GREEN RIVER - A new federal program enacted into law recently aims to compensate ranchers in Wyoming and elsewhere for livestock killed by wolves, but it's not certain when it will begin.

Wyoming officials said that although they know little about how the program will work, they expect federal funding will supplement the state Game and Fish Department's current compensation program for wolves killed in the northwest part of the state and an environmental group's program that compensates ranchers for wolf depredation in other areas.

The federal "wolf livestock loss demonstration project" calls for spending $1 million per year over five years to compensate ranchers for wolf losses. Congress has not yet allocated the funding in an appropriations bill, however. And the program's rules, regulations and eligibility requirements have yet to be drafted.

Wyoming's wolf management plan classifies wolves as predators that can be shot on sight in most areas of the state, but leaves them to be managed as trophy game in the greater Yellowstone area in northwest Wyoming. That plan is not currently in effect, as wolves remain under federal protection and management statewide. But while state officials aren't involved in wolf management, they are compensating ranchers for livestock killed by wolves in the so-called trophy game area.

"It's too early to tell what this might mean for Wyoming, but we would welcome any financial assistance from the federal government that will help the citizens of Wyoming deal with the impacts of wolves in this state," Game and Fish Assistant Division Chief Eric Keszler said.

"We sort of don't know much yet" about how the program will work in Wyoming, said Cara Eastwood, Gov. Dave Freudenthal's press secretary. "There's language in the bill that's not very specific … and so it's a question of just wait and see right now."

The state briefly took over wolf management beginning in March 2008 after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accepted the state's dual-status management plan. The decision seemingly cleared the way for delisting wolves in the Northern Rockies.

Environmentalists sued over the delisting effort, however, and a federal judge in Montana later ruled the state's plan was insufficient to protect wolves in Wyoming. Wolves were placed back under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Keszler said the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is continuing to manage a compensation program for livestock killed in the trophy game area that was funded by the Legislature.

"That began when we took over wolf management when wolves were delisted … Of course, then they were undelisted and we gave up all management control, except for that provision which is in state statute," Keszler said in a phone interview.

"So we're still responsible for administering that part of the wolf program in the trophy game area, which includes investigating wolf depredations and paying compensation to landowners," he said.

The pro-wolf group Defenders of Wildlife compensates for documented wolf kills outside the trophy game zone.

"Ranchers are still being compensated, either through the Defenders of Wildlife program or the state agency program, even though all this is probably going to be tied up in court for a long time," Keszler said.

Since March 2008, the department has confirmed wolf depredations on 39 cattle and 16 sheep in the trophy game area, according to Game and Fish data. Keszler said the department has paid a total of $102,260 in compensation.

'Proactive, nonlethal'

The wolf compensation legislation was included in the massive Omnibus Public Lands Bill signed into law by President Obama recently. The bill also included the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, which set aside about 1.2 million acres in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming from future oil and gas leasing.

In addition to compensation for wolf losses, the bill provides for grants to assist livestock producers in undertaking "proactive, nonlethal" activities to reduce the risk of livestock loss due to predation by wolves.

The bill directs the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to jointly establish the requirements and rules for the new compensation program.

To be eligible to receive a grant, the state will have to designate an "appropriate" agency - most likely the Game and Fish Department or the state Department of Agriculture - to administer the program.

Wyoming's Wind River Indian Reservation tribes may also participate and designate their own program administrator.

States would be responsible for promulgating the rules for reimbursing livestock producers under the program. They would also be required to submit annual reports of claims and expenditures each year.

Funding allocations will be based on the level of livestock predation in the state- or tribal-owned land, whether the state or tribe is located in an area that is at high risk for livestock predation, and any other factors the Interior and Agriculture secretaries deem appropriate.

Viable and legal?

In March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally called for removing gray wolves from the endangered species list in Montana and Idaho, while maintaining federal protection for the animals in Wyoming.

Federal officials have been pushing for Wyoming to classify wolves as trophy game animals throughout the state and manage them the same way it does mountain lions and bears, including limited hunting seasons.

Federal biologists contend the state can't allow wolves to be killed indiscriminately in the predator areas and still maintain the required 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves under delisting rules.

A slew of conservation and environmental organizations - including the Natural Resource Defense Council and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition - immediately announced their intention to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service over the delisting decision in Idaho and Montana.

The state of Wyoming is also suing because it wants to manage wolves within its boundaries. Livestock and some sportsmen associations have lined up with the state.

The state contends its dual-status management plan is both viable and legal and is based on science that supports delisting.

Tricky part

Maneuvering the federal compensation program rules around Wyoming's management plan - if it's eventually upheld in court - could be the tricky part of drafting program rules and regulations.

"As always, the devil is in the details," said Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife.

"If it's managed improperly, then people that don't even have damages to wolves could share the same pot of money with people that do, which could reduce (the program's) effectiveness and fairness," Stone said.

"It needs to be set up in a way that protects it from fraud and makes sure the right producers get the funding and rewards people for doing the right thing," she said.

Defenders of Wildlife has made more than $1.1 million in wolf depredation payments to Western ranchers since 1987 as part of its Bailey Trust Fund compensation program.

In Wyoming, the group compensates ranchers for verified wolf losses in the so-called predator area of the state. "This may be something the state and tribes and we can use to try and supplement what we have going on the ground right now," she said.

Stone said the Defenders will continue to pay Wyoming ranchers for confirmed and probable livestock losses to wolves in the predator area until there is a final decision made on the delisting rule.

'Balanced approach'

Though the details are vague, the new federal program could be of value to the state's livestock producers down the road, said Wyoming Stock Growers Association executive vice president Jim Magagna.

"We're pleased to see it … it's at least some federal acknowledgment that those losses are taking place out there," Magagna said in a phone interview.

"I think it takes a balanced approach in that it contains both money for payments to ranchers for losses to wolf depredation and money to initiate practices that might help minimize future losses … and we think that's a pretty good combination," he said.

Magagna said most of the wolf depredation in the state occurs around Yellowstone and within the trophy game area. "That's been our prime method of reimbursement (since March 2008), and this program could certainly help add to that," he said.

"As I understand the bill, it could be utilized in the predator areas as well … because there's nothing in the legislation that limits (payments) to the trophy game area or ties it to any particular status designation for the wolf," Magagna said.

"And with the lawsuits under way now, the one big question will be …, 'Will the secretaries attempt to promulgate rules that might make this dependent upon the status?'" he said.

Federal biologists believe there are more than 1,600 wolves in the Northern Rockies, including more than 300 wolves in Wyoming, nearly 500 in Montana and about 850 in Idaho.

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.