Fish and Game plans to kill wolves to help elk

From the Idaho Statesman:

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is making plans for managing wolves, including a hunting season when they are removed from the endangered species list. In March, Fish and Game will recommend a wolf hunting season length and estimated mortality limits. Itexpects to recommend harvest quotas by July or August. Should wolves remain listed, Fish and Game is planning to use all options to control wolves available under the Endangered Species Act, which allows the agency to kill some wolves to benefit elk herds. Fish and Game biologists are particularly concerned about elk numbers in the Lolo elk management zone in north-central Idaho. Hunter opportunities have been reduced by 90 percent. Wolf predation is the primary cause of poor calf survival and a 13 percent average annual decline in the number of adult female elk, which is key to population stability. The tentative minimum estimate of Idaho's wolf population at the end of 2008 was 824 wolves in 88 packs and 38 breeding pairs.