One more member of Twin Peaks Pack shot in control kill
Feb. 11, 2000
Some of the Twin Peaks Pack have still been hanging around the Hurless Ranch, and his horses have been seriously chased. As a result, last Monday, Feb. 7, the Fish and Wildlife Service authorized a control kill of B68M, formerly of the Stanley Pack. Hurless was reported in the Challis Messenger to have reported that the "gizmo" had not worked, and that there were wolf tracks right beside the device.Hurless was reportedly pleased with the speed of the response this time in getting a helicopter up to kill the wolf.
The Messenger reported that federal officials were considering giving ranchers in the Custer and Lemhi county areas blanket "lethal take" permits allowing them to shoot wolves on their property on sight during the cow calving season in a manner similar, but much more limited, to those given to the Diamond G ranch in Wyoming and its neighbor Bob Betts. Neither of these permits have resulted in any shot wolves so far.
Hurless expressed enthusiasm for the idea. " The wolves are here," he said. "That's reality. They're not going away. Now that wolves are here, a way has to be found to manage them properly, and he said he believes that includes keeping wolves away during calving season.
Bangs, however, was quoted as saying these permits were only granted after repeated attacks and failure of federal personnel to control the depredating wolves. "We have to fail first," before such a permit is issued, said Bangs, and then it's a case of the rancher helping the feds with an ongoing wolf control action.
'Bangs said the only scenario he could see under which ranchers could shoot wolves on sight would be after wolves are delisted, if hunting seasons eventually become part of state wolf management. FWS has recommended eventual public harvest of wolves. If a rancher had a hunting license, he could then shoot a wolf, he said.'
One surmises from the article that unified pressure from the governor's office and the Idaho congressional delegation is being applied to USFWS director Jamie Clark. The political realities of the situation are, however, that under the current Administration in Washington the views of the Idaho government (almost entirely of the opposite political party) don't carry much weight.
My experience in the area is that there are a lot of small ranches or farms in the canyon bottom. The management practices of each operation varies quite a bit. Almost all of the country outside of the canyon bottom is U.S. public land, but in the winter wolves favor the bottomlands where the deer, elk and cattle are. The bottomland in the other forks of the Salmon River, and the main Salmon River itself further downstream, are mostly public land with no winter time cattle and are mostly backcountry or wilderness.
I am surprised that this wolf pack has not left the area, given that there have been 4 control shootings. One has to wonder if a helicopter could not harass them into nearby drainages where there are more deer and elk and no cattle? I wonder what caused the Twin Peaks Pack to leave the abundant wildlife and nearly total safety of the Loon Creek area in the Frank Church Wilderness that lies on the other side the mountain? That is where the pack originated.
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