Rancher Wants Wolf Removal
Order Executed Immediately

CASPER, Wyo. — It’s been more than six months since a federal judge ordered the government to remove the wolves it imported into the Yellowstone area, and nothing has been done. Now a Wyoming rancher has filed suit against the Interior Department in an effort to have it comply with that order.

U.S. District Judge William Downes ordered the Canadian wolves and their offspring removed last December, ruling that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's reintroduction of the wolves into Yellowstone and the central Idaho wilderness could harm gray wolves already living in the areas.

Downes stayed the order pending anticipated appeals. But a complaint filed last week contends rancher Stephen Gordon cannot wait for a lengthy appeals process.

Among other things, his lawsuit alleges that wolves have killed dozens of cattle on his Diamond G Ranch, killed family pets and threatened the safety of his family.

"Mr. Gordon cannot allow his children out of the house after dusk, and is reluctant to have guests on the property," the complaint states.

Sharon Rose, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service's regional office in Denver, said the agency has not yet seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

The Fish and Wildlife Service realized livestock depredation would occur, Gordon said, and assured the public it would control wolves that attacked livestock.

"Despite having been apprised of the killings, the government, to date, has declined to remove any of the wolves," the lawsuit states.

Gordon was not a party to the original lawsuit that prompted Downes' December decision. It was brought by the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation.

However, he said he also believes the Endangered Species Act does not allow an experimental population of a species to be introduced in an area where a native population already exists.

"There have been naturally occurring gray wolves in the area of the Diamond G. The native wolves and the Ranch have coexisted over the years without serious conflict," his complaint states.

Gordon also contends the wolf reintroduction program has violated his constitutional rights by depriving him of liberty and property without due process and taking his property without just compensation.

Canadian gray wolves were introduced in Yellowstone National Park in 1996. A pair of them known as the "Washakie Pack" appeared on the 48,000-acre ranch in the Dunoir area northwest of Dubois in November 1996.

The longer the process drags on, the more wolves there will be to remove.

Officials say wolf numbers in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho could both exceed 100 this year for the first time since the reintroduction.

Park Superintendent Mike Finley said about 85 wolves that are at least a year old live in and around the park in eight known packs, and at least six of the packs denned this spring, which indicates they may have produced pups.

"We could have over 100 wolves, maybe even 110 or 115, by the time we count the pups from this year," Finley said.

At least seven packs have denned in Idaho this spring, and if all produce the average number of five pups, the population in that area should also top 100, said Ed Bangs, chief of the federal wolf recovery program.

In addition, numbers may approach 100 in Montana, where wolves that arrived on their own from Canada are expected to produce eight to 10 litters.

The stated goal of the reintroduction plan is to establish breeding populations of 100 wolves each in the Yellowstone area and central Idaho by 2002.

When the population reaches at least 10 breeding pairs, the species can be removed from the endangered species list, though that process takes years and the government has proven extremely reluctant to de-list protected species.

On Friday, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said he would fight to keep wolves in Yellowstone. The Justice Department, acting on behalf of Babbitt's agency, has appealed the removal order.

"On my watch, we are going to do everything we can to keep those critters in the park," Babbitt said on a Montana visit to announce yet another addition to the list of protected species.

The government has no place to put the wolves if they were to be removed, he said. Zoos have no room, Canada does not want the animals and Babbitt said the American public would not allow the wolves to be killed.

Opponents of the reintroduction plan point out that Babbitt should have considered that problem before turning the wolves loose; the Farm Bureau lawsuit was already underway at the time, and the federals knew its basic argument was valid.