Online Messenger #265

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Western Watersheds Project and our co-plaintiffs welcomed the news today that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) has halted its plan to kill two packs of wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area (FCRONR) on the Payette National Forest in central Idaho. Though the government trapper already killed 9 wolves, the IDFG is rescinding the kill order for the rest of the wolves running wild in the Middle Fork area.

IDFG’s move comes in response to WWP and our co-plaintiff’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where plaintiffs sought an emergency injunction late last week. IDFG may have today announced the end to its program in order to avert a higher-level smackdown of the illegal activities it was conducting on these wild public lands.

Read IDFG’s sworn statement that it is halting wolf killing operations.

The IDFG had claimed that the Golden Pack and the Monumental Pack were reducing elk populations to the detriment of human hunting. The IFGD was using Forest Service cabins as a base camp for the extermination efforts.

Wiping out two wolf packs without any public participation or environmental review violated the management principles of the Wilderness Act and the National Forest Management Act.

Western Watersheds Project and our co-plaintiffs Wilderness Watch, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity and Dr. Ralph Maughan are represented by attorney Tim Preso at Earthjustice.

Thank you so much Tim!