Predator Kill

To The Editor:

  I noticed a mistake in the predator kill story in the Jan. 30 edition of the Roundup. Mike Boyce of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) was quoted as saying that WGFD pays “seven-to-one for wolf kills.” I would like everyone to understand that wolf compensation only occurs within the former “trophy” zone. If the predation occurs in the former “predator” zone there is no compensation. 

When Judge Jackson put wolves back under federal control in September 2014, the state of Wyoming no longer had any authority over wolves. However, since the state had legislation in place regarding wolf management and compensation, they decided to continue their compensation program just as if they still had management control. So, as the situation now stands, the state of Wyoming is compensating some livestock producers and not others based upon some arbitrary “zones” that are currently useless, since a producer in the predator zone has no more ability to deal with the problem than the producer in the trophy area. 

I don’t know if Mr. Boyce was misquoted for the article or if he doesn’t understand the program.  I don’t understand how the State can run their compensation program in this manner when the wolves are under federal control.     

 Sincerely,

 Kelly Graham

Meeteetse

Note from the Editor: We appreciate Mr. Graham for pointing out this oversight in the article. Thank you for clarifying this important distinction. No compensation is provided for wolf losses in the former “predator” zone.