Glacier Has Enough Wolves, Biologist Says

Glacier National Park was a crucial sanctuary when wolves first returned to Montana, but its best habitat now is taken, and wildlife officials ought to stop relocating troublesome wolves there, a leading researcher says.

Glacier has a natural wolf population up the North Fork, but wolves have also been relocated in other reaches of Glacier after killing livestock outside the park.

That practice should stop, biologist Diane Boyd told some 500 people at the Montana Wilderness Association convention here Saturday. She has studied Glacier’s wolves for more than a decade.

About 30 wolves have populated the North Fork of the Flathead Valley for several years, and the stable number indicates that is about all the area can sustain, Boyd said. They originated in Canada and make up three packs, one in Canada and two in the United States.

Wolves from North Fork packs have established others, and the state now has nine.

Boyd said since the North Fork is full and much of the rest of Glacier is rocky and barren, authorities should pick another place to release troublesome wolves.

Because of political disputes between Montana and the federal government, Glacier has been the only release site in the state.

The state plans to take over wolf management from the federal government and will likely find alternative relocation sites, Boyd said.

“I think the state will do a pretty good job,” she said.

Relocation sites should have plenty of open space, year-round big game populations and relatively few people and stock. Besides open space, the other key to maintaining wolf populations is local tolerance, she said.