Fish and Game director briefs committee on agency performance, chronic wasting disease and wolf trends

Jim Fredericks, director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, told the House Resources and Conservation Committee the agency’s core functions include communications, enforcement, engineering, technical services, fisheries and wildlife, and noted the department receives no general fund dollars, relying primarily on license sales, excise taxes and federal grants.

The director summarized performance metrics: a 9.5% violation rate in FY24 for checked licenses (target under 10%), near-target fish stocking numbers with adjustments for natural Kokanee recovery in Lake Pend Oreille, and personnel metrics showing a slight dip in two-year retention. Fredericks said license and tag prices are set in statute and noted inflationary effects on revenue and operations.

Chronic wasting disease: Fredericks described CWD as an untreatable prion disease that affects deer, elk and moose and “prions are virtually impossible to destroy.” He said CWD prions can persist in soil “in excess of 17 years,” are shed in saliva, urine and feces, and can spread by contact with infected animals or contaminated environments. The department’s surveillance history dates to 1997. Idaho’s first detection was in Slate Creek in Game Management Unit (GMU) 14; the commission established a CWD management zone in Units 14 and 15 and increased harvest and mandatory testing. Fredericks said the Panhandle detection north of Bonners Ferry produced low prevalence (under 0.5% after ~1,400 samples). He also reported two recently positive captive elk facilities in eastern Idaho near Rigby; the Idaho State Department of Agriculture is leading the response for the captive facilities.

Fredericks summarized management lessons from other jurisdictions: aggressive, focal reductions of deer populations in infected areas can keep prevalence lower over time; jurisdictions that stopped active reduction efforts saw prevalence rise. He said the department’s approach mixes increased harvest opportunity, targeted removals (landowner tags, agency operations, voluntary programs) and mandatory testing in management zones.

Wolves: Fredericks described changes in monitoring methods — from collars and winter aerial counts to a trail-camera grid and, recently, a genetics-based estimate using teeth collected from harvested wolves. He said independent camera- and genetics-based methods show the statewide wolf population declined after 2021. The agency projects that achieving a management objective of a long-term average near 500 wolves would require roughly 37% annual human-caused mortality (combined hunting, trapping, agency removals). He told the committee human-caused mortality in recent years averaged about 37% and confirmed that reported wolf-livestock depredations have declined since a 2018 peak, although he cautioned that not all depredations may be reported.

Fredericks explained a federal-court injunction in spring 2024 limited recreational wolf trapping in 19 counties defined as grizzly bear habitat (trapping allowed only when grizzlies are denning), a ruling that the state is seeking to have reconsidered. He said the injunction affects counties that historically contributed a large share of trap harvest and that trapping typically accounts for a little over half of wolf harvest. The department said other tools — hunting, agency removals, producer grants and wolf-kill permits for producers — remain available and are not covered by the injunction.

Ending: Fredericks said the department will continue monitoring CWD and wolf populations and work with partner agencies; committee members asked follow-up questions about carcass disposal, captive-facility import protocols and surveillance.