Regs for ’13 wolf hunt to face public scrutiny

By Mike Koshmrl, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

May 27, 2013

Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials will review proposed changes to wolf hunt regs at a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Virginian Lodge.

Managers propose to halve the number of licenses, from 52 to 26, in the regulated 2013 wolf hunt, confined to about 15 percent of Wyoming land, including Jackson Hole. No changes are proposed to the “predator zone,” an area that encompasses the balance of the state, where wolves are not regulated and can be killed like pests.

During Wyoming’s inaugural regulated wolf hunt in 2012, the statewide population of wolves — including in Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation — fell 16 percent. The number of wolves dropped from a known minimum of 328 to 277.

Forty-one wolves were killed during 2012 in the “trophy game” hunt area, and another 25 in the predator zone. Thus far in 2013, another 17 have been killed in the predator zone.

Game and Fish officials were pleased with the outcome of the 2012 hunt, Game and Fish large carnivore supervisor Mark Bruscino told the Jackson Hole News&Guide in April.

The department’s wolf population objective for Wyoming outside Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation was 170, Bruscino said. In year-end counts, officials aerially tallied 169.

Hunting-related mortality was spread out among the state’s 33 packs, Wyoming’s 2012 “monitoring and management” report shows.

There were exceptions. The “transboundary” Daniel Pack, which roamed the trophy game area and also the predator zone southeast of Jackson, was nearly wiped out. Hunters killed 11 of 13 wolves in the pack.

Information on where and how wolves have been killed in the predator zone has not been made available to the public by Game and Fish officials.

Next year’s harvest is intended to reduce the statewide population by another nine animals, Bruscino said.

An agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires Wyoming maintain 150 wolves and 15 breeding pairs. If the population sinks below those levels, wolves will regain federal Endangered Species Act protections and the state will lose the opportunity to hunt them.

Draft regulations for the 2013 hunt are viewable online at WGFD.Wyo.gov/web2011/HUNTING-1000179.aspx.

Wyoming game managers are accepting public comment on proposed regulation changes through June 12. Comments can be submitted through the website or via mail to Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Casper Regional Office, Attn: Wildlife Division, Regulations, 3030 Energy Lane, Casper, WY 82604.

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