Here is the latest Idaho wolf update from Timm Kaminski, Idaho Gray Wolf Project Leader, Nez Perce Tribal Wolf Recovery Team. I have distilled his report so that it fits into my earlier Idaho updates web pages. Please compare this to the updates of September 4, September 17, September 30, October 10, October 27, Nov. 5 etc. . . .  Ralph Maughan.

Summary north of the Salmon River-
"Up to ten radio-collared wolves remain north of the Salmon River.  Three and possibly as many as five wolf pairs may occur in this area.  One litter of 5 pups were produced this year north of the Salmon River [The Kelly Creek Pack]." Several of these pairs include wolves that were not part of the experimental reintroduction or are reintroduced wolves whose radios have failed.

Wolves B7M and B11F (a.k.a. the "Running Creek pair"), released in northern Idaho, August 2, 1997. In this update the wolf team writes of good news:

"B-11-F and B-07-M were located in the Sand Creek drainage near Hidden Lake.  This pair continues to range west of the Bitterroot Range from Highway 12 south to Roaring  Lion Creek.  They have used this area now for approximately 3 months.  We have intensively monitored their movements and believe they are beginning to show signs of settling  in this area.  Should this pattern continue, it would be the second example in Idaho that demonstrates wolves that kill livestock once do not necessarily continue to, and , that holding wolves for an extended period of time following a depredation can be advantageous to meeting recovery goals.  The Hornocker Wildlife Institute and especially Anthony Wright, Northstar Aviation, and the Wolf Education and Research Center, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are thanked for their assistance in this ongoing effort."

The area above is all inside the Selway-Bitteroot Wilderness. So this is very good new. A big question is, after being together for two years will 7 and 11 finally have a litter of pups?

The Selway pack wolves B5-M, B10-F, and their 2 pups (now 1 1/2 years old), were once again found just inside Montana in the Nez Perce Fork of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River on the Bitterroot National Forest.

The Kelly Creek Pack, B15-F, et al. was still in Montana on the Lolo National Forest. This time they were in the North Fork White Creek. Their territory has always been just north of U.S. Highway 12.

The wolf team is now pretty much convinced that wolf B20F did not whelp a previously overlooked litter of pups. This conclusion comes after about three months of observation and speculation. She was once again located on the Idaho side of the Bitterroot Divide near St. Joe Lake on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. She is the northern-most monitored Idaho wolf.  It is possible that one disperser from Montana's Nine Mile pack is with her, but she is probably alone.

Wolves B33M and B31M were not located, although they are believed to be north of the Salmon River.

Summary south of the Salmon River-
"Up to twenty-two radio-collared wolves remain south of the Salmon River.  Nine wolf pairs occur in this area including five pairs that have produced 25-27 wolf pups this year; two of these pairs [also] produced pups in 1996.

Flights to locate Wolves B36F, B12M, B33M and B31M were in progress at the time of this report."

The Chamberlain Basin pack (10-12 wolves, including the alpha pair B9M and B16F) were located "west of Flossie Lake just east of the Sheepeater Lookout on a kill." As always this is in a very remote part of the Frank Church Wilderness.

No name pack (a.k.a. the Bear Valley Pack), composed of  unrelated adult wolves B28-M, B30-F and B19-M, were located just north of Tranquil Basin on the Boise National Forest. This pack has been drifting slowly to the west and now northwest in recent weeks.

The Landmark Pack, wolves B6-F, B8-M, 4 subadults and 4 pups has moved back into the Frank Church Wilderness and was located deep inside it in .45 Creek, a tributary of Pistol Creek.

The Stanley Pack , B23F and B27M and their six pups moved out of the top of the Sawtooth Mountains northeastward across the valley and were located in head of Little Basin Creek east of Basin Butte Lookout.

The Jureano Mountain Pack, B25-F and B32-M and their 6 pups were not in a compact unit. The alpha female and five pups were located near the BearTrack gold mine. The alpha male and the other pups were seen "lounging in the sun near Cat Creek pass on the north end of the Coiner Ranch." Lone wolf B24M who had not been located for several weeks after frequenting the area near the hamlet of Carmen, just north of the town of Salmon, has been located and seems to be following the Jureano Mountain pack. B24M has repeatedly passed through an area where cow calves are present and has ignored them. Wolf 24 has been repeatedly observed by local residents.

The Moyer Creek Pack, wolves B-29-M and B-37-F and their five pups were located in the South Fork of Moyer Creek in the Salmon River Mountains SW of Salmon.

Long time pair B35-F and Wolf B18-M were located deep in the Frank Church Wilderness 1 1/2 miles north of the Diamond D airstrip. This is the Loon Creek drainage.

At least five single male wolves are spread thoughout central Idaho. The team reports that they travel widely, appearing unpredictably in the experimental area and beyond. There appear to be no single female wolves available for pairing in the areas they travel.

Outreach-
The wolf team reports the following good news about contacting the local public.

"Hunter and Outfitter and Guide contacts are being made across the State and pamphlets summarizing information gathered during monitoring efforts during the past 2 years are being distributed.  Contacts made between hunters and outfitters and guides remain overwhelmingly positive.  Nonetheless, some complain that wolves have already impacted big game populations in the State.  Harvest of ungulates is down across much of Idaho and Montana primarily due to last years severe winter and subsequent heavy mortality.  In addition, mild fall weather and particularly a lack of snow even in the high country, has permitted elk to remain at higher elevations and on summer range.  The late Spring and a slow-receding snow pack and availability of forage through fall has made elk in some areas of the State difficult to access."

I should add that elk hunting has also been slow in Wyoming too due to the mild, snowless late autumn. Less than a thousand elk are on the winter range at the National Elk Refuge just north of Jackson, Wyoming. As many as 12,000 converge there by mid-winter.