BILLINGS (AP) — Montana wildlife commissioners have set a tentative bison hunting season for next winter that would allow hunters to take up to 144 bison.

The figure is unchanged from last year, when only a single bison was taken.

Yellowstone’s bison population was driven down sharply two winters ago — from 4,700 animals to about 3,000 — through a capture and slaughter program meant to prevent the spread of disease from bison to cattle.

The hunting season approved Thursday allows for an initial 44 bison to be taken with the potential for 100 more, depending on how many bison migrate out of Yellowstone National Park.

That does not include animals that could be taken by American Indian tribes, which in recent years conducted bison hunts under long-standing treaties with the federal government.

SCI is closely reviewing two separate cases filed in two different courts on June 2, 2009 to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s rule to delist the wolves of the Northern Rocky Mountains, with the exception of the wolves of Wyoming.  In federal district court in Montana, Defenders of Wildlife and 12 other wolf and environmental groups filed a suit challenging the legality of the delisting of Idaho and Montana’s wolves.

Read the full article here.

West Bend, Wis. (AP) — Bowing to pressure from hunters and legislators, Wisconsin wildlife officials finally decided Wednesday to mothball its contentious “earn-a-buck” program and look for other ways to control the state’s deer population.

The Natural Resources Board voted to suspend the program indefinitely everywhere except chronic wasting disease areas. The board also decided to set up a committee to come up with other population management techniques.

Hunters in areas with earn-a-buck must kill an antlerless deer before they can take a buck. Hunters generally despise the program since it was imposed in 1996, saying it forces them to pass up trophy bucks.

Not to be condescending, but is hunting all about trophy animals? What is a trophy? Does it have to make one of the books? To me it challenging myself and enjoying the outdoors. But, I think that it is more important that we keep the sport of hunting going, so our grandkids can enjoy the sport as well. Those numbers are dropping faster than we as hunters can afford.

I personally like the earn-a-buck program as they implemented it last season. The first thing that it taught was me was patience. Second, you definitely need to plan your hunts as it turns into a chess match!

Read the full article here.

Reno, Nev. (AP) — There has been a recent study on fatal encounters between humans and mountain lions, suggests one conventional wisdom – never to try to run from one of the big cats!

Staying put may make a person more desirable as potential prey and prompt an attack, said researchers at University of California, Davis.

This is some very useful information, especially as the Mountain Lion’s territory is spreading at a fairly rapid pace. There have been numerous sightings as far east as Michigan.

Read the full article here.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced more than $57.8 million in grants to 27 states to support conservation planning and acquisition for the habitat of threatened and endangered wildlife and plants. The grants were awarded through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.

“The successful conservation of threatened and endangered species requires a partnership between the federal government and the states,” Salazar said. “These grants provide state agencies the resources they need to help protect and conserve listed species and to empower landowners and local communities to be good stewards of the vital habitat that makes the recovery of imperiled species possible.”

Read the full article here.

The deadlines to apply for FWP’s special license drawings are May 1 for bison, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat; and June 1 for elk, deer and antelope.

The May 1 deadline for bison is new this year.

Applying for special big game hunting permits and licenses is a lot easier these days for the growing number of hunters who apply online at fwp.mt.gov.

Internet applicants receive instant confirmation that their applications are accepted and accurate, a feature that protects hunters from being excluded from a special drawing. To avoid the one unintended slip-up that can’t be detected, applicants should double check their desired hunting district numbers before and after entering them. Once submitted, the application can’t be changed.

Hunters can apply online at fwp.mt.gov . Click “Apply for a Permit or License.” Applicants will need a MasterCard or Visa credit card. A convenience fee of $1.25, plus two percent of the total purchase, will be added to the purchase price.

For those who don’t own a computer, Internet access is available at Montana’s 80 public libraries and 30 branch public libraries. Paper applications are available at all FWP offices and from most license providers.

Additional information about FWP’s $5 SuperTag lottery is also available online on FWP’s SuperTag Web page. The SuperTag chances are available for bison, moose, sheep, mountain goat, deer, elk, antelope, and mountain lion.

Read more…

After they were nearly wiped out in the lower 48 states, wolves in Idaho were declared endangered in 1974 under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 1987 recovery plan for wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains included reintroducing them in central Idaho in 1995 and 1996.

Since then, Idaho has been involved in wolf management as directed by the Legislature, which in 2002, adopted the Idaho Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. Under the plan Idaho Fish and Game would be responsible for wolf management following delisting.

In February 2005, the Fish and Wildlife Service revised the rules that govern the experimental non-essential population of reintroduced wolves in Idaho south of Interstate 90. The change eased wolf management rules and gave Idaho a greater role in wolf management.

In January 2006, an agreement between Idaho and the U.S. Department of Interior designated the state as an agent for day-to-day wolf management for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

When wolves are removed from the endangered species list, Idaho Fish and Game will take over management under the state’s 2002 wolf management plan and the 2008 Wolf Population Management Plan. Wolves would be managed as big game animals, similar to black bears and mountain lions. Hunting seasons would be set by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.

