Wolf report spawns debate over population, hunting
BILLINGS – When it comes to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks and wolves, no one seems to be happy.
Wolf advocates say the agency, under the direction of the Republican-dominated Legislature, has declared a war on the big canines by extending seasons to last six months and allowing more ways to kill wolves.
On the other side of the issue, one of the lawmakers who helped usher in legislation to increase wolf hunting and trapping opportunities is worried FWP may ease the wolf harvest.
Both sides aired their grievances before the Environmental Quality Council during a Wednesday meeting in Helena.
The EQC is an interim legislative committee that provides oversight of several state agencies, including FWP.
Annual report
The trigger for the disagreement was the recounting of the state’s annual wolf report.
According to data gathered, the 2022 wolf season harvest was 248 animals – 121 by hunters and 137 by trappers – far below the allowed quota of 450 wolves.
Another 35 wolves were killed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services division for attacking 103 livestock, with 10 more wolves killed by private residents protecting their livestock.
That’s down from the average of 68 wolves killed for livestock depredation, compiled since wolves met recovery goals in 2002.
On the hunting side, 15,560 Montana residents bought a wolf hunting license (the total number of Montana hunters numbers around 200,000) with another 2,416 sold to nonresidents.
Hunters and trappers can purchase up to 10 wolf tags.
The price of the licenses was reduced in 2020 to encourage more wolf hunting, but sales dropped last year, generating $286,963 for wolf management.
The drop in sales, combined with lowered license prices to incentivize wolf hunters and trappers, has shorted FWP’s coffers by an estimated $100,000 State Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Bozeman, noted.
He then suggested the lower price be reconsidered.
Population
The wolf report contained another spark for disagreement – the state’s estimate that 1,087 wolves in 181 packs occupy the western third of the state.
“We’ve seen over the past few years a gradual decline in the wolf population, a decrease of a little over 100 wolves, and a little over 18 packs,” said Ken McDonald, FWP’s Wildlife Division administrator.
“That’s attributed partly to more liberal regulations that were put in place a couple of years ago. And we expect to continue to see this slow decrease over the next season with the season structure that we now have in place.”
FWP uses a calculation known as the Integrated Patch Occupancy Model, or iPOM for short, relying on hunter surveys, known wolf locations and estimates of pack size and territory to arrive at its estimated wolf population.
Critics, including former state and federal wolf biologists, say the method only works for estimating wildlife distribution, not abundance.
Opposition
As FWP moves to craft a new wolf management plan, wolf advocates voiced their concerns the agency is not listening to the larger population of Montana residents who may not favor wolf hunting.
“Wildlife belongs to all Montanans, whether you like wolves or not, it belongs to all Montanans,” said Marc Cooke, president of the Wolves of the Rockies. “The nonconsumptive community wants to help but the department doesn’t want our help.
“The nonconsumptive community wants to be heard, and we’re not being heard. All they care about is the continued commercialization of our wildlife. This is wrong.”
Cooke later had to explain to one of the EQC at large members the meaning of “nonconsumptive” as someone who does not hunt or trap wildlife but instead is a wildlife watcher or advocate.
Glenda Meyer echoed Cooke’s comments, saying the majority of nonhunters should be considered when FWP is deliberating wolf management.
Estimates have put the value of tourists wanting to see wolves at $82 million annually.
Liberal hunting methods, harvests and quotas by Montana and Idaho has prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revisit the delisting of wolves.
By February, the agency is expected to issue its decision.
New plan
A new draft wolf management plan is expected to be released for public comment by the end of August, McDonald said.
Before that, on Aug. 17, the Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet to discuss the annual wolf hunting and trapping seasons, including quotas.
The department is recommending the wolf hunting quota be set at the average harvest level over the last five years, or 289 wolves.
That concerned Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, who has advocated for more liberal wolf killing.
He said the commission meeting has the potential to change wolf hunting in Montana and won’t meet the Legislature’s intent when it eased regulations.
“I’m concerned about the proposal that the commission is going to be looking at for next year which keeps the wolf quota for Regions 2, 3 and 4 at exactly what the harvest rate was this past season,” he said.