From the Flathead Beacon in Kalispell, Montana:
In 1979, when Diane Boyd arrived on the doorstep of Glacier National Park to study wolves, the species’ erasure from the landscape provided the young researcher with something of an ecological blank slate, as well as a cultural one — wolves represented a mere blip in the biota of Northwest Montana, and hadn’t yet become the easy-to-loathe avatar of government-mandated wildlife management policies.
At the time, the 24-year-old University of Montana researcher had no inkling that the species she was about to dedicate her entire career to studying would eventually become the most successful recovery story of an endangered species in the United States’ history of wildlife management, nor did she realize it would become one of the most reviled, figuring prominently into a political debate that has never been more strained.
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Minister signs decree enacting year-round protection for the grey wolf in Slovakia
From The Slovak Spectator:
Environment Minister Ján Budaj (OĽaNO) has signed a decree enacting the year-round protection of the grey wolf in Slovakia.
He did so at a press conference marking Earth Day. The grey wolf will thus be put on the list of protected animals and the hunting of these animals will end on June 1. It will be prohibited to capture, injure or kill, breed, sell or exchange wolves and the social value of the wolf will be €3,000.
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Oregon counts more gray wolves in 2020, but concerns for their safety abound
From OPB.org in Oregon:
The total population of gray wolves in Oregon increased again in 2020, continuing the species’ slow but steady rebound.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Wednesday it counted a total of 173 wolves this past winter — up 9.5% from the previous year. That is likely an undercount of the entire wolf population in the state, but serves as a minimum estimate.
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Montana: 40 years of wolf recovery
From the Flathead Beacon in Kalispell, Montana:
In 1979, when Diane Boyd arrived on the doorstep of Glacier National Park to study wolves, the species’ erasure from the landscape provided the young researcher with something of an ecological blank slate, as well as a cultural one — wolves represented a mere blip in the biota of Northwest Montana, and hadn’t yet become the easy-to-loathe avatar of government-mandated wildlife management policies.
At the time, the 24-year-old University of Montana researcher had no inkling that the species she was about to dedicate her entire career to studying would eventually become the most successful recovery story of an endangered species in the United States’ history of wildlife management, nor did she realize it would become one of the most reviled, figuring prominently into a political debate that has never been more strained.
Click here for the full story.
Legislation aims to kill 90% of wolves roaming Idaho
From the Associated Press:
BOISE (AP) — A Republican-dominated state Senate committee on Tuesday approved legislation allowing the state to hire private contractors to kill about 90% of the wolves roaming Idaho.
The Senate Resources and Environment Committee voted 6-2 with no Democratic support to approve the agriculture industry-backed bill that includes substantial other changes intended to cut the wolf population from about 1,500 to 150.
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Yellowstone hazes its habituated wolves, and it works
From the Jackson Hole News & Guide in Wyoming:
Colleen Marzluff whistled to her ornithologist husband, John, as he was looking for a raven nest in a string of trees on the low southern flank of Yellowstone’s Bison Peak.
Since Colleen had taken on the “sentinel” role, John knew that something furry and large was probably entering the area.
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Alaska’s Coastal Wolves Are Not Picky Eaters
From HakaiMagazine.com:
Wolves generally prefer to eat deer, moose, and mountain goats—ungulates are their food of choice. But when those prey are scarce or unavailable, new research shows that wolves in southeast Alaska switch to eating a wide buffet of alternate animals. Some have even switched to sea otters as their favorite fare, preferring them over deer.
The research, conducted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and Oregon State University from 2010 to 2018, is the first large-scale, region-wide study of wolf diets in southeast Alaska, covering both its archipelago of islands and the mainland, across landscapes from estuaries to alpine tundra.
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Washington state range riding program reworked in advance of coming wolf season
From The Spokeman-Review in Spokane, Washington:
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has reworked its range riding program, partly in response to allegations of fraud from 2018.
“We’ve all learned about range riding and come to an understanding of what the job duties of a range rider are,” WDFW wolf policy leader Donny Martorello said.
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Wisconsin’s wolf management planning ramps up. Hunting and trapping season to begin in early November but kill quota to be determined
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
In the wake of a rushed, court-ordered gray wolf hunting and trapping season that surpassed the state-licensed kill quota by 83% in just three days and attracted international attention, the Department of Natural Resources has begun a deliberate process to inform the next chapters of wolf management in Wisconsin.
In March, the agency formed a Wolf Harvest Advisory Committee to help set a kill quota for the 2021 fall wolf season; the group has had one meeting, April 8.
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Colorado and California Prepare for More Wolves
From SierraClub.org:
On February 25, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that a radio-collared wolf had wandered into the state from Oregon. While that in itself was not unusual, OR-93 was detected east of Yosemite National Park, further south than any wandering wolf before him. The news coverage recalled the excitement over OR-7, who earned fans 10 years ago by journeying hundreds of miles in California and Oregon.
Since then, OR-93 has continued to roam the Golden State, first traveling south toward Fresno, then westward to the coast. He was last detected by CDFW on April 6 in San Luis Obispo County.
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Members of Wisconsin DNR’s policy-setting board object to agency’s stance on wolf population
From the Spooner Advocate in Wisconsin:
Members of the policy-setting board for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources aren’t happy with the agency’s plans to maintain the wolf population as they develop a quota for this fall’s wolf hunt.
Keith Warnke, administrator of the DNR’s fish, wildlife and parks division, told the agency’s wolf harvest advisory committee last week that the DNR’s objective is “no substantive change” to the state’s wolf population until a new wolf management plan is approved.
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