The Blaine County commissioners submitted a letter to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game urging the agency to continue its ban on wolf trapping on public land in Blaine County, which houses the only two game units in Idaho where the practice is currently outlawed.
Fish and Game evaluates hunting and trapping seasons every two years. In 2021, the commissioners sent a similar letter opposing a wolf trapping season within county limits. Game Units 48 and 49, which follow the Wood River Valley from U.S. Highway 20 up to Galena Summit, are the lone management units without a wolf trapping season, per Fish and Game’s hunting regulations.
Fish and Game proposed also a trapping season in 2019, but state officials withdrew the plan after residents voiced concerns over pets, children and other wildlife interacting with the traps.
The commissioners letter, which they agreed to send Tuesday, states that wolf hunting and trapping doesn’t mesh with how residents and visitors recreate on public lands, and says that the practice is at odds with local “values of coexistence” with wildlife.
“Wolf hunting and trapping are not compatible with our intense outdoor recreation uses on public lands, our values of coexistence with wildlife, and our recreation economy,” the letter states. “We also continue to have a strong elk population and low livestock predation because of the Wood River Wolf Project’s program of non-lethal deterrents.
“The argument that all wolf trapping and hunting seasons needs to be the same throughout Idaho holds no weight with the Board of Commissioners and residents in Blaine County,” the letter continued. “Blaine County values its partnership with the Magic Valley Idaho Fish and Game, which spans decades.”
Although no formal motion was required by the board to send the letter, Commissioner Angenie McCleary reiterated the board’s position on wolf trapping hasn’t changed.
“We are very supportive of humane treatment of all animals, including wolves,” McCleary said. “We very much support this letter, as it is almost identical to a letter we submitted to Fish and Game in the past, and I am fully supportive of the board supporting this letter.”
Idaho greatly expanded its wolf hunt in 2021, allowing hunters and private contractors to pursue an unlimited number of wolves from ATVs, snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles at all times of day and kill them using any method, including baiting and aerial gunning. The law would allow for the eradication of more than 90% of the state’s wolf population.
Fish and Game typically releases the results of its wolf population census in January, meaning its 2022 estimate should be announced in the coming weeks. 
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Idaho Fish & Game and the Commission is out of step with public values, as few support the suffering of a doomed animal — whether wolf or dog or any other hapless creature who stumbles into a trap or snare. While the Legislature directed massive wolf killing, the Department could have implemented rules that minimize suffering but did the opposite. And they fund the trapping organization called Foundation for Wildlife Management to pay bounties on wolves, even pups. It is disheartening that any wildlife species is treated so brutally, and all who use public lands are at risk because of these deranged policies.
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