6-7 IAN Wolf Hunt On

 Game on as it relates to hunting wolves in Idaho next fall. A lot of livestock producers are going to breathe a sigh of relief over this action by Idaho Fish and Game officials. I’m David Sparks.

 You know I have been following this story, it seems like four years, and now another chapter has been written. I have talked to sheep people, cattlemen, sportsmen, fish and game officials, and environmentalists. The major question has been: should wolves be de-listed as endangered species.  The overwhelming consensus has been that wolves in Idaho, or make that the Northwest in general are absolutely not endangered. Something that Gov. Otter has steadfastly promoted was that Idaho should be in charge of managing its own wolf population. He has talked to his counterparts in Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Nevada, and Oregon. Of course the environmental sector is adamant that wolves should stay listed as endangered species. Well guess what? Idaho Fish and Game Is allowing wolf hunts to go forward this fall. Here is Fish and Game spokesperson Mike Keckler:  “We are making plans to hold a hunt this fall. Right now since we have not been in the wolf business for several months we are in the process of gathering information in terms of populations, distributions of packs and we will present that information to the commission and sometime over the summer the commission will tell us what they want us to do in terms of holding that Wolf Hunt. They will determine harvest limits and various other things and again we will be ready to go.