Stanley Wolf Pack in Peril

Idaho's Stanley Wolf Pack is again in serious trouble. The pack apparently killed a few more sheep last week and now Wildlife Services is about to embark on further control actions.

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Wolves in Peril for Killing Sheep
Officials Try to Trap Stanley pack

The Associated Press

STANLEY -- A wolf pack in the Sawtooth Valley is in trouble again after a band of sheep was returned to their vicinity.

Federal officials are trying to trap members of the Stanley pack after two ewes were killed last weekend along Fourth of July Creek in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

"These wolves have used up all their 'get out of jail free' cards," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Ted Koch said.

Officials may have to use more aggressive methods, including killing the wolves. The pack got in trouble earlier this month when it tangled with the same band of sheep.

Since then, the sheep were moved out to separate the lambs, but biologists anticipated more trouble when the band was moved back. They were right.

Fish and Wildlife has not resorted to killing wolves yet. Government trappers are trying to catch and relocate several juvenile wolves to disrupt the pack, said Carter Niemeyer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services.

Earlier this month, a female wolf was relocated after several sheep were killed in Pole Creek Canyon, south of Fourth of July Creek. Friction arose when the Forest Service closed Pole Creek Road during the trapping effort.

Wolf advocates demonstrated against the trapping effort and the road closure. Fish and Wildlife is bound by the rules under which 35 Canadian wolves were reintroduced in Idaho in 1995 and 1996.

Officials may only remove the wolves -- either by trapping, relocating or killing them -- when they continue to kill livestock, said Koch, acting director of Fish and Wildlife's Idaho wolf program.

And again, to stand up for your rights and the wolves, please call the Idaho U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Boise's Snake River Basin office at the following number--208-378-5243. Or call acting director Ted Koch directly at 208-378-5293 and leave a message if he's not there.

You can also call the Sawtooth National Recreation area at 208-727-5000. Or you can call the Sawtooth National Forest at 208-737-3200, leave a message or try to talk to the Forest Supervisor.

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