The judge agreed to review the decision but ultimately stuck with her initial ruling, according to an Earthjustice press release.
Excerpt from this story from the Coeur D'Alene Press:
Federal Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale on Tuesday upheld her prior decision to prohibit Idaho’s authorization of recreational wolf trapping and snaring in grizzly bear habitat during the grizzly bear non-denning season.
Idaho had asked the judge to reconsider her March 2024 ruling that recreational wolf trapping and snaring threatens grizzly bears and subsequent remedial decision to curtail the wolf-trapping season, according to an Earthjustice press release.
The order prohibits wolf trapping and snaring in Idaho’s Panhandle, Clearwater, Salmon and Upper Snake regions from March 1 to Nov. 30.
The judge agreed to review the decision but ultimately stuck with her initial ruling, according to the press release.
“Judge Dale’s initial decision was always the correct one to protect grizzly bears from state-authorized wolf trapping and snaring, and we also appreciate the time she took to get it right a second time,” said Ben Scrimshaw, senior associate attorney for Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies Office. “Grizzly bears forever belong in the West, and securing this decision is part of a bigger movement for true grizzly recovery.”
Roger Phillips, public information supervisor with Idaho Fish and Game, said when the original decision came down last spring they altered their wolf trapping seasons to comply with the judge’s original ruling and they will continue to do that.
"While we are disappointed in the judge’s ruling because there’s never been a grizzly death due to wolf traps in Idaho, and we feel the definition of 'grizzly habitat' far exceeds where grizzlies are found in Idaho, there will be no change in our wolf trapping due to this decision," he wrote.
