Montana, Minnesota to Open Wolf Trapping Seasons

Recent developments within the Minnesota legislature and the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will allow the public to trap for wolves in the two states for the first time in decades.

Wolf management was transferred from the federal government to the state of Minnesota in January when the population was removed from the Endangered Species List.  The state is now setting rules to govern how a trapping/hunting season will operate.

In Montana, the state has instituted a wolf hunt for a couple of years now, but harvest objectives have not been met, so the state is looking for ways to increase opportunity to harvest more wolves, including allowing trapping.

See the two stories below:

With Minnesota wolf hunt a reality, DNR is working on logistics

FWP gives initial OK to wolf trapping

Minnesota Ponders Wolf Hunting, Trapping Seasons

After a successful recovery of the gray wolf population in the Great Lakes area, wolves have been removed from the Endangered Species List by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  With delisting, management of the wolf population becomes the responsibility of each state’s fish and wildlife department.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is considering opening a wolf hunt to reduce the wolf population, but hunting success for the species is questionable.  A recent article in the Star Tribune highlights statistics from the recent wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana, which show that hunters have had difficulty harvesting wolves.

Another wolf management option for the department would be to allow wolf trapping.  Doug Smith’s recent article further discusses this option.

Minnesota trappers could be more effective in killing wolves than hunters.

At least initially.

But there may not be much of a market for Minnesota’s wolf pelts, and it’s uncertain how much interest Minnesota’s 6,000 trappers will have.

Click here to read the full article.

Feds Moving to Delist Wolves in Wyoming

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is moving closer to delisting the gray wolf in Wyoming as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.  Wolf populations have expanded significantly in recent years, and wolves have been removed from the ESA list in neighboring Montana and Idaho.

Under an agreement reached in August by Fish and Wildlife officials and Gov. Matt Mead, the state’s roughly 243 wolves living outside Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation could be killed on sight in all but the northwest part of the state, where they would be designated as trophy game and could only be hunted with a license.

The plan also establishes a flex zone covering northern Sublette and Lincoln counties, as well as southern Teton County, in which wolves would be protected only from Oct. 15 until the end of the following February.

Wyoming would be required to maintain a population of 100 wolves, including 10 breeding pairs, outside Yellowstone and the Wind River reservation.

No hunting or trapping will be allowed in Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk Refuge under the

proposed rule to be published in the Federal Register.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_f6623cac-0410-510a-8cb2-e486bd5195d6.html#ixzz1ZxH3D300

New Mexico Trapping Ban Overturned

There’s great news for trappers in New Mexico today.  The New Mexico State Game Commission unanimously voted to overturn a ban placed on trapping in the Gray Wolf Recovery Area by Governor Bill Richardson last year.

We reported on the trapping ban a year ago, and noted that a study was underway to determine whether trapping in New Mexico had an impact on the wolf population.  While that study has been completed, results have not yet been released to the public.  The New Mexico Game and Fish Department had the chance to review the study, and Game and Fish officials recommended that the trapping ban be lifted, presumably based on those results.

Trappers shouldn’t be surprised to see the ban lifted as a result of the study, considering that trapping is used to safely catch and transport wolves in recovery efforts throughout North America.  However, we’re all used to regulation decisions being based on politics.  This time around, both the science and politics were in favor of trappers in New Mexico.  A new governor, elected during the 2010 political swing, had a different view on the trapping issue than did Gov. Richardson.

The animal rights groups are up in arms about the decision, which they had hoped would go the other way, and provide momentum for a statewide trapping ban in New Mexico.  Even the AP article by Susan Bryan seemed to be very biased toward animal rights groups.  She referred to the animal rights extremist groups as the “conservationists”.  Anyone with experience in trapping and wildlife management knows that trappers and wildlife biologists are the real conservationists, as they work to maintain wildlife populations in a healthy balance with humans and nature.  A more fitting term to describe the opponents of the decision would be “activists”.

Trappers and wildlife managers have won a victory this time around, and the threat to legal trapping in New Mexico will have to wait.

Trapping Threatened Again in New Mexico

Last summer, we covered a story about New Mexico governor Bill Richardson banning trapping in New Mexico’s Gray Wolf Recovery Area.

Then, we noted in November that research was underway to determine the affect of trapping on wolves.  Results of that research don’t seem to have surfaced yet,  but with a new governor and legislature in the state, Richardson’s ruling could potentially be overturned.

