In January, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission (IDFG) announced una propuesta to extend the season for wolf hunting and trapping across the state on public and private land. The IDFG offered a total of seven hunting proposals and two trapping proposals.

En general, las propuestas tienen como objetivo ampliar todas las oportunidades de caza y captura, incluso a:

• Extend the wolf hunting season across much of the state from 7 months to an 11-month season
• In southwest and south-central Idaho, allow year-round wolf hunting on public and private land
• Allow use of snares in some hunting units
• Create 173 days of new wolf trapping opportunities on public land

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is accepting public comment on the proposals through February 10, 2019. With only nine multiple choice questions on the survey, the form takes less than one minute to complete but has a profound impact on Idaho wolves.

Idaho’s History of Wolf Management

Desde que se levantaron las protecciones federales para los lobos de Idaho en 2011, el estado ha dejado en claro sus intenciones de “manejar” a los lobos con mano dura. Gem State no solo sanciona sólidas temporadas de caza/captura de lobos trofeo, sino que también estableció una "Junta de control de depredación de lobos" estatal en la que Idaho presupuesta $400,000 anualmente para exterminar lobos, a menudo mediante disparos aéreos, e incluso en áreas silvestres.

The neighboring states of Montana and Wyoming closely mirror Idaho’s treatment of wolves. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is proposing to extend the wolf hunting and trapping seasons in northwestern Montana. If the proposals are approved by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, they would:

– Extend the general hunting season to Aug. 15 – March 31.
– Extend the trapping season’s end date from Feb. 28 to March 15.
– Increase the individual limit from five wolves per person to 10.

In Wyoming, wolf hunting is legal 365 days a year across 85% of the state, where wolves are classified as shoot-on-sight vermin. Guns, snares, explosives, trucks, and snowmobiles – almost any form of violence is allowed to kill wolves – even mothers with young pups.

Nearly 3,500 wolves have been killed for trophy in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming since 2011. The West may be wild, but its wildlife policies are sorely lacking.