Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter could be one step closer to getting his wish: being the first Idahoan to kill a wolf if the animals are removed from federal endangered-species protection.

The federal government is expected to delist wolves and give states control over wolf management early next year. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will host tonight an open house in Jerome to debut the state's plans, which include allowing hunters to kill wolves to control a rising population.

Wolves have become a testy issue for ranchers, hunters, environmental groups and outfitters since they were reintroduced to the Northern Rockies in 1995 and 1996. Some hunters and ranchers say wolves are wreaking havoc on elk and livestock populations. Many environmentalists disagree.

Fish and Game officials say tonight's meeting could be heated.

"It could be a contentious issue," said Dave Parrish, who heads Fish and Game's Magic Valley office. "But I hope not. We're just looking at how to manage if they are delisted."

Western pioneers, who feared wolves would attack livestock and humans, hunted the animals nearly to extinction by the 1930s. Wolves were placed on the federal endangered list in 1973.

Since then, wolves have thrived thanks to abundant food and lack of predators. An estimated 1,545 now roam Idaho, Montana and Wyoming - more than enough, federal official say, to justify removing them from the endangered-species list. The population grows about 20 percent to 30 percent per year.

Yet experts say a return to hunting wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains will not be a repeat of what happened eight decades ago. People have a much different view of wolves now, hunting advocates say, and the animals would most likely be secondary targets for sportsmen already in the field in search of deer or elk. That's because wolves are relatively difficult to hunt and are not prized for meat, and only a small number of hunting tags would be available, experts said.

"They've been hunted in Alaska and Canada forever, and there's not much interest," said Steve Nadeau, large carnivore manager of Idaho Fish and Game. "People would rather look for caribou, and shoot a wolf if they see one," he said.

Otter has suggested hunters be allowed to kill all but 100 wolves each year, the minimum required by the federal government.

The Legislature is debating how much to charge for wolf tags, with a figure of $9.50 for residents and $150 for nonresidents being studied, Nadeau said.

Any Idaho wolf hunting seasons and limits would be set by the state's Fish and Game Commission after delisting, which could occur as early as February.

Ed Bangs, the federal wolf recovery coordinator, predicted that regardless of the final management decision, the matter will end up in federal court. That might push hunting back for years.

A key decision when court cases are filed will be whether the judge temporarily bans hunting while the issue is litigated, Bangs said.

Matt Christensen may be reached at 735-3243 or at matt.christensen@lee.net. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wolf talk The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will host an open house from 6 until 9 p.m. tonight at it's Magic Valley office, 319 South 417 East, Jerome, to introduce a proposed plan to manage wolves if they're removed from the federal endangered-species list early next year.