Conservationists want the state to update rules for when the animals can be killed after having run-ins with livestock. State wildlife officials are opposed.
Nine wildlife groups sent a letter to Fish, Wildlife & Parks Director Dustin Temple asking for more diverse public involvement in the development of Montana’s updated wolf management plan.
After two years of wolf population declines, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has lowered kill quotas for Montana’s wolf hunting and trapping season. But allowing early wolf trapping in more areas may threaten some grizzly bears.
Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks are proposing to reduce the hunting quota for wolves statewide from 450 to 289, according to the department and an interview with a spokesperson.