Wolf Management Plan Released Montana Residents Get Chance To Comment On Draft Proposal

State wildlife officials say they want to manage wolves in Montana to get the animal out of protected status as soon as possible so it can be controlled like any other predator.

But to achieve that goal, they say, will mean work to help Montana’s small wolf population thrive and grow - and commitment of an estimated $200,000 a year for wolf management.

The goals are expressed in a draft wolf management plan released by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department on Wednesday. It is subject to public comment through Dec. 15.

Wolves are an endangered species in Montana, and come under federal protection. They now are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

However, FWP Director Pat Graham said Montana can assume management of wolves in Montana if it develops a wolf management plan that meets federal standards. He said he believes most Montanans want Montana running the program, not the federal government.

“It is important to emphasize that wolves are present in Montana, and that they will continue toward recovery,” the plan says in its summary. “With approval of this plan, the state will assume lead responsibility; without it, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will continue that responsibility.”

The management plan notes that federal goals are a minimum of 10 breeding pairs in each of three recovery areas in the Northern Rockies: northwestern Montana, central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park.

Montana’s responsibility would include all the northwestern Montana wolves and probably two breeding pairs in the Montana portion of each of the other two ecosystems, the plan says.

While wildlife populations are unpredictable, the draft plan estimates that northwestern Montana wolves could be downgraded from endangered to threatened status by the year 2000, and wolves throughout Montana could be removed from the endangered species list by 2005.

But it says the goal is unlikely to be met unless reintroductions into Yellowstone and central Idaho continue for the next two or three years. Some wolf opponents, led by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., oppose further reintroductions. The draft says that would mean recovery will take longer, and federal protection for wolves will continue for a longer period.

The draft also says that Montana would have to assume “a major part of the workload” in the Montana recovery areas to achieve de-listing.

“It is estimated that the management tasks Montana proposes to assume prior to recovery will cost approximately $200,000 per year, most of which will be used for population monitoring,” the draft says.

And it says Montana must repeal a law passed this spring mandating “the systematic destruction of (wolves) by hunting, trapping and poisoning operations and payment of bounties” if the wolf is removed from the endangered species list.

“If left unchanged, this statute will assure that the wolf can never be delisted by the federal government,” the plan says.

The plan lays out goals for the next decade, the first of which is to achieve recovery. Beyond that, the plan says, a goal will be to reduce economic impacts of wolf recovery by minimizing land-use restrictions, effectively controlling livestock predation and monitoring wolf activity.

The department said it also wants to monitor big game populations near wolf packs, and could capture and relocate wolves if wolf kills “reach unacceptable levels.”

The agency said it also would institute information and education programs to inform Montanans about wolf recovery; coordinate with state, federal and tribal agencies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming; and conduct necessary research on wolf recovery.

The plan says a long-term population goal will be determined based on experience as the wolf population grows. After wolves are de-listed, the populations could be kept at that level through special public hunts if necessary.