The Idaho Fish and Game Commission May 11 adopted a wolf-management plan that calls for reducing the population over six years to 500,  the federal threshold that avoids Endangered Species Act protection of the predators and allows continued state management.

The state had 1,337 wolves last summer, according to a Department of Fish and Game estimate based on camera surveys and other analysis methods.

The plan calls for managing wolves in balance with other big game, particularly elk, and minimizing livestock conflicts, according to a release from the department.

The plan outlines goals and strategies to manage for a population of about 500 wolves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2009 ESA delisting rule for the Northern Rockies called for populations of about 500 in Idaho, 400 in Montana and 200 to 300 in Wyoming. The rule also instructed each state to manage for at least 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves in midwinter.

The Idaho commission and department in recent years focused harvest and control actions where conflicts with livestock are chronic or elk populations remain below management objectives.

The legislature in 2021 substantially increased allowed harvest and the methods of take.

Fish and Game in early February released the draft plan and took comments for just over a month. The department received about 2,500 comments.

Some people submitting comments claiming  the draft overstated wolves’ impact on elk, and that elk populations are robust even with the current wolf population, Katie Oelrich, a biologist with the department, told commissioners.

“While this is true from a statewide perspective, some elk zones are still not meeting management objectives,” she said.

Eight of 28 elk management zones are underperforming and “predation has been identified as a factor, preventing the population from meeting objectives.”

Comments also said the plan should allow livestock producers to use non-lethal deterrents. It was modified to allow this, Oelrich said.

“These tools can be successful at deterring depredations, especially on confined livestock,” she said. However, using them is not a prerequisite for lethal removal.

Other comments claimed the method used to estimate the wolf population is not scientifically sound, and more radio collaring should be used, Oelrich said.

The plan now has more detail about count methodology. As for additional collaring, the department will consider it as needed to support plan goals and to support other population monitoring tools, she said.

Collaring had a benefit when the wolf population was small, and it was useful for documenting the minimum count, Oelrich said.

More collaring was done the last two winters by the state Wolf Depredation Control Board, a separate entity that receives Fish and Game money. Monitoring movement in known depredation areas was among goals.

Though the population is out of balance now, the commission does not want to eradicate wolves, Fish and Game Commission Chairman Don Ebert of Weippe said in the release.

Comments on the draft reflected that many in the state do not support killing wolves, he said. The commission needs to be able to control the population and “I honestly look forward to the day when I can say, ‘I think we need to back off on our wolf harvest.’ But I don’t think we are there yet.”

Commissioners and staff said at the meeting that harvest and other strategies can be adjusted as the population nears the plan’s stated goal.