Governor intervenes in wolf controversy

by Cat Urbigkit

Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal sent a letter to the U.S. Interior Department, asking for the wolves found on a domestic sheep lambing ground near Farson to be relocated.

Freudenthal's letter referred to the presence the wolves as "the latest predicament," noting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had halted its efforts to capture and collar the animals.

"While I am very skeptical of the excuse for suspending the capture and collaring of the wolves, I believe that a better and more reasoned approach would recognize the inevitability that the wolves will become 'problem' wolves and will ultimately have to be removed," Freudenthal wrote. "In my view, it would be in the best interest of the wolves, the Service, producers and livestock to capture and not only collar, but relocate the wolves prior to their establishing a den."

Freudenthal continued: "To me, this is akin to small children playing at a railroad crossing. Peril is certainly in the absence of active supervision. This is a charge for the Service to be responsible and proactively manage wolves in a way that, in the end, will preclude fatal take of wolves and livestock depredation."

Freudenthal referred to the FWS removal of five wolves in the Daniel pack earlier this year when the animals repeatedly killed livestock, but added "wolf management is not relegated to such isolated and single decisions; rather it is an active and daily responsibility."

He continued: "As a result, in the absence of state-sanctioned wolf management, the people of the state of Wyoming must recurrently turn to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for day-to-day management of the species, including conflict mitigation. Thus, my correspondence."