Ex-wildlife managers want veto of Idaho wolf-killing bill

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Nearly 30 retired state, federal and tribal wildlife managers sent a letter Wednesday to Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little asking him to veto a bill backed by agricultural interests that could cut the state's wolf population by 90%.

The former workers at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Nez Perce Tribe, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, University of Idaho and U.S. Forest Service say the methods for killing wolves allowed in the measure violate longstanding wildlife management practices and sportsmen ethics.

Those methods include the hunting, trapping and snaring of an unlimited number of wolves on a single hunting tag, and allowing hunters to chase down wolves on snowmobiles and ATVs. The measure also allows, on private land, the killing of newborn pups and nursing mothers.

“Sportsmen and wildlife managers in Idaho and around the world have long opposed unethical practices like these, since they violate ‘fair-chase’ principles giving hunters an improper advantage over wildlife,” the group wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

But backers say the changes to Idaho law could help reduce the wolf population from about 1,500 to 150, alleviating wolf attacks on cattle, sheep and wildlife. Cattle and sheep ranchers say they lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Little, whose family has a long history with sheep ranching in Idaho, has not said what he will do with the bill.

A primary change in the new law is the hiring of private contractors to kill wolves, a change the Idaho Cattle Association said it supports because it allows the free-market system to play a role in killing wolves.

The legislation includes increasing the amount of money the Idaho...