“We’ve asked at a minimum that Idaho be prohibited from using any data from those collars for its removal program,” lead attorney Tim Presso said Thursday. “They have a predation management program that calls for 60 percent removal of the wolf population in the Middle Fork area. Now we understand they have multiple packs with collared wolves, and that gives them the ability to locate a large number of wolves. We think that’s fundamentally incompatible with wilderness.”

Keckler said two capture teams with helicopters were involved in the elk project. One of the teams did not understand that the Forest Service permit was limited to elk captures only, he said.

“In general when our guys are up in the air, if they encounter a species they want to put a collar on, they do it,” Keckler said. “They saw some wolves and put collars on them. We have apologized for that.”

Idaho currently has 75 wolves with radio collars in its statewide monitoring program, Keckler said. It’s also in the process of collaring more than 400 elk in eight areas of the state. Montana currently has 25 radio-collared wolves.

“The elk population in the Middle Fork between 2002 and 2011 has dropped by 43 percent,” Keckler said. “By placing the collars, it gives us fresh data on the population. If one stops moving because the animal dies, we can go in and retrieve the collar and determine the cause of death. Overall, the elk population in Idaho is rebounding, but in some places it’s not. The wilderness is one of those areas.”

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