Wolf season to close around Yellowstone Park once quota is met

The hunting districts around Yellowstone National Park will close, along with the rest of southwest Montana, after six more wolves are killed.

On Friday afternoon, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks commission voted unanimously to close the wolf season in Region 3 – which extends from north of Helena down to the southern border and east to Yellowstone National Park – once the quota of 82 wolves has been met. The season remains open in the rest of the state until March 15 or until quotas are met in other regions. FWP chief of staff Quentin Kujala said the Region 3 quota of 82 wolves would likely produce a small population decline.

As of Friday, 76 wolves have been reported killed in Region 3, although there was confusion within the department over that number. The FWP website showed 76 wolves killed in Region 3. But Region 7 Commissioner Bill Lane added up all the wolves killed in the individual hunting units and the total came to 78.

FWP administrator Ken McDonald later explained that wolf unit 390 overlaps into Regions 4 and 5, even though those regions also have their own quotas, so it can cause confusion as to what’s actually happening in Region 3.

However, based on public comment, there’s been no confusion about the number of wolves killed in districts 313 and 316 just north of Yellowstone Park. Region 3 Commissioner Pat Byorth and several commenters noted that those two small districts account for one-quarter of the wolves killed in Region 3.

“The materials that were put out by the wildlife division this week seem to indicate the proportion of harvest along the park boundary was likely to cause a more severe decline whereas region-wide, it’s a slight decline. If we do hit that target of 82, then it’s likely to cause some decline but that’s disproportionately affecting the Gardner basin disproportionately,” Byorth said.

Region 5 Commissioner Brian Cebull said most of the wolves in 313 and 316 were killed early in the season and only five have died since Jan. 1, so some comments he’s been hearing seem a bit sensational.

However, Byorth made an initial motion to close units 313 and 316. He then didn’t accept Cebull’s friendly amendment to allow the rest of Region 3 to remain open until the 82-wolf quota was reached.

Region 2 commissioner Pat Tabor, an outfitter, said he didn’t support closing units 313 and 316 and proposed simply closing all of Region 3 once the quota was met. With six wolves to go until the quota is reached, Byorth pulled his motion, saying Tabor’s motion would make his moot.

During the 30-minute comment period, several of the 18 commenters said they wanted units 313 and 316 closed to preserve Yellowstone wolves.

Biologist and guide Cara Magary of the Wild Livelihoods Business Coalition based in Gardiner and the Paradise Valley said the wolf quota of 450 for the entire state was made proportional to the land area in units 313 and 316, only one wolf could be killed instead of 20.

“What we got instead was a disproportionately high wolf killing where these animals have the most value alive,” Magary said. “Their economic value cannot be over-estimated. Thirty percent of these northern range wolves are now gone; the Phantom Lake pack has been eliminated. How would you expect any business person to respond to such a loss of essential supply? And what’s the justification for this damage?”

After hearing the comments, Region 4 commissioner KC Walsh, who had seconded Byorth’s initial motion, asked if the motion could be amended to close units 313 and 316, adding that the commissioners had received a letter from Yellowstone National Park superintendent Cameron Sholly asking them to close units 313 and 316 to save the park’s research wolves.

After scoffing at the idea that some wolves could be “Yellowstone wolves” since they can travel long distances, Tabor refused to accept Walsh’s amendment.

The commission unanimously passed his motion to close Region 3 once the 82-wolf quota is reached.

Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.