2 new Idaho wolf packs -- Timberline and Monumental

Timberline named after Timberline HS in Boise

August 16, 2003

Two new wolf packs have been discovered in Idaho. A pup and an adult male have been trapped a few miles east of Idaho City. The adult was fitted with a radio collar. The pack will be named the Timberline Pack after the Timberline High School in Boise. Susanne Stone tells me the students are thrilled - the school mascot is the wolf. I believe it's the only school with the wolf as mascot in Idaho, perhaps the northern Rockies. Pretty cool!

Curt Mack reports "A new Idaho pack that was discovered by Holly Akenson, Univ.of ID researcher and caretaker for the Taylor Ranch in Big Creek. We have suspected a pack of wolves in the Monumental Creek area for the past several years. Holly and some interns surveyed this area and discovered an active den with both evidence of adults and pups. This info was verified by Jim Holyan on a subsequent survey. No counts yet but they are now called the 'Monumental pack'." Mack is head of the Nez Perce tribal wolf team which co-manages wolves with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Idaho. This area is inside the vast Frank Church Wilderness. It is a tributary of Big Creek.

These 2 packs are the 20th and 21st packs with litters discovered this year in Idaho.

Meanwhile forest fires are burning or did burn in or near the territory of a number of Idaho wolf packs -- Crystal Creek fire (Landmark Pack); Hot Creek fire (Steel Mountain pack) have been controlled.. The new Falconberry fire, which has exploded in recent days, is in the territory of the (Twin Peaks Pack), and the new South Fork (of the Salmon) fire may be in the territory of B45F and maybe the Orphan Pack. The new Canyon Creek fire (which has closed Idaho Highway 21) may be on the edge of the territory of a number of wolf packs.

Mack told me fires rarely harm wolf packs unless they are caught in a fire storm. Radio collared wolves have been observed traveling near the head of forest fires. This may be opportunistic behavior to catch fleeing deer and/or rodents.