wyoming`s Wolf Plan
JACKSON, Wyo. - The Wyoming Stock Growers Association says the federal government's proposal to designate a permanent area in northwestern Wyoming where the state could manage wolves as trophy game animals is unacceptable.
Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the association, said that designating the wolves as protected game animals, as opposed to predators that could be shot on sight, in the area from Cody to Meeteetse is a "deal breaker."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed establishing a permanent area for the trophy management area for wolves in northwestern Wyoming in a compromise intended to end the standoff with the state over wolf management. The dispute between Wyoming and federal officials has prevented removing wolves from Endangered Species Act protections in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal met last week with federal officials. He said after the meeting that the federal proposal has marked "great progress from where we were," but said the state would continue pressing its lawsuit over wolf management.
Wyoming this fall sued the federal government for rejecting its wolf management plan. Rather than setting aside a permanent area in which wolves would be managed as trophy animals, the state's plan calls for allowing the state game department to allow hunting as the state deems necessary to control the wolf population.
Magagna said the federal proposal would have a major impact on ranchers.
"It singles out that group of landowners who are going to bear the burden of wolves," Magagna said, adding that the same group already bears the burden of grizzly bears.
The boundary of the federal agency's proposed permanent wolf area would extend from Cody south to Meeteetse, around the western boundary of the Wind River Reservation down to Pinedale, west to the Alpine area and then back north to Yellowstone National Park.
Magagna said that the proposed area would include about 10,000 cattle and 4,000 sheep that graze on public land. He said he expects the state will consult his group when the federal government gives the state a formal proposal and the state has to draft a formal response.
Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, Mont., said recently that the federal proposal would result in a stable population of about 130 wolves in Yellowstone National Park and about 50 to 100 wolves outside the park. Officials say there are now about 300 wolves in the state.
Mitch King, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver, said his agency's proposal for a permanent area would make sure that wolves don't become endangered in Wyoming.
"Experts have said the line that we now have laid out is sufficient to support that minimum number of wolves," King said. Outside the area, he said there's no natural prey for wolves and said that they would start getting in trouble with livestock.
Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said he believes his group and others that support wolves in Wyoming should have been involved in early discussions about the federal proposal.
The alliance and other groups intervened on behalf of the Fish and Wildlife Service in the state's wolf-management lawsuit. Camenzind said his group has concerns about the recent federal proposal.
"I think this is nearly as bad as the current state management plan the state is pushing for," Camenzind said. "I don't see a lot of difference, and I don't see much improvement."
Camenzind said he's concerned that the federal proposal wouldn't offer much protection to wolves outside the national parks. He said he would prefer to wolves managed as trophy game, "and when there is a bona fide problem, go in and deal with that problem," he said.
Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, said there will be public meetings as any wolf plan is developed.
"The public needs to be assured they will be heard before the state makes any decisions or counter offers, if they even do that," Childers said. "We are not by any means committed to anything."
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JACKSON, Wyo. - The Wyoming Stock Growers Association says the federal government's proposal to designate a permanent area in northwestern Wyoming where the state could manage wolves as trophy game animals is unacceptable.
Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the association, said that designating the wolves as protected game animals, as opposed to predators that could be shot on sight, in the area from Cody to Meeteetse is a "deal breaker."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed establishing a permanent area for the trophy management area for wolves in northwestern Wyoming in a compromise intended to end the standoff with the state over wolf management. The dispute between Wyoming and federal officials has prevented removing wolves from Endangered Species Act protections in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal met last week with federal officials. He said after the meeting that the federal proposal has marked "great progress from where we were," but said the state would continue pressing its lawsuit over wolf management.
Wyoming this fall sued the federal government for rejecting its wolf management plan. Rather than setting aside a permanent area in which wolves would be managed as trophy animals, the state's plan calls for allowing the state game department to allow hunting as the state deems necessary to control the wolf population.
Magagna said the federal proposal would have a major impact on ranchers.
"It singles out that group of landowners who are going to bear the burden of wolves," Magagna said, adding that the same group already bears the burden of grizzly bears.
The boundary of the federal agency's proposed permanent wolf area would extend from Cody south to Meeteetse, around the western boundary of the Wind River Reservation down to Pinedale, west to the Alpine area and then back north to Yellowstone National Park.
Magagna said that the proposed area would include about 10,000 cattle and 4,000 sheep that graze on public land. He said he expects the state will consult his group when the federal government gives the state a formal proposal and the state has to draft a formal response.
Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, Mont., said recently that the federal proposal would result in a stable population of about 130 wolves in Yellowstone National Park and about 50 to 100 wolves outside the park. Officials say there are now about 300 wolves in the state.
Mitch King, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver, said his agency's proposal for a permanent area would make sure that wolves don't become endangered in Wyoming.
"Experts have said the line that we now have laid out is sufficient to support that minimum number of wolves," King said. Outside the area, he said there's no natural prey for wolves and said that they would start getting in trouble with livestock.
Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said he believes his group and others that support wolves in Wyoming should have been involved in early discussions about the federal proposal.
The alliance and other groups intervened on behalf of the Fish and Wildlife Service in the state's wolf-management lawsuit. Camenzind said his group has concerns about the recent federal proposal.
"I think this is nearly as bad as the current state management plan the state is pushing for," Camenzind said. "I don't see a lot of difference, and I don't see much improvement."
Camenzind said he's concerned that the federal proposal wouldn't offer much protection to wolves outside the national parks. He said he would prefer to wolves managed as trophy game, "and when there is a bona fide problem, go in and deal with that problem," he said.
Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, said there will be public meetings as any wolf plan is developed.
"The public needs to be assured they will be heard before the state makes any decisions or counter offers, if they even do that," Childers said. "We are not by any means committed to anything."
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