Game & Fish Presenting Draft Wolf Regulations in Laramie

In the continuing quest to remove wolves in Wyoming from the federal list of endangered species, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has drafted new regulations covering wolf management and wolf hunting. The draft regulations will be presented in Laramie on Wednesday, March 28th at 6 p.m. in the Albany County Fairgrounds Cafeteria.

The meeting in Laramie will be one among several throughout Wyoming as part of making the draft regulations public. At the same time, the WGFD is seeking public comments on gray wolf management and hunting seasons until April 23rd. It all leads up to a meeting in Casper on April 25-26 when the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission will consider the proposed regulations. The draft regulations are available of the WGFD website.

Last August, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reached an agreement to move forward with delisting. Under the agreement, Wyoming will maintain at least 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs outside of Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Reservation.

The current Trophy Game Management Area in northwest Wyoming will extend about 50 miles to the south from its current location near the Wyoming/Idaho border. Wolves in this seasonal expansion area will be managed as trophy game from October 15th to the last day of February. During the rest of the year, wolves in that area will be designated as predators. Recently, the Wyoming Legislature made changes to the statutes, which allow Wyoming to move forward with its management plan.

"The proposed gray wolf management and hunting regulations represent a measured and scientifically sound approach to managing and hunting gray wolves which complies with the Commission's approved wolf management plan and Wyoming's new wolf statute," said WGFD Chief Game Warden Brian Nesvik. "The provisions of Wyoming wolf management statutes and Commission regulations cannot be implemented until gray wolves are removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species, which we hope will occur this fall."

At the end of 2011, the WGFD reports an estimated minimum of 224 wolves in Wyoming outside Yellowstone National Park and the Wind River Indian Reservation. Biologists estimate that only about 27 wolves are currently in areas outside the designated Trophy Game Area.

The WGFD says the regulations being considered by the commission in April will specify the Trophy Game Management Area boundary; the department's process for collecting genetic material to monitor genetic connectivity within the northern Rocky Mountains; rules for lethal take of gray wolves; options for non-lethal gray wolf control; population management goals; hunt areas; and seasons and bag limits for a potential 2012 gray wolf hunting season.

Public comments regarding Chapter 21, Gray Wolf Management and Chapter 47, Gray Wolf Hunting Seasons will be accepted until 5 p.m. on April 23, 2012. Written comments may be submitted to:

Wyoming Game and Fish Department
ATTN: Wolf Regulation Comments
3030 Energy Lane
Casper, WY  82604