Advocacy groups are asking the federal government to issue emergency protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, the only gray wolf population not on the Endangered Species List.
The state will end this season’s wolf hunt in southwest Montana once the threshold is met, despite pleas from residents and conservationists to end it early in some areas.
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 3-2 to increase wolf harvest by allowing neck snaring and trap baiting statewide, night hunting on private land and other changes to the season. The new rules permit “aggressive” hunting measures not seen in Montana for decades.
A state committee dedicated to regulating Montana’s wildlife is expected this week to finalize regulations that could expand wolf hunting to levels not seen in Montana in decades.
More than a half dozen wildlife bills have been signed into law, all with a similar vision for Montana: they suggest that there are too many predators on the landscape — and that numbers of animals like wolves and grizzly bears need to be reduced. Now, questions are proliferating over the future of predators in Montana. How that future looks lies at the intersection of law, values, and living with those species on the ground.
Gov. Greg Gianforte makes headlines after trapping a Yellowstone wolf — while bills targeting wolves head toward passage. Republican lawmakers want to...