Candy Dale

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game distributed a booklet that misleads the public about a federal judge’s 2024 order that restricts wolf trapping in grizzly bear habitat when the Endangered Species Act-protected bears are active, an environmental law firm contends.

Federal Magistrate Candy W. Dale on March 19 issued an order that prohibits recreational trapping and snaring of wolves between March 1 and Nov. 30 in the state’s Panhandle, Clearwater, Salmon and Upper Snake regions.

Fish and Game in the booklet says wolf trapping can start as early as Sept. 10. A disclaimer mentions that the seasons are subject to the lawsuit, and that trappers are responsible for confirming season dates on the department website.

The court decision “isn’t a footnote; it is a final, binding legal order,” Ben Scrimshaw, an Earthjustice attorney, said in a news release. “IDFG is sending muddled information that may turn otherwise law-abiding trappers into poachers and could end with injured or dead grizzly bears.”

A contract required Fish and Game’s 2024 Big Game Seasons and Rules publication to be at the printer March 28, the same day the Fish and Game Commission met to deal with the ruling, department public information supervisor Roger Phillips told Capital Press.

“Because of questions we had about the ruling, we could not update our printed seasons and rules booklet with all the details,” he said. The department thus put in the disclaimer, repeated and highlighted three times in the section on wolf trapping.

The department on March 29 issued a news release to reflect the changes, “and the website was updated as soon as we had a full understanding of the locations the closures applied to,” Phillips said.

The ruling applies to 19 counties. The commission and department use game management units traditionally.

“We also reached out directly to wolf trappers and sent out an email in April to 15,000 recipients updating them on the changes,” Phillips said. “We’ve done extensive outreach directly to trappers and the general public and will continue to do so as needed.”

The legislature in 2021 substantially increased allowed wolf harvest and methods of take.