Open season in Benewah County

COEUR d'ALENE - Benewah County commissioners have put into writing how they feel about wolves.

The three-member board adopted a new wolf management policy to the county's Natural Resource Plan that recognizes the wolves as "an economic and cultural emergency" to the area, and aims to form a coordination with the federal government to manage them.

"It's a proactive document," said Rod Halvorsen of the Benewah County Natural Resource Advisory Committee. "It's a document that wants to support whichever agency is in charge of wolf management."

The amendment is a part of the plan's predator policy and discusses the dangers of wolves, but doesn't sign anything new into law.

It states that wolves in the area are a danger to Benewah County's "culture, heritage, customs, property, and lives of the people of the county and restricts their free use of their own real estate and public lands."

It says that wolves directly threaten the supply of wild ungulate herds and other big game necessary to maintain a healthy economy and attract workers to the county

It also states that "The board recognizes that wolves threaten the ecosystem balance that has been developed and maintained since the establishment of the county by the diligent work of county residents."

Right now the managing agency is Idaho Fish and Game, but should the court at some point re-list wolves as endangered, then the plan calls for coordination with the federal government.

It also calls for promoting legislation to allow more take methods, including creating an open season, allowing the use of electronic predator calls, and shooting at wolves from snowmobiles, among others.

"They cannot be reduced by hunting," Halvorsen said, on the result of Idaho's first wolf hunting season. "We've seen that. We haven't hit the quota for the year and we're almost done with the season."

Some estimates put 1,000 wolves in Idaho, well above the long-term management goal of 518.

The policy passed by a vote of 2-0-1, with commissioners Jack Buell and Bud McCall voting in favor and Cristina Crawford abstaining.

"I understand all of the problems," Crawford said. "The reason I abstained is because I didn't approve the way in which the document was written.

"I thought some of the language in it was inflammatory," she said.

Information: 245-2234