The Home Range: PCA puts the brakes on Idaho killing

THE HOME RANGE

PCA puts the brakes on Idaho killing

Predator Conservation Alliance Boardmember Lynn Fritchman first told us the news: Idaho was planning to kill 75 black bears and 10 mountain lions in an attempt to boost elk numbers for commercial hunters. This killing proposal was disguised as a "study," even though it came from state politicians, not biologists. To make matters worse, federal tax dollars were going to be used to pay for it, since U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services agents were to do the killing.

Other details trickled in. The bears would be shot or trapped using leghold traps or wire neck snares. Mountain lions would be shot "opportunistically" when they were found in the area. Both bears and lions would be killed using tracking hounds and baits flown by helicopter into remote areas of Idaho’s beautiful and rugged Clearwater National Forest in northcentral Idaho. The killing was proposed to begin this April, two months after newborn black bears have emerged from their dens. The chances are slim to none that cubs
orphaned from their mothers at this young age would survive.

Thankfully, citizens from Idaho and nationwide voiced their outrage against this plan by flooding Wildlife Services with letters, faxes, and emails: "More than what we anticipated," said an office spokesperson. An editorial from the Idaho Falls Post Register came out strongly against the proposal, quoting wildlife biologist and former Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner John Beecham: "If wildlife could not outpace predators, they would have
disappeared many hundreds of years ago. A healthy, productive habitat is how they prosper."

The editorial concluded, "The Idaho Fish and Game Commission spends a lot of money employing biologists to tell it what’s happening in the field - and then ignores what those biologists have to say." The gulf between the politicized commission members and the department’s staff has never been so wide. The predator policy demonstrates how wide."

In response to this public outcry, the plan is now on hold, hopefully for good. We expect the Commissioners to increase bear- and lion-hunting quotas in this area from already inflated levels, but thankfully the rugged nature of the Clearwater protects these animals from all but the most adventurous hunters.

PCA thanks our members and supporters who responded so quickly and passionately to our email alert on this issue. While we can be proud of this victory, it may be only the first challenge we face from Idaho’s misdirected (anti-) predator policy, adopted last summer. PCA will keep a close watch to ensure any and all future "studies" are legitimate, and that any future predator proposals from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are consistent
with their mission, "To preserve, protect, perpetuate and manage all wildlife."

David Gaillard, March 2001

David Gaillard is a program associate with PCA. He leads both the Forest Predator Protection Program and the Living With Predator Program. He can be reached at gaillard@predatorconservation.org.

Predator Conservation Alliance (PCA), founded in 1991, is dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring native predators and their habitats in the Northern Rockies and High Plains. In short, PCA is saving a place for America's predators. To become a member or get on PCA's mailing list, e-mail pca@predator conservation.org. If you would like to stay informed about what's happening to public wildlife on public lands, please join the "Voices for Predators" activist network. Just e-mail angie@predatorconservation.org to receive timely electronic action alerts about predator issues, or visit www.predatorconservation.org/ alerts.html.

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Predator Conservation Alliance
http://www.predatorconservation.org
P.O. Box 6733 | Bozeman, MT 59771
Phone: (406) 587-3389 | Fax (406) 587-3178
E-mail: pca@predatorconservation.org