State gets jump-start on plan for gray wolves

A wolf plan for Utah is still years away, but there's no better time than now to get started, wildlife officials have decided.

The Utah Wildlife Board recently directed staff to bring back a proposed list of people to serve on a task force that would help draft a plan to manage the gray wolf that is making a comeback in the West.

"We have an opportunity to establish a good policy before the wolves get here," board chairman Max Morgan said. He suggested that a board member serve on a task force that likely would include wolf advocates, hunters, farmers, members of the Ute Tribe and local elected officials.

No matter how you look at it, the plan still is likely to produce some howling.

"Wolf management is a complex, emotional issue," said Craig McLaughlin, mammals program coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife. "Wolf is an animal that everyone has something to say about."

Wildlife biologists have been working on a wolf management plan for some time now. Their efforts received added priority when a gray wolf was captured last fall near Morgan, the first official confirmation of a wolf in Utah in more than 50 years.

"It really started the ball rolling with interest in wolves in Utah," McLaughlin said.

There have been numerous unconfirmed sightings since then.

A reclassification of the endangered gray wolf became official this week, loosening federal protection for the wolf in the northern half of Utah but still listing it as endangered in the southern half, McLaughlin said.

The threatened status means that ranchers can kill wolves, but only if the animals are caught in the act of killing livestock. Under the endangered status only the federal government can remove or kill wolves.

In efforts toward recovery of the gray wolf, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to de-list the wolf altogether and turn management authority over to the states.

Lawsuits are expected to stall any actions, McLaughlin said. "I expect it will be a few years before we see any changes."

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