Idaho lawmakers have introduced a bill to reduce the state’s wolf population and change hunting regulations.
Senate Bill 238 was introduced into the House Resources and Conservation Committee by former Sen. Jeff Siddoway (R-35) on behalf of Rep. Van Burtenshaw (R-Terreton), who is away for several weeks.
The bill designates nine Fish and Game hunting units in central Idaho where the agency would “retain management authority and will be able to sell licenses and tags to manage the wolves in those areas.”
In other parts of the state, wolves would be classified as predators. The reclassification would allow hunters to shoot wolves from motorized vehicles, including ATVs, UTVs and snowmobiles.
The Fish and Game would manage the population of the wolves until they number “fifty packs consisting of at least 500 wolves.” Currently, each hunter is limited to killing 15 wolves per calendar year. The bill would still require hunters to report wolf kills to Fish and Game.
