Idaho’s war on wolves will continue until the once-endangered species is on the verge of disappearing again and the federal government steps in or until Idahoans wrest control of the department from hunters and fishermen. To do so would require providing it with general tax dollars, perhaps through a statewide initiative.

Money talks.

Right now, only hunters are being heard despite the fact that the commission acknowledged receiving 2,500 comments on the wolf plan. It did not report the split in opinions submitted.

The department is funded primarily by fees for fishing and hunting licenses and from federal grants.

The Legislature controls the department’s budget. No matter how much the department receives from license fees, the Legislature controls how it is spent.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials pay attention to where its money comes from and who controls its budgets.

Even before wolves were reintroduced into the state in 1995, the department was acutely aware of legislators’ views on wild game, especially when game behaviors impinged on human activities.

For example, elk living through a hard winter love nothing more than finding unprotected haystacks and munching their way to spring. Elk’s culinary preference can wreak havoc on the feed supplies ranchers and farmers gather to sustain domestic livestock through the winter.

Department officials know that when hay munching spikes legislators will start poking at their budget.

Wildlife biologists constantly try to find ways to keep large elk herds away from ranches and farms and to keep elk populations “manageable.” If constituents call legislators and complain about hay-loving elk, the department is forced to look at measures like killing or relocating animals.

Not to knock the department’s biologists. They do their best to put good science on the ground in what is often an impossible political atmosphere.

Idaho may or may not have too many wolves. Experts critical of IFD&G’s method for counting wolves strongly maintain that it was created using big game populations, not predators, and is seriously flawed.

Wolves have been in the crosshairs of hunters who fund the department and who believe that wolves have no place here.

Unfortunately, that won’t change until the money that supports fish and game management comes from a broader swath of Idahoans.

“Our View” represents the opinion of the newspaper editorial board, which is made up of members of its board of directors. Remarks may be directed to editorialboard@mtexpress.com.