Angie Craig: “While I wish gray wolves did not reside in my State, they do, and they are not going away. Thus, I believe the U.S. Fish…”

“While I wish gray wolves did not reside in my State, they do, and they are not going away. Thus, I believe the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must be pro-active and aggressive in addressing issues related to the monitoring of the wolf population and working with the affected States of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming to delist the population. The wolf population in Central Idaho is growing by leaps and bounds. As a result, permittees are faced with growing livestock- wolf conflicts. In addition, private property rights are infringed as these conflicts occur on private property. Yet the permittee must have a Federal permit to address conflict issues on their own land. Last, as the population grows, management efforts have not increased at the same rate. I feel that these individuals should not be punished because the wolves were re-introduced into central Idaho. The subcommittee has worked to secure an additional $200,000 for the Central Idaho Wolf Recovery Program. I fee this additional money should be used to increase monitoring efforts and increase communication with potentially affected permittees, as well as, to focus efforts on defining and meeting criteria for delisting the wolves in central Idaho. I believe these funds should work to provide Idaho with flexibility in managing the wolf population to meet the needs of those most affected by the wolves.”