TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has confiscated a wolf carcass from a wolf advocate who put her own hunting tag on it after state officials killed the canine late last fall near Stanley.

State game wardens confiscated the carcass from Lynne Stone, director of Boulder-White Clouds Council, an environmental group based in Ketchum.

State officials claim Stone tracked down the carcass of the alpha female from the Basin Butte pack, took it home and called the state agency to report it as a kill. Stone apparently hoped it would count against the wolf hunting quota set for that region by the state. But state officials rejected that strategy and confiscated the carcass in December.

Gary Hompland, state regional conservation officer based in Jerome, said wolves killed in control actions become the property of the state under Idaho code. The agency collects animals killed in government-sanctioned enforcement shootings to use for educational purposes or to sell the carcass in an annual auction for the fur.

"As far as this one goes, it's not in very good shape," Hompland told the Times-News. "I can't imagine it'll be worth much."

Stone was issued a warning for her actions.

Hompland also says it's the first known attempt by a wolf advocate to get an enforcement kill counted against the hunting quota.

"Her motivation really doesn't change the law," he said. "The law is still pretty clear."

Stone, who had tracked the pack for several years, says she also planned to use the carcass for educational purposes. Before recovering the wolf, Stone said she called several regional Fish and Game offices for guidance, but couldn't get a consistent answer on her rights.

She still doubts the state's rationale for taking the carcass and not counting it against the quota, arguing that state and federal wolf managers don't reclaim all carcasses killed each year.

"We've got dead wolves lying all over the state," she said. "And there are a lot of people who would salvage those wolves and make use of them."

The Fish and Game Department did sell Stone another 2009 hunting tag, which is allowed if a tag is used improperly.

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Information from: The Times-News