For the second year in a row, wolf trapping and snaring will be banned in many parts of Idaho this Spring, after a judge rejected a challenge from the state.
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Author: Jude Binkley
Published: 7:06 PM MST February 11, 2025
Updated: 7:06 PM MST February 11, 2025
BOISE, Idaho — Wolf trapping and snaring will be restricted across the majority of Idaho this Spring for the second year in a row, after a federal judge upheld a ruling that was challenged by the state.
The decision stems from a lawsuit filed by several conservation groups in 2021, who are calling the ruling a win for grizzly bear conservation. The groups, including The International Wildlife Coexistence Network argued the traps could spell trouble for the state’s vulnerable grizzlies.
“We see lots of animals that are not wolves being caught in snares and traps, including deer, elk and black bears,” Suzanna Asha Stone, International Wildlife Coexistence Network Executive Director and co-founder of the Wood River Wolf Project said. “So clearly, they’re a threat to grizzly bears as well.”
The wolf trapping restriction impacts North, Central and Eastern Idaho, hitting during the non-denning season in Spring. Conservationists say the move is crucial for the state’s protected grizzly population.
“The grizzly, they reproduce so slowly that if you lose even just a handful of them, it could end up causing the entire population to be at risk,” Asha Stone said. “So it’s really important how we evaluate, especially scientifically, how we’re using our public lands.”
Idaho Fish and Game tweaked their trapping rules after a federal judge handed down the initial decision in March 2024.
“We were obviously hoping for a different decision. We were a little disappointed,” Idaho Fish and Game Public Information Supervisor Roger Phillips said. “We’ve been trapping wolves in Idaho for over 10 years, there has never been a grizzly bear fatality, or one that we’re aware of ever caught in a wolf trap.”
The agency has seen a small dip in both wolf trapping and hunting this winter. IDFG says they do have other methods for wolf population control, and those methods could be adjusted down the road depending on how the recent trapping ruling impacts wolf populations.
“Wolves are a very polarizing animal in this state, and we’re doing our best to manage them with everybody’s interests in mind,” Phillips said.
Exposing the Big Game 
“Wolves are a very polarizing animal in this state, and we’re doing our best to manage them with everybody’s interests in mind,” Phillips said.
The only people they actually listen to and care about are trappers, hunters and ranchers.
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