Wolf hunting will start on Sept. 15 in backcountry units in the Frank Church and Selway wilderness, and Oct. 1 in remaining units. The season will run until Dec. 31 unless quotas are met, and F&G can extend the season into the winter of 2009.
Hunters will be allowed one wolf per year. A wolf tag will cost $10.50.
Hunters will have to report a kill within 72 hours and check the pelt into an F&G office for inspection within 10 days.
No trapping will be allowed in 2008, but F&G will consider it in the future.
No wolf hunting will be allowed within one-half mile of an F&G game feeding site.
Any weapon legal for deer hunting will be legal for wolves.
Electronic calls are not allowed.
Baiting is illegal.
Dogs cannot be used to pursue or attract wolves.
Wolf hunters are not required to retrieve the meat.
JEROME — Idaho's wolf population could be cut in half under wolf hunting rules approved Thursday by the Idaho Fish and Game commission. But the final word rests with a federal judge.
In setting wolf seasons and rules, commissioners set a wolf "mortality limit" at the 2005 wolf population, which was 515 wolves. That would keep wolves within F&G's management goals, which call for between 500 and 700 wolves.
"That's the maximum, and I'm not sure we're going to get there," F&G director Cal Groen said.
F&G wildlife bureau chief Jim Unsworth said the success rate for wolf hunters would probably be lower than black bear hunting, which is around 5 percent. There are about 20,000 bears in Idaho. Bears can be hunted with hounds and baited, both of which will be illegal for wolf hunting.
F&G estimates there are 738 wolves, which could grow to 1,063 after the spring breeding season. That number is derived from annual wolf population growth based on the current population estimate, which commissioners described as "very conservative."
F&G commissioners unanimously approved wolf hunts to run from Sept. 15 through Dec. 31. They said they don't expect their decision will provide ammunition for groups wanting to return wolves to federal protection because Idaho has about seven times more wolves than required to keep them off the endangered species list.
A lawsuit filed in Montana by environmental and animal-rights groups is expected to go to court next week. They want a federal judge to stop Idaho and other states from managing gray wolves immediately, and to restore federal protection for the predators under the Endangered Species Act.
The mortality limit differs from a hunting quota, which allows hunters to take a specific number of animals. Unsworth pointed out that 515 is the lowest F&G would allow the wolf population to drop from all mortality, including hunting, poaching, accidents, natural death and wolves killed due to livestock depredation.
Biologists had recommended maintaining about 600 wolves after the 2008 hunting season, but commissioners said they set the minimum lower to protect elk herds, reduce predation on livestock and increase hunting opportunity.
Commissioners said if the wolf population drops to 515, there would still be more than five times the minimum of 100 wolves that would trigger relisting under the Endangered Species Act.
"This is very conservative, and we are well within our rights," commission chair Cam Wheeler of Ririe said. "I think the state has done everything right on this wolf issue, and I don't think there's anything wrong with protecting our hunters and our elk herds."
Wheeler said a federal order to stop the hunt could have "tremendous impacts" on big-game herds because the wolf population would grow unchecked. "We think we have a responsibility to speak for our hunters," he said.
Ralph Maughn of Pocatello, president of the Wolf Recovery Foundation, said the decision will make Idaho more likely to lose in court. His group is not part of the lawsuit.
"Their comments all along have generally been hostile toward wolves," Maughn said. "The commission judges things politically, and I think they know they're going to lose the lawsuit, so they're playing to the crowd."
Mark Bell of Boise, president of the Idaho Sportsmen's Caucus Advisory Council, said hunters will be pleased that the commission is allowing them to kill more wolves.
"I think wolves need to be managed just like any other predator, and I think Idaho manages bears and cats pretty well," Bell said.
Commissioners said that even with the lower number, they doubt hunting would significantly reduce wolf populations, particularly in the backcountry and wilderness areas.
The state is divided into 12 wolf management zones, and each zone will have a quota that would end hunting if it was reached. Wolves that preyed on livestock or pets could still be killed. F&G also would adjust the quotas in each zone prior to the hunts to account for other mortality.
"It's going to be very adaptive, and we're going to learn a whole bunch in the first year," Unsworth said.
Wolf populations have increased about 20 percent per year since the animals were transplanted to Idaho from Canada in the mid-90s. Idaho now has about 82 packs between North Idaho and Interstate 84.
Despite a growing wolf population, statewide elk harvests have remained stable in the last five years with hunters killing about 20,000 elk annually.
But F&G officials said wolves are affecting elk herds in some areas, and big-game managers have had to reduce elk hunting in those areas to adjust for increased wolf predation.
Steve Nadeau, F&G's large-carnivore biologist, said each wolf kills 14 to 18 elk annually, based on research done in Idaho.
The debate between how many wolves should be allowed to exist in Idaho has been hotly debated since the mid-90s. Wheeler called wolves the "toughest issue F&G has ever dealt with." Groen added that setting a season is "great history in the management of wolves."
Commissioners stuck to hunting seasons and rules and did not follow the suggestion of several groups to set aside wolf viewing areas where hunting wouldn't be allowed.
"The bulk of the year is exclusive for viewing," commissioner Randy Budge of Pocatello said. He added that establishing a viewing area could set a precedent, and other groups could pressure the department to add nonhunting viewing areas for other species as well.
Roger Phillips: 373-6615
