Governor “Butch” Otter announced that Idaho would no longer handle wolf management, and then told the Associated Press that federal law allows hunters to shoot wolves they see pursuing elk or moose – which is not true.

Almost two weeks after the deadline that Gov. Butch Otter set for a wolf management agreement, the governor is making good on his threat to withdraw state support for federal management efforts.

In an attempt to get around the relisting of wolves in the states of Montana and Idaho, both are attempting to get approval for a so-called “conservation hunt” from the federal government.

Ralph Maughan and Ken Cole of the active wildlife blog, wolves.wordpress.com, believe that the state of Idaho doesn’t have any legal right at this time to manage the wolves in their states as an agreement to allow them to do so has long since expired.

Hints of pending federal wolf legislation came to fruition on Wednesday, when Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both R-Idaho, introduced a bill that would exclude wolves in Idaho from the Endangered Species Act.

Idaho County, in Idaho not surprisingly, has requested that Governor “Butch” Otter declare an ongoing disaster for the county – a move which would allow people to shoot any wolf on sight.

The Nez Perce tribe got high marks when they previously managed Idaho’s wolf population, and says they are ready to take on the job again if necessary. However, they would prefer to work with the state rather than take full responsibility for the task.

Known anti-wolf activist and current Idaho governor, C. L. Otter sent the following “opinion” to all media outlets.

In a document published on the USDA Web site, Wildlife Services outlines many alternatives regarding the management of wolves in Idaho.

The Defenders of Wildlife is highlighting the USDA’s Wildlife Services’ plans to wipe out hundreds of wolves in the upper Rocky Mountains. The Endangered Species Act ruling doesn’t protect wolves from the organization originally responsible for exterminating all the wolves in the region in the 1940s.