Idaho ranchers soon will have another wolf-control tool available.

The state Wolf Depredation Control Board on June 20 approved spending up to $50,000 in the July 1 fiscal year on a pilot program through which it would reimburse ranchers for actions related to the control of wolves on private property where livestock depredations are an issue.

Actions could include trapping, hunting or aerial control.

How the program would be structured and how projects would be approved are yet to be determined. Any livestock producer dealing with depredation problems could apply, though preference would be given to proposals that involve multiple ranchers working together, board members said.

The board this summer plans to further develop the program and entertain proposals from individuals or groups of landowners. An update is expected at the Aug. 29 meeting.

The board considered committing $25,000 to $100,000. It approved a motion by Jim Fredericks, who is board co-chairman and Department of Fish and Game director, to spend $50,000 on a pilot program. It could be monitored throughout the year and adjusted as needed, he said.

Working with multiple landowners on a project would bring efficiencies but may be less practical where ranchers are isolated or adjoin federal land, board members said.

“This would help address the concern expressed by some landowners that Wildlife Services doesn’t have the capacity to implement control actions everywhere they are necessary,” Fredericks said in an interview.

USDA Wildlife Services is paid by the board to investigate suspected wolf-caused depredations and conduct control actions. Fish and Game must authorize lethal control actions.

A 2021 state law substantially increased allowed wolf harvesting or taking, and the methods that can be used. It allowed private contractors to be hired for wolf control.

After Senate Bill 1211 took effect, “I think we hoped that we would see some opportunity with landowners to be able to tailor a program to fit their unique situation, not just one size fits all,” said Richard Savage, a Humphrey-area rancher and the board’s livestock industry representative.

But that concept “just didn’t seem to fit for folks,” Savage said. For example, a rancher hiring someone else to hunt or control wolves poses challenges related to Fish and Game approval, state contracting requirements, costs and other issues.

The pilot program is a “fix so that we can put together some actions that might fit in peoples’ unique situations” such as where depredations persist on a ranch, in an area or among members of a grazing association, he said. “Let them come up with what it is they think will serve the need, and the board can go ahead and do the hiring.”

Rancher-led projects to monitor wolves, such as by using cameras, might work, whereas control actions may be more challenging and less successful, said Cascade-area rancher Phil Davis.

The nine-year-old wolf board is funded by the state legislature, the livestock industry and Fish and Game, which does not receive state general fund money. The directors of Fish and Game and the state Department of Agriculture co-chair it.

Annual funding sources include $392,000 from the legislature, $300,000 from Fish and Game and up to $110,000 from the sheep and livestock industry.

The state had 1,337 wolves in the summer of 2022, according to a Fish and Game estimate based on camera surveys and other analysis methods.

Read more about Idaho wolf depredations by clicking here.