Idaho governor pulls state management of wolves

Idaho governor pulls state management of wolves in dispute over wolf hunt
The Associated Press
Posted: 10/18/2010 4:49 PM


BOISE -- After talks with the federal government over a public wolf hunt collapsed, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter ordered Idaho wildlife managers today to relinquish their duty to arrest poachers or to even investigate when wolves are killed illegally.

Otter rejected the wolf management Idaho has conducted for years as the federal government's "designated agent" after a federal judge in Montana returned wolves to Endangered Species Act protections earlier this year.

This means Idaho Department of Fish and Game managers will no longer perform statewide monitoring for wolves, conduct investigations into illegal killings, provide law enforcement when wolves are poached or participate in a program that responds to livestock depredations.

With U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy's ruling in August, Idaho and Montana have had to cancel public hunts. That's especially irked Otter, who contends the first legal harvest that started in 2009 and ended earlier this year demonstrated that states could manage wolves responsibly.