We should all try to do what we can to help with legal fees; attend a fund raiser, buy a bumper sticker. Check out the web site at: http://www.usa4id.com/ciwc/

 RWalters

Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Anti-wolf group gears up for legal attack

Associated Press

BOISE _ The Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition -- formerly known as the Central-Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition -- is trying to raise money to file a class-action lawsuit asking that the federal government be ordered to eliminate wolves from Idaho.

Coalition founder Ron Gillett of Stanley told a news conference Sunday said that increasing wolf populations across the state are putting stress on wildlife, outfitters and ranchers.

"I am afraid we are about to experience the biggest wildlife disaster in Idaho's history," Gillett said. "Something must be done immediately, because the Canadian gray wolf population has exploded to the point of decimating Idaho's big game herds."

Coalition member Bill Campbell of Nampa said many outfitters and hunting guides are having a hard time with game shortages.

"That's what brought this whole thing together," said Campbell. "There are outfitters who are literally going out of business because hunters come in from all over to hunt big game and don't see anything. Then they never come back."

Research from the Nez Perce Tribe indicates that wolf populations are decreasing in some areas because as packs grow, the territorial animals roam into less-desirable territory.

"The density of wolves in a given area is pretty much fixed. That is all the wolves you are going to have in an area," said Curt Mack, director of wolf recovery in Idaho for the Nez Perce Tribe.

Because the density of wolves in particular areas is not growing, predation of elk by wolves will likely increase across the state but won't increase in localized areas.

Researchers say that elk account for about 80 percent of the diet of wolves, while deer makes up the rest. An average wolf pack probably eats 80 to 100 elk per year, said Curt Mack, director of wolf recovery in Idaho for the Nez Perce Tribe. He guessed wolves kill about 2,500 to 5,000 elk per year.

"The pressure on elk is distributed over a larger geographic area, but the pressure and wolf predation on elk within an occupied territory remains the same," Mack said.

The lawsuit is meant to force federal officials to dispose of the animals through any means necessary.

"There's just no way that you can trap all those wolves. You can trap some, and that would be the humane thing to do. But the fact is they're a predator and you've got to deal with them one way or another," said Nampa rancher and coalition member Bill Campbell.

Organizations in Montana and Wyoming share that sentiment and the coalition hopes they will join in the lawsuit, said Campbell. The Idaho group is gathering funds and plans to hold a dinner and auction Aug. 22 in Nampa. The coalition hopes to raise about $100,000 for its legal efforts by spring.

Back to Wolf News