In north-central Idaho, in an area known as Lolo, there is a wolf-control controversy that has some similarities with Maine’s coyote-deer issue.

In 1989, according to Idaho wildlife officials, there was an elk population of 17,000. Biologist David Cadwallader, who manages wildlife for the Lolo region, estimates today’s elk population at just 2,200. The elk numbers began to decline not long after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduced wolves to Lolo. “It’s very apparent that wolves are having a major impact on elk survival in the Lolo Zone,” he said. “The predation and management plan talks about 50-75 wolves that are going to have to be removed to see any kind of impact.”

Reports indicate further that hunting and trapping have not controlled the wolf numbers in Lolo, so state and federal officials have been taking out wolves with aerial gunners in hopes of saving Lolo’s elk herd. Predictably, the wolf management initiative is being contested by animal rights advocates, who argue that it is habitat, not wolves, that is impacting the elk numbers.

Sound familiar?

Maine, it seems, is having the same debate: sportsmen, hunters, trappers and official sportsman voices, like SAM and the Maine Professional Guides Association, contend that an aggressive coyote control program is long overdue, if Maine is going to recover its decimated deer numbers. At the same time, Maine animal rights groups, and, by all indications, Maine’s wildlife managers apparently don’t view coyotes as major contributors to our deer problem. They blame habitat, ostensibly, for the low deer numbers.

The Idaho ranchers have seen the damage that big canine predators can do. Last year in Idaho, wolves attacked and killed a reported 430 livestock and 16 guard dogs. This statistic has more to do with large aggressive, opportunistic predators with strong jaws and sharp teeth than it does with loss of habitat. In a recent news story, the Los Angeles Times reported that “Idaho residents who assert that wolves have threatened residents and decimated other wildlife say the agency should make no apologies. ‘We want the these wolves dead,'” said Ron Gillett of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition in Stanley.

The Idaho sportsmen’s association faults state and federal wildlife officials for being a day late and a dollar short. They are critical of officials for intervening too late in trying to save the elk and moose of the Lolo region. At least in Idaho wildlife officials are finally acknowledging that, when it comes to elk survival, wolves are part of the problem. And direct, overt action is being taken this winter to reduce wolf numbers in the Lolo region.

When it comes to coyote management in Maine, there has been, for years, mostly a succession of studies and expressions of intent. Experienced trappers tell us that winter snaring of coyotes is the most effective, efficient way to cull our coyote numbers. Yes, snaring is socially controversial, not unlike aerial gunning of wolves in the Lolo region of Idaho. Our commissioner of fish and wildlife, Chandler Woodcock has the authority today — right now— to reinstate snaring in Maine’s non-lynx habitat.

In Maine, like in Lolo, Idaho, isn’t it time to walk the walk, to use whatever means is within our grasp to save Maine’s anemic deer populations?

Of course, the ultimate answer to this question rests squarely on the formidable shoulders of our newly appointed leader at Fish and Wildlife. Does he have the moral courage and the political confidence to seize the day? We’ll see, and so will Maine’s whitetail deer.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”