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 More than 100 contestants from Idaho and surrounding states,
including Wyoming, signed up on Friday for the so-called coyote and
wolf derby, and sponsors said they expected as many 300 hunters to
register by the start of the event.
The two-person hunting teams were to begin fanning out on Saturday
morning into national forest land around the town of Salmon in the
mountains of east-central Idaho.
The event has drawn staunch opposition from conservationists who
claim the tournament is cruel and unsportsmanlike and sets a
chilling precedent by inviting children as young as 10 to
participate.
But some ranchers and outfitters in Idaho see the competition as a
recreational form of wildlife management aimed at reducing the
number of nuisance predators threatening livestock and big game such
as elk that are prized by hunters.
"This is predator-control time," said Terry Cummings of Troy Idaho,
one of dozens of hunters who registered for the derby at a welding
and metal fabrication shop in Salmon called Steel & Ranch.
About a dozen sheriff's deputies and police officers stood by to
keep the peace in case of anticipated protests that never
materialized.
The tournament comes two years after wolves in the region were taken
off the U.S. endangered species list. But this weekend's derby is
believed to be the first competitive wolf hunt anywhere in the
continental United States in decades.
WildEarth Guardians and other conservation groups filed a lawsuit on
Monday in U.S. District Court in Idaho, claiming the U.S. Forest
Service had failed to properly permit the event and asked a judge to
enjoin the contest until federal land managers had a chance to
assess its potential impact.
JUDGE RULES NO PERMIT NEEDED
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale ruled on Friday afternoon that
the hunt was not a commercial enterprise requiring a special-use
permit, handing down her opinion just hours before registration.
Dale likened the contest to other noncommercial recreational
activities such as camping and picnicking that take place on
national forests and do not require a special permit. "While
plaintiffs and others may find the concept of a derby and prizes
being awarded for the killing of animals repugnant, hunting is a
lawful activity in Idaho," Dale said in the ruling.
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She said any commercial aspects of the derby — including collection
of registration fees, awarding of prizes and trade with fur buyers
for wolves and coyotes killed as part of the contest — will take
place at a private business in Salmon and not on Salmon-Challis
National Forest lands.
Steve Alder, head of Idaho for Wildlife, a nonprofit that pledges to
fight attempts by "animal-rights and anti-gun organizations" to
restrict hunting or firearms, hailed the decision as a victory for
sportsmen.
"We just have to keep Idaho for what it is," he said, adding that he
has cautioned participants not to make a show of the wolves and
coyotes they kill, and is banning cameras when carcasses are weighed
and measured to determine the winners.
"I'm telling my guys, ‘Hunt your wolves and shut up,'" he said.
Bethany Cotton, wildlife program manager for WildEarth Guardians,
vowed to continue the legal fight to force federal land managers to
require special use permits for such competitions.
"The decision suggests fishing derbies on public lands need permits,
but wolf massacres don't — which is ludicrous," she said. "We will
keep trying to protect native carnivores just like the public
expects."
Salmon-Challis National Forest Supervisor Chuck Mark said the
judge's ruling on the derby does not necessarily open the way for
more such events on public lands without triggering a review.
"Each and every event proposal will be looked at on its own merits,"
he said.
(Reporting by Laura Zuckerman; editing by Steve Gorman, Gunna
Dickson and Ken Wills)
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