WHITNEY ROYSTER Star-Tribune environmental reporter | Posted: Thursday, February 15, 2007 12:00 am
JACKSON - Gov. Dave Freudenthal indicated Wednesday a state wolf bill may not be dead, as he submitted "language" to legislative leadership Tuesday that would structure a bill that could become effective before or after the wolf is removed from federal protection.
"I don't know whether they are going to act on it," the governor said. "There's some reluctance to adopt the new geographic definition." He asked that legislators have a chance to review the language before releasing it publicly, and did not give any indication as to what the new language would be.
Freudenthal said from his perspective, the new geographic range outlined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in December as trophy game area for wolves is "a pretty significant concession on their part."
The current proposal from the FWS cuts southeast from Meeteetse and follows Hwy. 189 from Pinedale to Jackson, bypassing land north of Afton, and land west of Hwy. 89 toward Jackson.
But legislators might see it as broadening the area originally eyed for wolves, as some wanted wolves classified as trophy game only in national parks and wilderness areas in northwest Wyoming. A Wyoming Game and Fish Department proposal in 2003 outlined the trophy game status for wolves as a slightly bigger area than the current proposal. Game and Fish's proposal included land southeast of Meeteetse and just north of Afton as trophy game habitat.
Freudenthal said he continues to focus on management of wolves in the interim period between a proposal for delisting - a draft of which came out earlier this month - and actual delisting, because that time period could be very long. That assumption is "colored by our history with the grizzly bear," which was proposed for delisting in 2005 in the Yellowstone area and is still federally protected.
"I think it's fair to be skeptical how quickly (wolves will) get delisted," Freudenthal said.
Experts estimate it may take four years of litigation before control of wolves formally passes to the states, and Freudenthal said that "could be optimistic."
The governor has pushed the Fish and Wildlife Service in recent weeks to allow the state to kill wolves that are impacting big game herds before states assume wolf control. FWS officials say it's difficult to obtain the science needed to prove wolves are the primary cause of big game declines, and readjusting those criteria would take just as long as delisting.
Critics maintain elk herds in Wyoming are above objectives, and that habitat conditions, drought and energy development are having stronger influences than wolves on any dip in herd populations.
Freudenthal said Wednesday Game and Fish biologists have said wolves will likely increase in population at a rate of 20 percent a year, and in four years the depredation by wolves will be considered "undue."
Federal biologists have said wolves will not continue increasing at a rate of 20 percent as they have in recent years because suitable habitat is filled and population levels will stabilize.
Still, Freudenthal said a federal proposal to manage wolves as trophy game in northwestern Wyoming and consider them "not listed" elsewhere in the state upon delisting still doesn't answer his question about how wolves will be treated in the interim period.
After reading the Federal Register notice, which determines most of Wyoming is not a "significant portion" of wolves' range, "I thought, 'If I were in private practice this would be a great case because it could go on for a long time," Freudenthal said. "I think that notice supports my notion that four years may be the inside of the track rather than the outside of the track."
Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at roystertribcsp.com.