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king' s outdoor world - Best of 2007 Feb-March 2008 - Index

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8
T he
Feds Give Approval To Wyoming Wolf Plan
Wyoming Game and Fish Commission adopted a
new wolf management plan for Wyoming Nov. 16.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Terry
Cleveland said he hopes this plan will be accepted by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and lead to the removal of
wolves from the Endangered Species Act in the northern
Rocky Mountains in 2008. Wyoming has now received
news that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given
formal approval to the plan.
Wyoming’s new wolf plan includes several
changes submitted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
last summer. Wolf plans in Idaho and Montana have
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already been approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, and an approved Wyoming plan should be one
of the last elements necessary for the delisting of this
population of wolves. Wyoming’s original wolf plan was
rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2004.
Under the new plan, after delisting the Game and Fish will
assume management of wolves in that portion of the state
where wolves will be classifi ed as trophy game animals.
In the remaining portions of the state, gray wolves will
be classifi ed as predatory animals. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has determined that 15 breeding pairs of
wolves will ensure Wyoming’s share of a fully recovered
population. Wyoming’s draft plan commits the Game and
Fish to maintaining at least seven breeding pairs of
wolves located in the state and primarily outside
of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks
and John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway.
The remaining breeding pairs will be
located primarily within Yellowstone and
Grand Teton national parks and John D.
Rockefeller Memorial Parkway.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service’s original criteria for a
recovered population of wolves in
the Wyoming, Idaho and Montana
portions of the northern Rocky
Mountains is 30 breeding pairs and
300 individual wolves distributed
among the three states. By the end of
2006 there were 173 wolf packs in this
region, including 86 breeding pairs
and 1,300 individual wolves.