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. 

FT. MONROE, Va.— Conservation groups today filed a petition asking the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to adopt regulations that would protect diamondback terrapins from drowning in blue crab pots.

Diamondback terrapins, found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Massachusetts to Texas, are the only turtles in the world that live exclusively in coastal estuaries. These estuaries are also home to blue crabs, which are trapped in crab pots. Crab pots trap and drown imperiled diamondback terrapins, who have suffered population declines of 75% across most of their range in the past 50 years.

“Diamondback terrapins are drowning in blue crab pots every day, even though there’s a simple, low cost way to prevent this ongoing tragedy, so we need action,” said Tara Zuardo, a senior wildlife advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s time for Virginia to follow other states and take basic steps to require that crab traps don’t kill even more of these imperiled turtles.”

Today’s petition, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Virginia Herpetological Society, Wild Virginia and biologist Willem M. Roosenburg, Ph.D., asked the state to require bycatch reduction devices on all licensed recreational and commercial blue crab pots in near-shore waters where terrapins are frequently found. When installed on crab pot entrance funnels, these small and inexpensive devices prevent most terrapins from entering the pot, while having little to no effect on crab haul.

Experts agree that blue crab pots pose the greatest threat to diamondback terrapins, with 60,000 to 80,000 killed in active and abandoned crab traps each year. Baited blue crab pots are known to trap and drown terrapins, while fleets of traps are capable of steadily killing turtles until a population cannot sustain itself. Abandoned or lost traps — called ghost pots — can capture terrapins by the dozen.

New York and New Jersey already require bycatch reduction devices on recreational and commercial pots. Delaware, Florida, and Maryland require the devices on recreational pots.

Under state law, the commission must respond to the petition in the Virginia Register of Regulations within 14 days.

In September 2024 the Center for Biological Diversity and 20 partner organizations petitioned NOAA Fisheries to protect diamondback terrapins as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Background

Diamondback terrapins are known for their stunning diamond-patterned shells and speckled skin. Spending most of their lives in nearshore habitat, they live in coastal marshes, tidal creeks, mangroves, and other estuarine habitats, where they primarily feed on snails, clams, mussels and small crabs. Terrapins are potentially a keystone species in salt marshes and mangroves, helping to maintain the health of those ecosystems.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

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Tuesday, February 11, 2025 – 12:43 PM MST

Idaho Fish and Game is holding a wolf trapper certification class during the 2025 Idaho Sportsman Show at Expo Idaho in Garden City, on Saturday, March 1, and there is still space available.  

The class will be held from 1:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. at the Expo Idaho Western Town Conference Room, located at 5610 N. Glenwood St.

Everyone who pre-registers for this wolf trapper certification course will have their entry fee for the Idaho Sportsman Show waived for Saturday – all they will need to do is present their confirmation email at the entry gate for the Sportsman Show. Be sure to show up early and stop by Idaho Fish and Game’s booth (and everything else the show has to offer)!

You can pre-register for the class here: https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/223507 

Anyone intending to trap wolves in Idaho must attend wolf trapper education prior to buying wolf trapping tags.  Anyone intending to trap wolves that did NOT hold an Idaho trapping license prior to 2011 is required to take BOTH trapper and wolf-trapper education.

Class registration can be completed online, or by stopping by any regional Fish and Game office for assistance.  The cost of the course is $9.75.

Wolf trapper education is taught by a certified wolf-trapping instructor who will cover wolf trapping regulations and ethics, wolf habits and behavior, trapping methods, and reporting requirements. 

For more information about any of the trapper and hunter education programs in Idaho or specific classes in the Southwest Region, please contact the regional Fish and Game office in Nampa at 208-465-8465.

Anthony RobledoJonathan Limehouse

USA TODAY

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A new variant of the bird flu has infected a dairy worker in Nevada, marking the state’s first human case of the H5N1 avian influenza.

The worker was exposed to the D1.1 strain after working with infected dairy cattle in Churchill County, the Central Nevada Health District confirmed Monday.

The new genotype was first confirmed on Jan. 31 in dairy cattle and is not the same strain that has been triggered a nationwide egg shortage and price hikes in recent months.

There are no additional confirmed human cases in Nevada and no evidence that humans can transmit the virus to other humans, the state’s health district said. Officials are monitoring the symptoms of the infected worker and the other farm staff who have been offered testing, antiviral medication and personal protective equipment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed last week that the new variant had infected dairy herds in the state after previously only appearing in wild birds since late 2023 or early 2024. Up until last month, the B3.13 strain made up all bird flu cases in dairy herds.

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What is the D1.1 bird flu variant?

The D1.1 variant is a strain of the H5N1 avian influenza that has previously only been reported in wild birds. The variant has recently infected dairy cattle and humans, including the Nevada adult and a 13-year-old girl in Canada.

The D1.1 strain poses a low health risk to the general public though people regularly exposed to birds, poultry or cows are at a higher risk, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The strain is common among the starlings that migrate through Nevada in the winter and might have carried the virus into the state, the Nevada Department of Agriculture shared on Facebook last March.

Has anyone died from the D1.1 bird flu strain?

A Louisiana patient who was older and chronically ill died after contracting the D1.1 strain, marking the only reported U.S. human death from the bird flu, the Louisiana Department of Public Health confirmed on Jan. 6.

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The adult, who health officials did not identify, was exposed to the virus from a backyard flock, according to the department. They were over 65 and had underlying health issues, officials said.

The version of the virus also hospitalized a 13-year-old girl with a history of mild asthma, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

Since 2003, there have been 950 human cases of bird flu outside the U.S. with 464 of them resulting in death, according to data from the World Health Organization.

Most human cases of bird flu involve mild symptoms like eye infections.

When did bird flu start?

The H5N1 avian influenza has been reported globally since 1997 though it previously solely presented in wild birds until recent years.

How to avoid bird flu?

The most effective way to avoid contracting bird flu is to prevent sources of exposure, health experts say.

This includes avoiding direct contact with wild birds and all animals that are either infected or presumably infected with the virus.