On April 24, 2009, Pinedale Online incorrectly listed Wyoming Wildlife Federation as a supporter of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act. The staff and board of directors of Wyoming Wildlife Federation in no way endorses this proposed legislation. Pinedale Online made a mistake and a correction is being made currently.


Wolf Management:December 10, 2008

By CHRIS MERRILL
Star-Tribune environment reporter
LANDER -- Wyoming's two most prominent sportsmen's groups are at odds over the state's wolf management plan.

One says the Legislature should change its wolf statutes; the other wants lawmakers to keep them the way they are. The Wyoming Wildlife Federation is urging decision makers to classify wolves as trophy game animals throughout the state, similar to the way black bears and mountain lions are managed.

Walt Gasson, executive director of the organization, said making the switch is a practical way for the state to ensure it has a federally accepted plan. "It's clear to us that the current plan is not going to accomplish the two things that we believed were of paramount importance from the outset," Gasson said.

The two primary objectives are that wolves be removed from the endangered species list and that they be managed under the authority of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, he said.

"It's clear that the current plan will not accomplish either of those goals," Gasson said. "In fact, we're no closer to managing our own wolves than we were 10 years ago. Our members believe that it is time for Wyoming to do what it takes to get wolves delisted and begin actively managing them with harvest quotas and hunting seasons established by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission."

Gasson acknowledged that Wyoming's wolf plan is a divisive issue amongst hunters, but he said sportsmen are becoming increasingly frustrated by "the seemingly endless process" of trying to get the canines delisted.

Wolves, under state law, have a so-called "dual status," based on geography. If the animals are removed from the endangered species list, those in the northwest corner of the state, outside of Yellowstone National Park, would be considered trophy game animals. Trophy game wolves could only be legally killed by residents with wolf licenses, for the most part.

In the rest of the state -- including more than 80 percent of Wyoming's landmass -- gray wolves after delisting would be considered predators that can be killed by anyone at anytime without limits.

More than 90 percent of Wyoming's wolves currently live in the state's trophy game area. While the canines have been protected under the Endangered Species Act, federal managers have killed most of the wolves that have dispersed out of the state's wolf trophy game zone, because they tend to feed on cattle and sheep.

Even so, in a recent court battle which led to wolves regaining their endangered species status, a federal judge cited Wyoming's wolf plan, particularly the predator zone, as one of the problems with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to delist wolves.

Bob Wharff, executive director of Wyoming's Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said his group strongly disagrees with the Wyoming Wildlife Federation on this point.

Wharff said he isn't surprised by the WWF's support of statewide trophy game status for wolves, because it is an "easy" position to take as it falls in line with "the national groups."

But he warns such a change would not be taking the middle road, as its proponents claim.

"To me the middle ground was to manage wolves under the agreement that was already made," Wharff said. "We have wiggled as much as we could. The plan is biologically and scientifically sound and supported by wolf experts. It will allow us to meet our management objectives. If we change our plan now I believe the state is guilty of creating a moving target, as well."

Wyoming should stick with the plan it has, he said, instead of trying to placate animal rights and conservation groups that might ultimately be impossible to please.

The Bush administration removed wolves in the Northern Rockies from protection under the Endangered Species Act in March, handing over management to Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. But that decision was challenged as soon as legally possible in federal court by 12 conservation and animal rights groups. Following a preliminary injunction against it, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew the delisting rule.

"I see (changing the state laws) as nothing other than an attempt to appease the extremists that stopped the delisting to begin with," Wharff said. "I would contend that these actions will not lead to delisting, they'll just lead to different challenges on different points."

Wolves are a species that were "brought here" by the federal government, he said, and the onus should be on it to defend Wyoming's plan, he said.

"I'm fearful that what will happen is we will be obligated to have all cost of wolves and no authority," Wharff said. "If we change the plan to trophy status statewide, I'm fearful we'll obligate sportsmen in the state to pay for damages across the state and have no management authority."

