Idaho Gov. Butch Otter Declares Wolves A 'Disaster Emergency'

SALMON, Idaho (Laura Zuckerman) - Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed a bill on Tuesday declaring the gray wolf a "disaster emergency" in his state, days after Congress voted to strip the animal of federal protections there and in Montana.

Despite enactment of federal legislation turning wolf control over to state wildlife management and allowing licensed hunting of the animals, Otter welcomed his new authority to bring law enforcement to bear against any wolf threats to humans or livestock.

The gray wolf of the Northern Rockies is about to become the first creature ever taken off the U.S. endangered species list by act of Congress, rather than by scientific review, under a measure inserted into a sweeping budget bill.

The Idaho bill declaring the presence of the gray wolf a disaster emergency was passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature earlier this month, before de-listing gained final congressional approval in the U.S. Senate last week. De-listing takes effect within 60 days.

Otter had expressed reservations last week about whether the wolf disaster bill was necessary given the action Congress was taking.

But in signing the disaster bill on Tuesday, the Republican governor said the additional authority granted him would come in handy if state control over wolves were revoked or if wolves were relisted as endangered.

The estimated 700-plus wolves in Idaho account for nearly half of the wolf population in the region. But state management plans sanctioned by Congress would allow wolf numbers there and in Montana to fall to 150 in each.

Wolves have been at the center of a bitter debate in the two states since they were reintroduced to the region -- under federal protections -- in the mid-1990s.

Ranchers, sportsmen and state game wardens have said wolf packs pose a growing threat to livestock and big-game animals such as elk. Conservation groups have argued that public hunting and other wolf-control measures planned by the states could drive the animals back to the brink of extinction.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Greg McCune)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[bad spelling grammar]

02:04 PM on 05/12/2011

What so many idiots fail to realize is that farmers get paid subsidies by the government for livestock that is killed by natural predators so the argument for loss of livestock is complete BS. Second; the only reason why wolves were introduced back into these states is to control the exploding herbivore population due to the lack of natural predators (people killed them all). The high population of herbivores where consuming all the plants at an unnatural rate throwing of the natural food chain. Now that the wolves have reduced the herbivore population to sustainable levels trophy hunters are complaining that they have to actually search (laziness) for animals that they want to hunt versus having such a huge population which makes them easy to find.

Now here is the real science lesson; the wolf population is linked to the number of herbivores present in an ecosystem. Meaning there has to be enough food to sustain the wolves so as the herbivore population comes down naturally, so will the wolf population. Certain packs will die from starvation because there is not enough food to sustain the high number of wolves and nature will balance the food chain once again. There is no need for man to step in since it was man that caused this problem to begin with. The real issue is that trophy hunters really want to put a wolf on their wall and need this bill to pass so they can legally hunt them.

[Amy Fleischer]

07:06 PM on 05/08/2011

The human species with become extinct before the wilderness and its animals. The Planet will not allow us to survive if this is the mentally we keep. She was destroy us first before she lets us destroy her.

[Dalia Eltayeb]

12:34 AM on 05/07/2011

Why does the Republican mind always go to killing first as a solution, whether it is people (at wars) or wild life as in the case of wolves?! There has to be another, less blood thirsty, way to deal with "inconveniences". Unfortunately, Idaho is plagued by Republicans.

[Tamma Peery]

02:30 PM on 04/28/2011

I have lived in N. Idaho my whole life and honestly do not know of any major ranching organizations. Most of the ranches here are owned by locals, and supported by those of us who buy local meat. I really feel for these people, they are having livestock slaughtered by these wolves and are being called evil for defending their income by the rest of the nation. These 700(almost half of the wolves) are primarily along the Idaho/Montana border, a lot smaller area than you might think. They are NOT scattered all across each state. Wolves often keep a much larger territory(around 14 square miles) than necessary in case food becomes scarce and with an average pack of around 8. So in a smaller area like the Idaho/Montana border 700 is A LOT of wolves. I personally know people who have to walk their children to the bus stop with a rifle because of the packs they have seen around their homes. Wouldn't you fear for your kids?
These creatures are not hiding deep in the wild, they are hunting just outside of our towns.
I am wondering however why none of you are protesting bear season? Or the Mountain Lions?
We have designated seasons to keep these populations under control.

