Northern Rocky Mountain wolf (Canis lupus)
About Northern Rocky Mountain wolves
This content will include a relatively brief overview of the species' ecology, distribution, ecological status, management status, etc.
News
A NEW WOLF PACK, IRATE RANCHERS, AND THE ASTONISHING COMEBACK OF CALIFORNIA’S MOST CELEBRATED PREDATOR [SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - OCTOBER 13, 2024]
Commentary by Tom Skeele, CCC
Posted on October 14, 2024
It's challenging to call the wolf's return to northeastern California a government conspiracy when the critters came back on their own.
More accurately and appropriately, you can call their return a great example of natural rewilding. Wolves belong in California us much as we humans do, both species are native to the area.
Photo Credit: Kent Laudon California Department of Fish and Wildlife. From the article, the image is of a wolf pup from the Lassen Pack’s first litter in 2017 photographed by a trail camera in Lassen County.
'THAT'S A BLOODBATH': HOW A FEDERAL PROGRAM KILLS WILDLIFE FOR PRIVATE INTERESTS [NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO - OCTOBER 10, 2024]
Commentary by Tom Skeele, CCC
Posted on October 12, 2024
Thanks, NPR, for covering this federal program. As many of you know, I started my wildlife conservation career focused on this issue (circa 1991-1999) and it is sad, but not surprising, that “Wildlife Services” – a moniker that epitomizes the concept of greenwashing – carries on as such. It speaks to how the livestock industry still runs roughshod over the open range and politics of the western states.
Back in the day when my group published its own annual report on what was then called Animal Damage Control (we affectionately referred to is as “All the Dead Critters”), we summarized the federal program this way: public money is being spent to kill publicly owned wildlife, often on public lands, for the benefit of a small percentage of private livestock producers who are neither required to change their management practices to reduce livestock/predator conflicts nor directly pay for this government “service.”
Based on the information NPR provided in this story, some things haven’t changed.
One of the things that hasn’t changed about this agency is its use of non-native animal kill figures – mostly birds – to water down the relative percentage of native wildlife it kills. I can understand efforts to control these birds for two reasons: [1] they are mostly non-native and [2] most of these birds are killed at airports to keep we humans safe in the air (a “service” that benefits most Americans).
However, let’s label Wildlife Services referencing its invasive animal kill figures for what it is: a red herring meant to distract us from the agency’s historic and still primary raison d’etre: to kill predators – primarily coyotes, foxes, bobcats, badgers, bears and cougars – in the western seventeen states for the benefit of a relatively few ranchers.
The recalcitrant nature of Wildlife Services ultimately led me to pursue other strategies for protecting native predators. I was a co-founder of Predator Friendly Inc., a coalition of sheep producers, conservationists, wildlife ecologists, and clothing entrepreneurs attempting to open markets for wool products produced without killing predators. This project was one of the initial efforts that led to what is now a worldwide "wildlife friendly" movement.
Wildlife Services, and the federal government more broadly, would do well to use our tax dollars promoting this type of non-lethal strategy and solution, rather than killing literally tens of thousands of our public wildlife in the west each year.
Finally, thanks to those of you who continue to work on reforming (or ending) the federal predator control program. You are making progress and I (along with many others) appreciate and value your efforts.
Photo Credit: from the National Public Radio article; shows a gray wolf in a trap laid by a Wildlife Services employee; image obtained from the USDA via the Freedom of Information Act.
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
WOLF TRAPPING BLOCKED IN MUCH OF IDAHO TO PROTECT THREATENED GRIZZLIES [COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE - MARCH 20, 2024]
Commentary by Tom Skeele, CCC
Posted on April 4, 2024
Last week, a federal judge in Idaho ruled that year-round wolf trapping and snaring should be stopped across much of Idaho because the traps are likely to capture and harm grizzly bears.
The attached article highlights the fact that "the judge ruled wolf traps were likely to ensnare grizzly bears even if all procedures were properly followed."
Congrats and thanks to the many conservation organizations who challenged the state of Idaho's liberal wildlife control, er, ah, management policies.