In Idaho, the lawmakers have passed a bill saying they are going to kill 90% of all the wolves in Idaho. The act was signed into law on May 5 by Republican Governor Brad Little and will go into effect within months.  It will allow hunters and private contractors to kill 90 percent or more of the state’s wolves, which number around 1,500 at last count.

The law also expands the way wolves can be hunted and killed. Those methods include hunting, trapping, and snaring an unlimited number of wolves on a single hunting tag, using night-vision equipment, chasing down wolves on snowmobiles and ATVs, and shooting them from helicopters. Also under the new law, newborn pups can be killed if they are found on private land. What kind of evil person kills little pups? Steve Alder of Idaho for Wildlife, a group that wants wolf populations reduced to boost elk numbers, said the most effective new wolf hunting methods will be professional trappers sent into the state’s rugged wilderness areas and the use of aerial gunning from helicopters. Adler said most regular hunters never see wolves or kill them but will now have much better odds of doing so using night-vision equipment. 

Environmental groups decried the new law. Zoe Hanley of the Defenders of Wildlife group said in a statement that “today marks a low point for gray wolf recovery in the U.S.” “For years Idaho wolves have been intensely persecuted through the nation’s most permissive hunting and trapping seasons, and this bill all but pushes the species back to the brink of federal relisting,” Hanley said. Another group, the Center for Biological Diversity, has asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to cut off millions of dollars to Idaho that’s used to improve wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation opportunities because the group said the new law goes against enhancing wildlife. “We’re disappointed that Gov. Little signed such a cruel and ill-conceived bill into law,” said Andrea Zaccardi, a senior attorney at the center. 

About 500 wolves have been killed in the state in each of the last two years by hunters, trappers, and wolf-control measures carried out by state and federal authorities. I think they kill enough wolves already. Idaho’s wolf conservation and management plan call for at least 150 wolves in the state and 15 packs. Supporters of the new law say the state can increase the killing of wolves to reach that level. According to the plan, if Idaho’s wolf population fell to 100, there is a possibility the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could resume the management of wolves in the state.

Stop killing Idaho wolves. Leave them alone, this was their land first after all.