[bad spelling grammar]

02:51 PM on 05/03/2011

Your logic is classic uneducated American thinking. “There is a problem with wolves so LET’S KILL THE WOLVES” never do you once tell the farmers to take better precautions to protect their livestock. How long are people going to kill anything that stands in our way? The real reason people want to shoot wolves is because they want to hunt them for sport/pleasure. No one in this day and age can use the argument I need to hunt wolves for survival. You don’t eat the meat and it’s illegal to sell the fur so why is ok to just shoot them for sport/ pleasure? Maybe it’s because all these ranchers are sick people who enjoy killing with their free time, I don’t see any reason to kill something unless it’s for food or a life or death situation (taking kids to school, etc). These ranchers are lazy and instead of investing in better ways to manage their livestock but they want to take the easy route by killing the wolves. Bear and mountain lion hunting is wrong as well, people shouldn’t play nature’s role by controlling any animal populations. FYI when a animal population spikes its usually because there is a imbalance in the food chain, if you kill the predators you will see a increase in pray animals and vice versa. So the wolves’ numbers will naturally fall with the decline in pray and people don’t need to step in.

[ltyr2002]

12:36 AM on 04/27/2011

Republicans???
Sorry friends! This is all about Ken Salazar, Obama's Interior Secretary and this administration's COMPLETE collapse from nearly day one on this issue!

Go to the Defenders of Wildlife website about these wolves:http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/wolf,_gray.php

I have watched closely. Obama is NO champion of wolves.

Call him Barak Otter!

[ModerateCentrist]

11:27 AM on 04/28/2011

exactly. it sickens me that this was done under a Dem administration. betrayed again!

[MCope]

02:48 PM on 04/26/2011

The Republicans amaze me - not only at war within their own country and against others, they are also at war with the natural world. Which is very worrying, since it's the natural world that we all depend on. But the nature of their delusion is that they won't see reason, since they think that reason (science) is part of the problem.

[Dalia Eltayeb]

12:36 AM on 05/07/2011

They also mostly claim to be pro-life !!!!!!!

[steveobviously]

02:38 PM on 04/26/2011

I think the Republicans see wolves as a competitor for their own position as top predator!

[DoctorSquirrel]

02:17 PM on 04/26/2011

"...wolf packs pose a growing threat to livestock and big-game animals such as elk." Wolves are a natural predator of elk and an important factor that keeps elk populations from growing out of control. The extirpation of wolves from the Yellowstone region caused elk populations to soar and nearly destroyed that ecosystem. Once wolves were reintroduced, populations of elk have declined to historical levels but wolves will not, nor can they by themselves, eliminate the elk.

[fourtruth]

02:08 PM on 04/26/2011

No more of these tacked on bills - these riders - this type of governance has to stop!

[devildoc68]

07:37 PM on 04/25/2011

oops...wolves....just a bit ticked here...excuse please...lol

[devildoc68]

07:36 PM on 04/25/2011

Gov. 'Butch' is the poster child for I-duh-hoe'. This mans elevator does not go to the top and no doubt gets great kick-backs from ranchers who use 'public' land to graze their cattle as such a cheap price that the Interior Dept. basically subsidizes these ranchers to the tune of millions of dollars of OUR tax money so they can turn around and destroy wild life. Woves are not the threat...ranchers mentality is the threat to all wildlife. I am sure there are a few good ones out there...but ranchers have the government in their wallet so public input means nothing. Glad to see so many here stand up for what little is left of our wildlife. I like the idea of taking politicians off the endangered species list...yep!

[Kzinga]

07:13 PM on 04/24/2011

Eventually the wolves will rise up and take out all of the nazi politicians. REVOLUTION!

[Kzinga]

07:10 PM on 04/24/2011

If 700 wolves is really a disaster, then 700 politicians must make for a self induced apocalypse.

[ashabot]

11:08 AM on 04/24/2011

Humans are so incredibly short-sighted and selfish. We are the most invasive, non-native predators on earth. We disrupt and kill everything everywhere we go. Now we're on to killing the planet itself. I am so sick of the ranchers and hunters thinking they have the "right" to shoot wolves, coyotes, snakes, bears.... you name it... on sight. All they care about is "protecting" other animals they are also planning to kill. What a desolate world humans are creating.

[Wilkby]

11:59 PM on 04/22/2011

Sometimes I don't think we Americans deserve the bounty nature has given us, if this is what we do with it.

[brokerthanu]

01:43 PM on 04/26/2011

I'm not sure "nature has given [it to] us" unless maybe if you're Native American.