Bill to make hunters' names private moves forward

BOISE - Lawmakers are pushing to restrict hunting records after Idaho's first wolf hunters received unwanted attention from animal advocates.

Under a measure approved by a committee Tuesday, the state's Department of Fish and Game would make private the names of people it issues licenses, such as hunting and trapping permits. Successful hunters must report kills to the department, which currently has to release the names of those hunters if requested. Members of the House Resources and Conservation Committee said they want to protect hunters' privacy.

In January, a wolf advocate published the names of 122 successful wolf hunters on a Web site, saying he was hoping to create a dialogue about hunting the animals. Last year, the state's first legal wolf hunter received threatening messages from people concerned about wolves. Idaho and Montana made wolf hunting legal last year for the first time since the animals were listed as endangered in 1974.

Hunters have been unfairly targeted and need lawmakers' help, said Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale.

"One of the main reasons of government is to protect its citizens" from harassment, she said. "Nobody should be subjected to that."

Under the measure, hunters can request to have their names made public.

Lobbyists for the newspaper industry argued the bill would diminish government transparency, deny reporters useful information and withhold information about public resources from citizens.

The wolf advocate who helped spark controversy by posting wolf hunters' names online said the bill shows how polarizing wolf hunting is in Idaho.

"I'm seriously starting to wonder if we can have a reasoned discourse on this issue," Rick Hobson of Boise told The Associated Press. "People either believe that wolves are these angelic totem animals. Or they believe wolves are the devil incarnate."

Idaho was joined by Montana in opening the first gray wolf hunts in the lower 48 states after the animal was removed from the endangered list across much of the Northern Rockies. Gray wolves once ranged from Alaska to Mexico, but hunting, trapping and government-sponsored poisoning wiped out the species across most of the lower 48 states by the 1930s. The animals were listed as endangered in 1974, and didn't return to the region in significant numbers until 66 Canadian wolves were relocated to Idaho and Wyoming in the mid-1990s.

Idaho's efforts to allow the animals to be hunted spawned federal lawsuits, but despite the legal battles, the season opened last September.