Idaho Again Wants to Land Choppers in Wilderness
Idaho again wants permission to land helicopters in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness to dart wolves and outfit them with radio collars.
BOISE, Idaho —
Idaho again wants permission to land helicopters in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness to dart wolves and outfit them with radio collars.
The U.S. Forest Service denied a similar request in 2006 to allow choppers into the federally protected wilderness outside of established airstrips.
Environmental groups argued such landings, other than to save human lives, disrupt the pristine wilderness. They also fear information from tranquilizing and collaring wolves could lead to more-aggressive wolf killing across Idaho.
Idaho Department of Fish and Game wildlife managers insist trapping wilderness wolves on foot has been only marginally successful. By combining wolf-collaring missions with helicopter big game counts that occur every winter, they hope to more successfully track packs that roam some of the nation's most-remote territory.
"We would tranquilize them in the middle of winter, when nobody else is around," Deputy Fish and Game Director Jim Unsworth said Thursday. "We don't even land, really. We put a toe in. It takes about 15 minutes, once you've got a dart in them."