Gasson said the situation reminds him of something he once heard a speaker say about the Cowboy State: "Sometimes Wyoming people would rather fight than win," Gasson said. "And me, I'd rather win. Our organization believes that a win is getting wolves delisted and getting that management under the auspices of the Game and Fish Commission. I think Wyoming sportsmen are tired of the endless legal wrangling. It's time to do something that will work."

Wharff said he worries that if the state had to compensate ranchers for livestock losses to wolves in the current predator zone it might "break" the Game and Fish Department.

Eric Keszler, spokesman for the Game and Fish Department said the agency has not analyzed what it would cost to manage wolves as trophy game animals statewide. "The wolf program is based on dual status and the management plan was put together on that basis," Keszler said.


December 8, 2008
WWF PRESS RELEASE

The Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Wyoming’s oldest and largest statewide conservation organization, today announced its support for trophy game status statewide for gray wolves in Wyoming. A policy statement approved by the organization’s Board of Directors at a meeting Saturday in Casper, states:

“The Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Wyoming’s oldest and largest statewide conservation organization, supports delisting for gray wolves in Wyoming. Further, we support wolf management vested under the authority of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. As such, it is the position of the Board of Directors of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation that, as recommended by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, gray wolves in Wyoming should be managed as trophy game animals statewide.”

 “From the beginning,” said WWF Executive Director Walt Gasson, “our position on wolf management has been that they should be delisted as soon as possible, and that they should be managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, not the federal government. It’s clear that the current plan will not accomplish either of those goals. In fact, we’re no closer to managing our own wolves than we were ten years ago. Our members believe that it is time for Wyoming to do what it takes to get wolves delisted and begin actively managing them with harvest quotas and hunting seasons established by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission.”

“Wyoming sportsmen are increasingly frustrated at the seemingly endless process of getting these wolves delisted. If we can manage black bears and mountain lions as trophy game animals, we can manage wolves as trophy game animals” said Gasson. “It’s time to stop fighting and start winning.”


September 20, 2007

The Wyoming Wildlife Federation (WWF) supports Wyoming�s September 2007 Draft Gray Wolf Management Plan as presented. While WWF believes that statewide trophy game status for the gray wolf provides the best scientific management model for wolves in Wyoming, we acknowledge that dual classification, as outlined in the plan, provides a viable option, and we support the Plan as written. Approval of this Plan will allow for this species, which has met and exceeded recovery goals, to be delisted and managed at the State level, which we applaud. We have full confidence that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department will, under this plan, be able to manage a viable population of wolves in the State of Wyoming while recognizing and managing for their impacts on other land and resource users.

Elk Feedgrounds:

Though the Wyoming Wildlife Federation (WWF) is opposed in principle and policy to the supplemental feeding of wildlife, we do not endorse the immediate or blanket closure of Wyoming�s elk feedgrounds. We realize that, due to recent and historic human development, many established feedgrounds will need to continue operation for well into the foreseeable future.

However, the WWF also believes that the time elk spend on feedgrounds could be reduced if improvements in general habitat and winter range conditions in the surrounding area generated adequate natural and long-term forage. That natural reduction in use may then lead to the gradual elimination of some feedgrounds. The WWF would support such closures only if appropriate habitat conditions are present, the average number of big game animals in affected herds consistently meets or exceeds Game and Fish Department population objectives prior to such actions being implemented, and as long as affected herds do not consistently fall below population objectives as a result of those actions.

At the present time, and under the present circumstances, changing the existing elk feedground situation through efforts other than winter range and habitat enhancement and acquisition projects is not a priority for the WWF. Our current focus is on the protection and improvement of elk habitat and migration routes. These priorities could change if the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Commission decide to change feedground operations, or if new feedgrounds are proposed as mitigation to proposed habitat destruction or degradation.

Grizzly Bear Management:

The Wyoming Wildlife Federation�s statement in support of delisting the Yellowstone grizzly bear.

The Federation believes the professionals of the USFWS and WGFD are the true authorities who best understand both the biological and the sociological � or real world � ingredients of the grizzly bear management equation. WWF supports the delisting of the Yellowstone grizzly bear from threatened status under the Endangered Species Act.