JEROME - Hunters who stalk Idaho's newest big game animal could soon be setting their sights on Idaho's most controversial predators.

Wolves are expected to be removed from the federal endangered-species list in February, when states could assume management over wolves and end a 34-year hunting ban.

Idaho unveiled its management proposal Monday at a public meeting attended by about 50 people at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's office near Jerome. The plan calls for curbing conflicts between wolves and humans by cutting wolf populations through controlled hunts - a strategy applauded by ranchers and hunters but loathed by environmentalists.

"It's really an interesting process because we've never been given a new big game animal to manage," said Dave Parrish, head of Fish and Game's Magic Valley office.

Under the plan, wolves would be categorized the same as elk, deer and bears - a far cry from how the public perceived wolves decades ago.

Wolves in the West were hunted nearly to extinction by pioneers who feared the animals would prey on them and their livestock. They were added to the federal endangered species list in 1973.

The government reintroduced wolves to the Western Rockies in 1995 and 1996 as part of a Clinton administration plan to bring wolves back from the brink. The recovery goal for Idaho was 300 wolves - a number reached in 2002 after populations grew by 20 percent each year, mostly because wolves had abundant food and few predators.

Officials now estimate nearly 700 wolves prowl Idaho's forests.

That's too many for ranchers and hunters, who say wolves are depredating livestock and big game populations. Nearly 200 sheep and 29 cattle were killed by wolves in 2006, according to Fish and Game. The effects on big game are harder to gauge, though officials suspect it is significant.

Conflicts between wolves and humans led to at least 45 wolf deaths in 2006. Six were shot by ranchers, who are allowed to kill wolves when they attack livestock, and 39 were killed by government officials after reports that wolves had threatened ranch animals.

Reducing rancher-wolf conflicts is a top priority in the state's management plan, which will rely mostly on hunting to keep wolf numbers down in high-conflict areas.

Wolf conflicts in Magic Valley are rare and virtually non-existent in residential areas, although reports of wolf skirmishes are rising in the Wood River Valley and areas to the north as the population continues to rise.

"There are a couple of packs in the Magic Valley," said Regan Berkley, a biologist in Fish and Game's Magic Valley office. "But we don't have the density that other places do."

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has suggested hunters be allowed to kill all but 100 wolves statewide each year, the minimum required by the federal government. Fish and Game's proposal calls for maintaining 15 breeding pair - two adult wolves with at least two pups that survive from each litter. That could mean as few as 60 wolves or as many as several hundred.

That's still too few for some naturalists who want to be able to view wolves in the wild and say reducing the wolf population could cost millions in lost tourism. Wildlife watchers spent nearly $270 million in Idaho in 2006, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fish and Game's plan suggests small areas of the state could be set aside as viewing regions, where little or no hunting would be allowed.

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. The commission is expected to review the plan in March.

Anticipated lawsuits from environmental groups could derail the delisting, said Steve Nadeau, the Fish and Game's large carnivore manager. But it remains unclear how the lawsuits could affect Idaho's management plan.

Matt Christensen may be reached at 735-3243 or at matt.christensen@lee.net.