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Delisting of gray wolves is a good prospect

Friday, March 2 at 12:01 AM

Walker S. “Buddy” Smith Jr

If there’s anything that can grab the attention of an elk hunter faster than the bugle of a big bull, it’s the howl of a wolf. Want to stir up a roomful of elk hunters? Don’t bother yelling “Fire!” Just say “wolf.”

The 1995 reintroduction of gray wolves into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming has been highly successful from the viewpoint of most biologists. Whether you think that was the worst or best idea anybody ever had, wolves look to be a permanent part of the landscape in the northern Rockies.

Wolf populations in all three states are well above the minimum thresholds for recovery set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They no longer need the help of the Endangered Species Act. On Jan. 29, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed delisting wolves in Montana and Idaho and handing control of them over to the game and fish department in those states.

That’s great news. I hope Wyoming and the FWS can hammer out their differences so wolves can be returned to state control there as well. Each of us — the public — now has 60 days to submit written comments on this delisting proposal.

The Elk Foundation applauds both the Fish and Wildlife Service and the individual states for all the hard work they’ve put in over the last 12 years to reach this point.

A couple of years ago, Carter Niemeyer, Idaho wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told the Elk Foundation’s magazine, Bugle, “The quicker we can start thinking about wolves as just another game animal, the better off all involved will be.“ Amen. It is time to set politics and posturing aside and define reasonable plans for wolf management.

I’ve hunted elk in Montana every fall since 1971. It’s one of the driving passions of my life and I’m pretty good at it. In my experience, the deadliest, most efficient elk hunter is not the wolf. And much as I hate to say it, it’s not me, either. If you’re betting on who’s going to bring home the elk steaks, put your money on a mountain lion.

That’s why I think it’s worth looking at how Montana manages its lions. In 1978, the state changed the status of mountain lions from a year-round bountied animal to a licensed big game species, with specific seasons and quotas. Since then, annual harvest has gone from 50 per year to 450 per year. The range occupied by lions doubled. Yet during that same time, elk and deer populations flourished all across that expanded range. Hunting opportunity for elk, deer and lions is excellent. That’s because the state teamed up with hunters as hands-on managers. This is where we need to get to with wolves.

Give the states the ability to set seasons and region-by-region quotas for wolves in the same way they do for lions and black bears — and for elk and deer — and we can have healthy populations of both prey and predators. Combined, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are now home to about 350,000 elk and 1,240 wolves. Elk hunting success, in terms of both total harvest and mature bulls, is strong across all three states. That doesn’t mean that in areas where wolves are active there aren’t fewer elk — or that the hunting hasn’t gotten a lot tougher. It means we should be managing wolves in those places.

Wolves can and will affect game populations. But as someone who loves to hunt in wild country, I’m convinced that the greatest threat to both our elk populations and the future of hunting is ... us.

There are now 300 million people in the United States and a little more than 1 million elk. The way we’re filling up elk country with houses and roads and strip malls makes me heartsick. That’s why I’m so proud that in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho alone, the Elk Foundation has permanently protected more than 220,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat and greatly enhanced another 1.2 million acres.

If you care about the future of elk and elk country, I urge you to do two things: Speak up for state control of wolf management during the next 60 days, and step up and support the conservation groups that are working to ensure that future generations have places to hike, hunt and simply enjoy.

Walker S. “Buddy” Smith Jr. is the chairman of the board of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

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