12 Colorado mountain goats sent to boost S.D. numbers
Leadville – Wildlife officials have transferred a dozen mountain goats from Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota in efforts to boost the goat population there.
The goats were taken from near 14,433-foot Mount Elbert by helicopter. Each was examined and then driven by truck to South Dakota, the Colorado Division of Wildlife said.
The goats were released beginning Friday.
It was a joint operation by the division; South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks; and the U.S. Forest Service.
While the mountain goat population in South Dakota has declined to about 100, there are about 2,000 in Colorado, according to the Division of Wildlife.
In the late 1940s, South Dakota sent several mountain goats to Colorado to help establish a population in the Collegiate Peaks, wildlife officials said.
LEWISTON, Idaho
Commission: Wolves must be thinned soon
Idaho Fish and Game commissioners continue to express frustration at the federal government’s refusal to quickly remove wolves from endangered species status.
“There is some real frustration,” said commission chairman Cameron Wheeler of Ririe. “The problem is we have responsibility with no authority.”
At the commission’s meeting in Lewiston last week, the group pressed state wildlife biologists to work within the framework of federal rules to thin wolves in areas where elk herds are lagging.
Commissioners said that wolf populations continue to grow by 20 percent each year. They complained of the state’s stalled attempt to get permission to kill wolves in the Lolo Hunting Zone near the Montana border.
They directed the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to update and resubmit their request to kill 43 wolves in the Lolo mountains, while also aggressively pushing the federal government to remove wolves from endangered species protection.
As part of its wolf monitoring program, the department wants to dart wolves from helicopters and then land in wilderness areas to place radio collars on the sedated animals, but that plan has been stalled because motorized vehicles are not allowed in federal wilderness areas.
In 1996, 35 wolves were reintroduced into central Idaho. Since then the predators have thrived and there are probably more than 600 wolves in 70 packs in the state’s backcountry.
In January the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave the state partial authority to manage wolves, but without federal permission it cannot kill them to boost elk herds.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared wolves to be biologically recovered. Idaho and Montana’s attempts to remove wolves from federal endangered species status have been rebuffed because Wyoming has resisted passing a wolf management plan that meets federal standards.
Federal officials are considering delisting wolves in Idaho and Montana, while leaving those in Wyoming protected.
LAKE ARTHUR, N.M.
Ex-cop who used stun gun to get counseling
A former Lake Arthur police officer accused of using his department-issued stun gun on his stepson must attend anger management counseling and undergo alcohol screening and treatment, according to his probation conditions.
Ben Torrez had been charged with two counts of aggravated battery of Derek Duarte in the July 24 incident. Torrez pleaded guilty to one count, and the state agreed to drop the second count as part of a plea agreement.
Torrez was sentenced last month to 18 months of supervised probation.
Police have said that Torrez and Duarte were drinking and that Duarte was arguing with his girlfriend and Torrez when the incident occurred.
Torrez resigned from his job as a police officer Aug. 10.
POWELL, Wyo.
Out-of-state students won’t see tuition cut
The Wyoming Community College Commission has rejected a proposal that would have dramatically cut the tuition rate for out-of-state students.
Jim Rose, the commission’s executive director, said the idea was to attract more out-of-state students to Wyoming community colleges.
Currently, students from Nebraska and the 15 member states of the Western Undergraduate Exchange get a rate roughly 37 percent above the in-state rate; students from all other states pay about 250 percent of the in-state rate.
The proposal would have allowed all out-of-state students to enroll at the Western Undergraduate Exchange rate.
Northwest College president Miles LaRowe said the proposal would have been particularly hard on his school, which has 525 out-of-state students, more than any other Wyoming community college. He said the school could have lost $150,000 in tuition revenue.
State Sen. Tex Boggs, who is president of Western Wyoming Community College, also opposed the plan.
