Conservation groups petition USFS to outlaw aerial hunting of wolves in Idaho

More than 30 wildlife conservation groups joined forces Feb. 15 to back a petition to the U.S. Forest Service, requesting that the agency ban Idaho from paying private contractors to hunt wolves from aircraft in national forests. The Center for Biological Diversity, the national nonprofit that filed the initial petition, argues that aerial hunting on public land represents a threat to both Idaho’s wildlife and members of the public.

“Recreationists should not have to worry about their safety while enjoying our public lands,” stated Christine Gertschen, co-director of the Conservation Connection Foundation, according to a recent CBD news release. “Aerial gunning is dangerous for all concerned, especially for our native wildlife.”

The CBD initially lodged the petition with the USFS in 2023, following the Idaho Wolf Depredation Control Board’s decision to reimburse livestock producers for the costs associated with hiring aerial hunters. The IWDCB — overseen by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture — tracks the number of cattle killed by wolves and handles the related financial elements, but can only fund control measures sanctioned by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission.

The current proposals approved for funding would allow aerial gunning on public lands such as the Caribou-Targhee, Boise, Salmon-Challis, Sawtooth and Payette National Forests, and could undermine years of conservation efforts, according to the CBD. 

Hunters nearly eradicated Idaho’s wolf population in the early 20th century, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the animals from the endangered species list as recently as 2015.

Wolf hunting in Idaho underwent a dramatic change in 2021 with Senate Bill 1211, which gave hunters and trappers the ability to kill an unlimited number of wolves and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game permission to hire private contractors to enforce population control. 

The use of helicopters further gives hunters the ability to exhaust their prey, and the noise from the blades frightens not only wolves, but other species like grizzly bears and Canada lynx — both of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act — away from their dens and hunting grounds.

“Aerial gunning prioritizes wolf killings over the health and safety of our shared forests,” stated Sasha Truax, president of Teens Restoring Earth’s Environment, in the same CBD news release. “It is a twisted abuse of public funding and its continuance exposes the brutality of wolf management on public lands. It must be stopped.”