Conservationists Declare Victory as Idaho Halts Controversial Wolf Kill

"Conservationists declared victory on Wednesday in a legal battle over Idaho's systematic killing of wolves in a national wilderness area after the state notified federal land managers it did not intend to reinstate a controversial kill program.

The state Department of Fish and Game hired a hunter in 2013 to trap and kill wolves in the central Idaho mountains near Salmon in response to complaints from sportsmen who said wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness – a federally protected area known as the Frank – were reducing elk herds prized by hunters.

The state agency last year suspended the program after the hired hunter trapped and killed nine wolves and as conservation groups, represented by the environmental law firm Earthjustice, filed suit in federal court alleging the wolf roundup violated principles of limiting human intervention in national wilderness areas."

Laura Zuckerman reports for Reuters August 5, 2015.