Who says politics is a lost art? The Wyoming legislature just passed a rather schizoid wolf management bill — wolves are nuisance predators, except where they aren’t . . .
The Wyoming Legislature has sent Gov. Matt Mead a bill to change the state’s wolf-management law — a critical step toward ratifying the agreement the governor reached with the federal government last year over how to end Endangered Species Act protections for the animals.
However, uncertainty remains over possible legal challenges to Wyoming’s wolf management plan. Many hunters and ranchers in the state worry that a large wolf population poses an unacceptable threat to other wildlife and livestock.
Under the bill now awaiting Mead’s signature, the state would allow trophy hunting for wolves in a flexible zone around Yellowstone National Park beginning this fall, while classifying wolves as predators that could be shot on sight in the rest of the state.