Controversy over Twin Peaks Pack continues.
Feb. 16, 2000, plus updates Feb. 18
Controversy over the Twin Peaks pack continues, although it's not clear whether the pack is still intact after 4 depredation control shootings. It seems like more is happening politically than on the ground.
The facts are these: Hurless lost one cow calf and his horses were chased twice. The wolves have returned to his property at least two times. Four wolves were shot in total in two separate control actions. In the second action, one of the radio-collared wolves was shot, leaving only the alpha pair with collars, but a subadult and three pups with no collars. The pups and the sub-adult may have split from the pack. A depredation was just reported in the East Fork of the Salmon River about 5-10 miles away (depending on where the depredation took place). The East Fork is also the territory of the White Clouds pack, which killed several of the Baker family's calves last winter. Hurless and family are probably staying awake a night worrying about wolves. Hurless' property is on the main fork of the Salmon, a little bit downstream from the confluence with the East Fork.
The carcass of the last wolf shot was left on the sight for several days so that the remaining wolves would associated their dead pack member with the nearby surroundings. In the past, control-killed wolves have been immediately removed.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) has jumped into the fray. According to an article in the Idaho State Journal (Pocatello), he contacted Jamie Clark, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and stated, "I am hereby requesting you to immediately direct the USFWS to trap, remove, and relocate the remaining members of the wolf pack to release the unfair pressure on the Hurless family." Senator Crapo's request, however, removal of the pack when there have been no further depredations, would be illegal.
Crapo, like the rest of the Idaho delegation, has been a critic of the wolf introduction, and recently received a zero environmental rating from the League of Conservation voters, lower than well known "brown" Helen Chenoweth, who scored a "6" out of a possible "100."
Ranchers in the area are seeking "lethal take permits" similar to those given to two ranchers in Wyoming. However, there is no provision for such a measure when there are no depredations and when a control action has already been taken by the government. Were Crapo's request legal, trapping the four uncollared wolves would prove very difficult.
Apparently the alpha pair is in an area that is full of wintering deer.
Update later on 2-16-2000. I have learned that there is no hard evidence that Hurless' horses were chased a second time, although based on Hurless' word the fourth wolf was killed after he told of the second chase. The only hard evidence is one killed calf and four dead wolves.
Update 2-18-2000. Although it's by no means certain, the wolf-killed calf in the East Fork of the Salmon is thought to have been a depredation of the White Clouds Pack.
The wolves retuned to the Hurless Ranch one more time, and Wildlife Services thinks they were scared away by the "gizmo." A calf was born that night only 200 yards from the gizmo and the fresh wolf tracks. The Challis Messenger reported that Hurless is skeptical that the gizmo works, but does not want it removed. The gizmo makes noise -- gunshots, people shouting, doors slamming, and helicopter noise when it is approached by radio collared wolves.
Update 2-18-2000. Defenders has prepared to send Hurless a check for $1000 for the dead calf. That may appear to be a lot for a dead calf, but it was sired (AI) by a champion bull. If Hurless takes the law into his own hands, however (see next story), Defenders may not pay him.
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