Idaho to Renew Aerial Wolf Slaughter

February 8, 2016

VICTOR, Idaho— Ignoring recent research indicating Idaho officials could be overestimating the state’s wolf population, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services announced plans today to allow gunners in helicopters to start shooting wolves in the Lolo Elk Management Zone of the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho.

The renewed wolf slaughter comes on the heels of a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and four other conservation organizations questioning the accuracy of wolf estimates by state officials and asking the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue monitoring wolf populations in Idaho and Montana for another five years. The Service has yet to respond to the petition, which was spurred, in part, by a recent study published in the journal Science that questions the accuracy of wolf counts in the two states. But the information released today shows that Idaho will aerially gun wolves in the Lolo Zone for the third year in a row, as the Idaho legislature requests another $400,000 to kill wolves for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2016/wolf-02-08-2016.html

Wolves in Idaho’s ‘Lolo Zone’ Being Gunned Down by Government

Moscow, ID– Aerial gunning of wild wolves is underway in remote and rugged areas of the Clearwater National Forest, conducted by the federal “Wildlife Services” agency at the behest of the Idaho Fish & Game Department. The government is using helicopters to kill wolves in the so-called ‘Lolo Zone,’ which covers portions of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and stretches north across the North Fork Clearwater drainage. Approximately 50 wolves have been killed from the air in the Lolo Zone since 2011, despite the low wolf population in the area and throughout the state.

Aerial gunning operations are occurring in remote areas of the Clearwater National Forest. The North Fork Clearwater contains close to 1-million acres of roadless public wildlands that qualify for wilderness designation. These wildlands offer some of the best habitat for large carnivores in the entire Lower 48. Despite this, the IDFG seems to be trying to sanitize the wild landscape for game animals.

“The Idaho Fish & Game Department is wrongfully blaming the decline of elk populations in the Lolo Zone on native carnivores, including gray wolves,” said Gary MacFarlane, Ecosystem Defense Director of the Friends of the Clearwater. “Everyone, including the Idaho Fish and Game Department, knows the decline is due to long-term habitat changes in that area. Targeting predators like recovering gray wolves is unscientific, won’t work to boost elk numbers and violates the wildness of these public lands.”

“Excellent habitat for native predators like gray wolves, lynx, wolverines, and fisher exists throughout the Clearwater National Forest, including in the Lolo Zone,” said Ken Cole, Idaho Director of Western Watersheds Project. “But the Idaho Fish & Game Department wants to turn this wild country into an elk farm and that’s ridiculous and inappropriate.”

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a lot more at link:
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2016/02/08/wolves-in-idahos-lolo-zone-being-gunned-down-by-government/