Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Idaho to wolves: Drop dead
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Friday, May 12, 2023
Idaho Fish & Game ([link removed])

Wildlife managers in Idaho approved a plan to slash the state's wolf population by 62 percent over the next two years—from an estimated 1,337 wolves to 500. But scientists and conservation groups say the method the state uses to count wolves drastically overestimates the wolf population ([link removed]) .

Suzanne Asha Stone, director of International Wildlife Coexistence Network, told the Idaho Statesman ([link removed]) in January that the plan is unnecessary and punitive. “It’s not management when you’re pressuring a wildlife population at such a low level,” Stone said. “That’s just persecution.”

In 2019, Idaho Fish and Game started counting wolves using trail cameras. However, instead of placing cameras randomly across wolf territory, as is considered best practice by scientists, the state placed its cameras along trails and roads where it says wolves are most likely to travel. Critics say that makes Idaho's population estimates inaccurate. In 2021, the Idaho legislature removed limits on how many wolves a hunter or trapper can kill per year.


** Why you should care about the Rio Grande
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In the latest episode of CWP's podcast, The Landscape ([link removed]) , Kate and Aaron are joined by journalist Danielle Prokop and photographer Diana Cervantes to talk about their recent series documenting drought on the Rio Grande River ([link removed]) , which runs from Colorado, through New Mexico, to Texas. Danielle and Diana produced the series for Source New Mexico, a statewide non-profit journalism outlet.
Quick hits


** Lake Powell is rising, but the megadrought is not over
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** LWCF funds protect 390 acres of critical grouse habitat
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KTVB ([link removed])


** Survey of National Park Service employees shows an agency that's 'fallen on hard times'
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KUNC ([link removed])


** How do you block a Yellowstone gold mine? Just buy it
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Commission to combat missing and murdered Indigenous people epidemic meets in northern Arizona
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KNAU ([link removed])


** ‘We are still the Grand Canyon’: Havasupai Tribe marks a spiritual homecoming
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The Independent ([link removed])


** Could Grand Teton National Park’s Oxbow run dry?
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Jackson Hole News & Guide ([link removed])


** Why the National Park Service's viral tweets are so weird
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SF Gate ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” We have always maintained our connection to this place, not by showing or by boasting. It's just that we came here and we did our prayers, we did our songs on the rim. Through that, I think the spirits heard and awoke and said, ‘Yes, you are still here.’”
—Havasupai Tribe member Dianna Sue Uqualla, The Independent ([link removed])
Picture this


** @BLMNational ([link removed])
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Spring is here & temperatures are rising! 🌡️ It's time to get that #MountainBike out of storage & hit the trails! 🚴‍♂️ Celebrate #NationalBikeMonth with us - where are your favorite trails on BLM-managed #PublicLands? 🚵‍♀️ More ➡️[link removed]. 📸Acton Rec Area, @BLM_MTDKs

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