Stanley alpha male moved to north Idaho, sub-adult dispatched. Stanley Pack control ends 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today it has completed its wolf control on the Stanley Pack, hopefully for the year.

The end result was the capture yesterday of the alpha male of the pack. He was transported to the Clearwater National Forest in north central Idaho and released, as many other wolves have been in the past.

A sub-adult female was trapped as well and euthanized at the site. 

The Service reported that the alpha male was trapped near the mouth of Fourth of July Creek in the White Cloud Mountains. The alpha male B27M was brought to Idaho in 1996 from British Columbia and released on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. He was radio collared then, but apparently his collar had been dropped some time ago. Those who know the pack well say he is a very big silver-colored male. His long-time mate B23F was not captured.

Ironically the cow calves in the area where the cow calf depredation most recently occurred were yesterday shipped out of the valley for the winter. Livestock does remain in the Sawtooth Valley, however.

An interesting question is: will B27 return from the Clearwater as did the alpha male of the White Clouds Pack last spring? Almost all of the wolves relocated north to the Clearwater have moved southward and the White Clouds alpha male came back to his pack only to be shot by mistake last spring.

Here is the record. The Twin Peaks Pack alpha pair was moved to the Clearwater. They did not come back to Clayton, Idaho where there was such a furor last spring. They did move southeast and are near Anaconda, Montana.

The White Clouds alpha female whelped pups on the Clearwater and she was last reported to have moved south and was a few miles north of Salmon, Idaho; but since the big fires there I have received no more information on her.

Several years ago wolf B7M was moved to the Clearwater from the Big Hole Valley of Montana. Within days he was back with his mate B11F, "Blackfire." Eventually the two were captured and held in a pen for several months and shipped north again. This time they stayed and have since had three litters of pups. They are the Big Hole Pack and their range is just south and southwest of Lolo Pass. 

Regarding the control new Idaho Wolf Recovery Coordinator Carter Niemeyer said, "I hope we can get through the rest of the grazing season without any more livestock losses from the Stanley Pack. Though the efforts of Wildlife Services, the Nez Perce Tribe, and private citizens, we have attempted to minimize the impacts of wolf depredation on livestock in the Stanley area. Hunting seasons are opening, [cow] calves are being shipped, and the grazing season on public lands is winding down--which will help reduce depredation opportunities on livestock by the Stanley Pack. We will work to provide an opportunity this winter for federal agencies, the Tribe, livestock producers, and members of the public to work together on long-term solutions to resolve some of these issues."

Niemeyer assumed his duties just this week--quite an opening week!

Since 1997 the Stanley Pack has killed 40 sheep and 4 calves. There were several more probable kills. This is more strikes than most packs get, but the Stanley Pack is in one of the most scenic and recreationally-prized areas in Idaho. It is much like a major Yellowstone Park Pack. Moreover, I think the summer of 2000 showed that the U.S. Forest Service was not prepared to deal with the fact of a major wolf pack in area grazed by several flocks of sheep. As Niemeyer said, this winter will be time for coordination to develop and improve.

My guess is that the alpha male was moved for political reasons, and that he will come back. He has not been proven to have been one of the livestock killers. The pressure from livestock interests has been intense and the trappers needed to show some results.

As I learn more about the politics of the area, the web grows more complicated and interesting. This will be the subject of a future report.

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