Andrew Ottoson - sports/outdoors reporter
May 17, 2011
With the gray wolf stripped of Endangered Species Act protection, the Idaho County Commissioners are reminding worried residents what state law specifies. Quoting chapter and verse from Idaho Code 36-1107(c), the commission urged citizens "to defend yourselves in accordance with this law" in a May 13 press release. The reminder comes as Idaho Fish and Game again wades into the specifics of wolf management. Fish and Game is holding a public hearing as part of its quarterly meetings tonight, May 18, in Lewiston.
County commissioner Jim Chmelik believes the wolf still has too much legal status.
"I've said before, I don't think the wolf should be managed, I think it should be eliminated," he said.
Hotel operator Mike Edmondson, a constituent in Chmelik's district, is of the same mind.
"We are experiencing a wolf epidemic here in Elk City," Edmondson said.
Chmelik noted the fears some citizens are voicing in Elk City: wolf-borne disease, decline in elk populations and worries about the predator's effect on the hunting industry. Chmelik said he is most concerned about the possibility of a wolf harming a person.
"It's a big problem here in Elk City," he said. "They're in town. Is it going to take someone getting bit before we do something?"
Against these fears, the commissioners say Idaho law allows for wolves to "be legally shot in the event a threat against [residents'] personal safety or property is made." They cite Idaho Code 36-1107(c), which can be read in part below and in full at http://goo.gl/Dante:
"Wolves may be disposed of by livestock or domestic animal owners, their employees, agents and animal damage control personnel when the same are molesting or attacking livestock or domestic animals and it shall not be necessary to obtain any permit from the department. Wolves so taken shall be reported to the director within seventy-two (72) hours, with additional reasonable time allowed if access to the site where taken is limited. Wolves so taken shall remain the property of the state."
Chmelik also said that the commissioners are "in contact with Idaho Fish and Game as to the process to initiate any necessary immediate control measures and will closely monitor this situation."
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services confirmed that wolves killed 75 cattle, 148 sheep, two horses and one domestic bison in 2010 in Idaho. In addition, 14 cattle, 30 sheep and one livestock guard dog were considered probable wolf kills.
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According to a Tuesday, May 12, report in the Lewiston Tribune, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has delegated authority to kill wolves to two Elk City deputies in response to the presence of a pack of about seven wolves near the town. The department has also empowered Fish and Game officers to take wolves in that area. The Free Press will have more on this development next week.