Idaho is Ready and Able to Manage Wolves

Read the full article here.

The federal government’s second attempt at removing endangered species protection for the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies will be published today, with environmental groups already promising a legal challenge.

“The science on this is clear,” said Ed Bangs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena. “Wolves are recovered.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its latest delisting plan late last year, but the official decision will be published in the Federal Register today, which sets in motion removal of federal protections in Montana and Idaho.

Wolves will be delisted May 4, Bangs said.

For all practical purposes, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks already is managing wolves here, but the transfer of control will allow hunting seasons and more liberal defense-of-property rules.

“We’re not hostile to the notion of hunting,” said Louisa Willcox, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council in Livingston. “We’re concerned about the overall, cumulative kill level.”

Idaho’s hunting season is particularly troubling, she said.

The organization is one of 12 conservation groups that announced plans Wednesday to file a lawsuit in 60 days to block the delisting plans.

Montana, Wyoming and Idaho have 1,600 wolves and 95 breeding pairs. Willcox contends the population needs to be 2,000 to 3,000 to guarantee recovery. “We’re close,” she said.

Under the new plan, federal protection would remain in place in Wyoming, where state law defines wolves as a predatory animal that can be shot without cause in 88 percent of the state. Wyoming wolves were part of the first delisting plan, but Bangs said its management plan would allow too many wolves to be killed.

The state of Wyoming told the Associated Press it’s planning to sue the federal government for leaving wolves in that state on the endangered species list.

Lawsuits were expected and won’t automatically derail delisting, Bangs said.

“I’m hoping, while the court goes through this, they will let states manage wolves,” he said.

Another change in the new plan is it provides more evidence wolf subpopulations are connected, Bangs said.

Wolves were delisted the first time Feb. 28 of last year.

But conservation groups sued, challenging the adequacy of Wyoming’s management and questioning the genetic connectivity between subpopulations. Rather than fight the case in court, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to withdraw its delisting rule and come up with a new plan addressing the concerns.

Federal protections were restored July 18.

In March, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar affirmed the agency’s new plan, but 12 conservation groups announced Wednesday their intent to sue again.

The groups are the NRDC, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, the Humane Society of the United States, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Western Watersheds Project and Wildlands Project.

HELENA – A bill that aimed to give Montana sole authority over wolves in the state was voted down on the Senate floor Tuesday, with several senators expressing fear that passing the bill could derail the current delisting effort.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, tried to beat back those fears, saying the bill clearly states that the policy wouldn’t take effect if delisting goes forward. But the proposed law would give the state leverage if delisting doesn’t happen. If put into action, the plan would void all management agreements that Montana has with the federal government.

“We’ve heard these promises and they’ve never, never come to pass,” Balyeat said.

However, the Senate voted against the bill 27-23, with five Republicans joining Democrats in opposition to the bill. The bill had been approved in two committees before coming to the floor for a vote.

Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, who said he has worked on crafting Montana’s wolf policy to take over from the federal government since the Racicot administration, opposed the bill.

“We think anything that gets us off that goal, takes our eye off the ball, is the wrong thing to do,” he said.

Congress on Tuesday agreed to match up to half the funding states pay landowners for livestock killed by wolves and efforts to prevent losses.

It was good news for Montana farmers and ranchers, where the state program responsible for covering those payments is broke, said George Edwards, coordinator Livestock Loss and Reduction and Mitigation Program.

The provision was contained in a public lands bill with 171 provisions including the creation of wilderness in California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

Almost a third of the bighorn rams that hunters have taken over the past three years in Montana qualify for the Boone and Crockett Club scoring system record book.

Hunters and conservationists interested in sheep say that makes Montana one of the best, if not the best place to hunt trophy bighorns.

See six record rams taken last year in Montana and read about a record ram taken during an undercover operation by FWP and a new plan to manage the sheep in Thursday’s outdoor section.

U.S. Department of the Interior Press Release, March 6, 2009 here

SCI Commends Interior Decision Affirming Wolf Delisting!  Read entire article here

Secretary Salazar Affirms Decision to Delist Gray Wolves in Western Great Lakes, Portion of Northern Rockies

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today affirmed the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in the western Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah. Wolves will remain a protected species in Wyoming.

“The recovery of the gray wolf throughout significant portions of its historic range is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act,” Salazar said. “When it was listed as endangered in 1974, the wolf had almost disappeared from the continental United States. Today, we have more than 5,500 wolves, including more than 1,600 in the Rockies.”

“The successful recovery of this species is a stunning example of how the Act can work to keep imperiled animals from sliding into extinction,” he said. “The recovery of the wolf has not been the work of the federal government alone. It has been a long and active partnership including states, tribes, landowners, academic researchers, sportsmen and other conservation groups, the Canadian government and many other partners.”