But now we hear that “conservation” groups want to ban trapping on ALL public lands in New Mexico.

Conservation groups want wildlife officials to ban all recreational and commercial trapping on public lands in New Mexico.

The request was made this week despite a recent recommendation that game commissioners reconsider a temporary trapping ban in place in southwestern New Mexico where Mexican gray wolves have been reintroduced. The suggestion came from a small business task force appointed by Gov. Susana Martinez.

Read the full story here.

You can also find coverage of the story from the Trapper and Predator Caller blog.

Montana Passes Wolf Resolution

The Montana House of Representatives passed a resolution today to urge the federal government to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List.  The vote?  99-1.  That’s right.  99% of house members agreed that wolf management needs to be returned to the state.

What effect will the resolution have?  I’m not sure, but it probably won’t do much.  As far as I can tell, there are only two ways the wolf can be removed from the list…….1) the U.S. district court judge who continues to uphold the environmental activist appeals would have to be removed from the bench, or 2) the U.S. government would have to pass special legislation that would remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List.  I’m not sure that such an action has ever taken place.

Regardless, this resolution further proves that Montanans fully support state management of the gray wolf, and if Montana has its way, we could someday see a permanent controlled hunting (and maybe even trapping) season for gray wolves in the state.

Read the full resolution here.

Eastern Timberwolf to be Delisted in 2011?

Trappers and hunters have a lot to look forward to in 2011, including the potential removal of a furbearer from the U.S. Endangered Species List, but I wouldn’t start holding my breath just yet.

The Trapper and Predator Caller blog reports that the Eastern Timber Wolf is expected to be removed from the Endangered Species List by the end of the year, returning wolf management to the hands of the individual states.  Expect numerous legal challenges from environmental groups, and a long, costly court battle.  The wolf populations in the West have been listed, delisted and relisted more than once, and the legal battles continue.  Science and politics usually don’t mix well, but a wolf delisting in the midwest would at least be a start.

Wolves Move Into Utah

As wolf populations continue to expand in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, wolves are beginning to move into many areas they were never expected to roam again.  In anticipation of this, the state of Utah put together a wolf management plan several years ago to help guide decisions in the event that wolves moved into the state.  Lots of people thought the folks in Utah were crazy, until this summer.

This summer, wolf activity in northern Utah was confirmed, with the predators found killing sheep and cattle in Cache County.

Other states should take notice.  Wolf populations are spreading, and proper management and planning will hopefully result in regulated hunting and trapping seasons.  Such responsible wildlife management can help minimize wolf impacts to livestock and promote the wolf as a valuable furbearer instead of a nuisance.

Minnesota Coyote Trapper Catches Wolf

A southeastern Minnesota trapper recently found a surprise while checking his coyote traps.  A gray wolf, somewhat rare to that part of the state, was waiting for him in one of the traps.  After contacting officials with the Minnesota DNR, the wolf was released unharmed.

Read the story here.

The fact that the wolf was released unharmed, while not a surprise, is what can be expected with more wolves moving into areas where they’ve been long since gone.  And it’s also what we can expect from trapping in the New Mexico gray wolf recovery area, which was temporarily banned to complete a study on trapping impacts on wolves.

Wolves have become common in Minnesota, but according to the story, this wolf likely came from a pack in neighboring Wisconsin.

Minnesota has about 3,000 gray wolves, but they typically live and breed in the northern third of the state in the forested region. In 2009, animal welfare groups successfully petitioned a judge to put Midwest gray wolves back on the endangered species list. The Minnesota DNR recently petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the animals removed from the list, and the federal agency has until March to make a decision.

Research Underway in New Mexico Trapping Ban Area

A while back, I reported on a trapping ban instituted by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in the state’s gray wolf recovery area.  The ban was placed and extended with the a stipulation that a study would be performed to evaluate trapping’s potential impacts to wolves.

That study is now underway, with research being conducted by the University of New Mexico.

Most trappers and wildlife researchers should already be aware that impacts due to trapping are minimal, especially given the fact that professional biologists use the foothold trap to capture and release wolves for research purposes and introduction into new areas.

If the study is done in an unbiased manner and results are interpreted correctly, I suspect it will show that most current trapping methods would have no impacts to the wolf population.