Wilderness Will Be Open to F&G Copter Landings
The Forest Service approved IDFG's request to land helicopters in the Frank Church Wilderness Area to dart and collar wolves.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game won approval to land helicopters in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area this winter for the purpose of placing radio collars on wolves.
On Tuesday, Harv Forsgren, regional forester of the Intermountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service at Ogden, Utah, announced the department would be allowed to land helicopters up to 20 times while attempting to collar about a dozen wolves.
The use of motorized or even mechanized travel is not normally allowed in congressionally mandated wilderness areas.
The department sought the special permission after finding its efforts to trap and collar wolves while traveling on foot and horseback was largely ineffective.
"It's an efficiency thing for us," said Jim Unsworth, deputy director of the department at Boise. "We are back there doing elk and deer surveys and when we have a chance to mark some wolves it saves sportsmen and everyone else money if we can efficiently tag them right there on the spot."
