Oregon Public Broadcasting

With Idaho's wolf hunting season due to start next Tuesday, opponents and hunters are each trying to sway public opinion.

In Coeur d'Alene Friday, the two sides held respectful, but competing demonstrations. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

At the entrance to the Idaho Fish and Game offices in Coeur d'Alene, members of the North Idaho Wolf Alliance flashed signs and waved to passing drivers.

Five months after wolves were removed from the Endangered Species list, Idaho's Fish and Game Commission authorized the killing of 220 wolves. That's about a quarter of the estimated population.

Wolf advocates Stephen Augustine says he can't believe the state is ready to throw them to the hunters.

Stephen Augustine: “Wolves are really not at all recovered to justify in any way hunting them.”

 Just a few yards away, elk hunters like Ron Mazurek beg to differ.

Ron Mazurek: “I've seen it where I hunt. We had a few wolves. Now we've got a lot of wolves. The elk are no longer there.”

On Monday, conservation groups will ask a federal judge in Missoula to issue an injunction and stop the wolf hunting seasons in Idaho and Montana.