Read more…

Big Sky News Service

Aerial surveys conducted last month indicate the northern Yellowstone elk population is up compared to past years, but overall, wolf restoration has reduced the herd by 60 percent, state and federal agencies said this week.

The annual winter elk survey revealed 7,109 elk almost evenly split between Yellowstone National Park and land just north of the park, according to a news release issued by a group of agencies. The northern herd typically winters near the northeast park entrance and the Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area in southern Paradise Valley.

This is the first time in four years that elk have surpassed the 7,000 mark. Since the beginning of the decade, elk numbers have dropped from more than 14,000 and have stayed below the 10,000 mark since 2003, a report said.

Yellowstone National Park biologist P.J. White said the recent jump could be attributed to several events, including good weather and fewer animals harvested by hunters.

White also said a 40 percent decline in the park’s wolf population could have contributed to the increase. In 2008, the number of wolves living on the northern range in the park dropped from 94 to 56.

Even so, agency officials said, since wolves were reintroduced in 1995, elk numbers have nose-dived by 60 percent, according to the release. While predator takings are high, biologists said late hunts in the Gardiner area and drought conditions also played roles in the declining numbers.

Predators, though, played the starring role in the decreases, White said. Elk population and the number of calves are lower in areas with high numbers of wolves and grizzly bears.

“I’d expect numbers of elk on the northern range to remain similar to this year’s count or decrease somewhat further in the coming years if predator-to-prey ratios remain relatively high, even if human harvests remain low,” White said.

The key to a higher elk population is with the young, said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Tom Lemke. Due to high predator rates, elk calves aren’t making it to adulthood. In 2008, the recruitment rate was 11 calves per 100 cows, much lower than the objective of 20 to 30 calves per 100 cows. Aerial surveys conducted this month will provide this year’s recruitment estimates.

“Even though biologists counted 830 more elk than last year, it is unlikely we will see any significant long-term increases in elk numbers until there is long-term improvement in elk calf recruitment rates,” he said.

But the decline does have a silver lining, Lemke said. The State Management Plan calls for 3,000 to 5,000 elk wintering outside the park, with 2,000 to 3,000 of those wintering around the Dome Mountain Wildlife Area. The recent count lies within the state parameters compared to early 1990s counts, where up to 4,500 elk wintered in the area.

“Wintering such large numbers of elk could lead to long-term habitat decline and increase the likelihood of game damage on private lands,” according to the release.

Population counts are conducted by the Northern Yellowstone Cooperative Wildlife Working Group. The group was formed in 1974 and is a partnership of FWP, the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The federal economic stimulus bill signed into law by President Obama on February 17 includes critical investments in conservation, environmental protection, and renewable energy. This funding will benefit the environment and support local economies. Specific funding includes:

- $285 million to improve habitat and modernize facilities across the National Wildlife Refuge system;
- $290 million for watershed conservation programs, including $145 million to purchase and restore floodplain easements, administered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service;
- $735 million for critical operations and maintenance projects throughout the National Park system; and
- $6 billion for states and localities to modernize sewage and drinking water treatment systems.

On the other hand, the bill appropriates $4.5 billion for the Army Corps of Engineers to construct and maintain water projects. Although a small portion of this funding may be available for green infrastructure or restoration, the League is concerned because so little funding is specifically directed toward restoration and there are few limits on how dollars can be used. As part of its on-going commitment to restoration, the League will work with local partners to identify and recommend specific restoration projects to Corps district offices. Our goal is to convince the agency to allocate meaningful stimulus dollars to restoration along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

In mid-January, the Bush administration released the 10-year Recreational Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Plan, which was informed by the White House Conference on North American Wildlife Policy held last October. The plan summarizes a wide range of challenges, including funding, access, recruiting and retaining hunters, climate change, and energy development, and offers 58 specific actions that could be taken to begin to address them. Action items include:

- expanding tax incentives for private landowners that conserve habitat and provide access for hunting and other forms of wildlife-related recreation;
- creating a blue ribbon panel of experts to address a wide range of funding issues;
- expanding outreach to young people about hunting and wildlife-related outdoor recreation;
- promoting development of shooting ranges in or near urban areas; and
- providing better climate-related data to wildlife managers at all levels.

A complete copy of the plan can be accessed at: http://wildlifeconservation.gov – see “The Recreational Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Plan as directed by Executive Order 13443.”

President Obama visited the Interior Department today to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its first Interior secretary. He got a warm reception from employees. He reminisced about his first visits to national parks as an 11-year-old, which, btw, was the same time Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, was first entering the Senate as a very young man.

“That [park trip] was an experience I will never forget,” the new president said. “It’s an experience I want for my daughters and all our daughters and sons.”

Obama also announced key changes in implementing the endangered species law. He said his memo would “help restore the scientific process to its rightful place at the heart of the Endangered Species Act.” (The full memo text is below; paragraphs added.) More undoing of last-minute changes by the previous administration. This will only delay plans even longer to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list in states including Montana, Idaho and portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

Read the entire article here.