BOISE, Idaho -- An Indian tribe that's helped with gray wolf recovery efforts since their reintroduction to Idaho in 1995 says the state is moving too quickly with a plan to kill dozens of wolves to help restore elk herds on the border with Montana.

Rebecca Miles, chairwoman of the Nez Perce in Lapwai, said tribal wolf managers aren't convinced studies of elk herds in the Clearwater River basin support a plan by state Department of Fish and Game to reduce wolf numbers in region to as few as 15, from about 60 animals now.

According to the agency, wolves are responsible for about 35 percent of recorded elk cow deaths since 2002 in two hunting units in the region. Wolves were confirmed to have killed eight of 25 radio-collared elk cows that died, the study showed.

The Nez Perce, as well as some conservation groups, say the evidence isn't conclusive that depredations are devastating elk numbers. They argue the agency should focus on restoring habitat, not killing wolves.

''It is junk science,'' Aaron Miles, the tribe's natural resource manager, told The Associated Press on Thursday. ''There's no peer review. It's jumping from one conclusion to the next.''

Miles contends the state is yielding to political pressure from hunters and ranchers who want more active wolf control. Fish and Game officials concede that hunters have lobbied them to more aggressively control wolves that hunters blame for reducing big game herds. Still, the agency says its studies support wolf removals.

The plan to kill wolves is among Idaho's first actions since it took over day-to-day oversight of the state's roughly 600 wolves. It still must be approved by the federal government.

Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Helena, Mont., has said his agency will judge the proposal based on its technical merits, not political expediency.