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State calls wolves predators
Stockmen, outfitters rally in Jackson to tell Game and Fish to pursue disputed plan.

By Whitney Royster

Wyoming wildlife officials voted Monday to classify the wolf as a predator in most of the state, despite federal threats that the decision won't fly.

After hearing statements for more than two hours from nearly 40 people, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted 4 to 2 to seek dual classification for the wolf in Wyoming. The animal would be trophy game in national parks and refuges and forest service wilderness areas. But the wolf would be a predator everywhere else, meaning it could be killed any way, any time and for no reason. The Legislature must approve the proposal.

The passionate debate brought more than 100 people to the Antler Motel where cowboy hats outnumbered ponytails and Patagonia clothing by about 10 to one. The line for a two-minute chance at the microphone grew so long that people crouched and sat on the floor instead of standing for more than an hour.

Jim Magagna, vice president of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association, said wolves may stay in balance with their prey base, but Wyoming is different.

"The balance may be true in biology but it is not in livestock," he said. "They may eat livestock rather than lower the population numbers of their depleted prey base."

Pete Barry said people assume predators are "bad" but forget that humans are the biggest predator of all. He said it is only a "tiny minority of people, mainly hunters and ranchers," who don't want wolves.

"Let's not cater to a tiny minority and represent the broad spectrum of America," he told the commission.

Outfitter Maury Jones said the federal government has been "cramming things down our throats for too long. We need a commission and Legislature with a backbone," he said. "Federal jurisdiction does not go into the state unless the state accepts it."

Environmentalist David Gaillard, representing the Predator Conservation Alliance, said he hoped the commission would classify wolves as a predator. That would work in his favor, he reasoned, because it would keep the federal government from removing the animal from the protection of the endangered species act. "My lawyer friends and I have been wondering how we can keep the animal protected," Gaillard said.

Hunter Lloyd Dorsey said he chooses to live and hunt in Wyoming because of the natural balance of predators and prey. "People worldwide are coming to see the diversity of wildlife species we are blessed with here," he said.

Hunter Paul Gilroy disagreed, saying wolf numbers will get out of control too quickly. "How are you going to control these animals now that we can't trap them or poison them?" he asked. "Sport hunting doesn't control the population."

Delaine Roberts, a Legislature in Wyoming's House, said the state owns the elk but is allowing the wolves to take that resource from the state.

"Wolves will kill your prize dog, your registered colt ­ anything they come across," he said.

Outfitter Lynn Madsen said the state has more wolves than people realize.

"I haven't seen a moose calf in the Teton Wilderness in years," he said, attributing that to wolf predation. "We know they're here to stay. We're not going to annihilate them."

Some ranchers will look to rid wolves from their area, rancher Bill Barney said.

"Even with a compensation program ... I can expect only one-half of predations to be compensated," he said. "The genie is out of the bottle, and I would wish and ask that wolves remain a predator everywhere outside the parks.

That's probably the only way we can save our livelihood," Barney said. "Those of us that have to live with them at least have some recourse."

But Franz Camenzind, director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance and a biologist and filmmaker, said wolves shouldn't be considered a problem until they become one.

"Let wolves occupy territories they can, and when problems occur get Wildlife Services to help," he said.

Legislator Dick Sadler said the state has been "blackmailed" long enough with the federal seat belt law and the 21-year-old drinking age. Wyoming needs to stop kowtowing to federal rules, he said.

Game and Fish Commissioner Gary Lundvall said his colleagues need to listen to hunters, sportsmen and the agricultural industry. "Our first responsibility is to the stakeholders in Wyoming," he said. "It would be fiscally irresponsible for this department to assume another liability."

Lundvall, joined by commissioners Linda Fleming, Kerry Powers and Michael Powers, voted for the dual classification.

Commissioners Hale Kreycik and Jerry Sanders voted no, saying they wanted to pursue a plan that might be accepted by the federal government.

"I joined the commission to solve problems, not create them," Sanders said. "The sooner we get [wolves] delisted the fewer wolves there will be. ... Let's classify them as trophy game and let regulations that control them come much sooner and not butt heads with the federal government. I don't like to play games that we aren't going to win."

Earlier, employees from Game and Fish recommended the commission vote to classify wolves as trophy game throughout the state.

Environmentalists hailed the vote.
"This means it will be that much easier to keep the wolves listed," Gaillard, of the Predator Conservation Alliance, said.

Game and Fish employees were directed to rewrite a draft wolf plan by Nov. 8. The public comment period will be shortened by 10 days so commissioners can still vote to approve a plan in February.

Commissioner Lundvall said the wolf would have about 5.2 million acres with the proposed plan.

"I think that's adequate," he said.

There are 13 breeding pairs of wolves, about 218, in Wyoming.

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