Court-ordered region approved for reduced wolf trapping
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has shrunk the area within the state where the wolf trapping season is shortened to prevent trapping a grizzly bear, and now, it requires a permit for other trapping in that area. But in Ravalli County, trappers don’t have to set traps away from roads, with the exception of four high-traffic areas.
On Tuesday, the FWP commission finalized its wolf trapping regulations for the 2024-2025 season, which has already begun. The commission already approved wolf quotas during its Aug. 20 meeting but held off on season dates and other details because of a pending decision on a lawsuit appeal.
The commission approved wolf trapping dates of Jan. 1 through Feb. 15 within a new court-approved region of western Montana and a longer period of Dec. 2 through March 15 outside that region. In addition, to comply with the court order, the commission added a requirement for those trapping predator and nongame animals in the special region to get a special free permit, and, if they’re trapping for livestock producers, they also need a declaration attesting to that.
Finally, if a grizzly bear is caught in a nongame trap in the special region outside of the wolf trapping dates, some restrictions will kick in, including a requirement for traps to have a jaw spread smaller than 6 inches.
“The lawsuit is a backdrop to that. But primarily, the objective here was to facilitate grizzly bear delisting and return the bear to state management,” FWP director Dustin Temple said during the meeting. “It wasn’t a consideration as being a settlement. It so happens that we’ve heard some positive feedback from plaintiffs in the case, but I want to make it clear that this proposal wasn’t developed to be a settlement for that lawsuit.”
After the FWP commission voted in August 2023 to allow wolf trapping to take place from the day after Thanksgiving through March 15, WildEarth Guardians and the Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force sued FWP. The two groups argued that FWP had reduced the area where wolf trapping was restricted but grizzly bears could wander outside that area, and with trapping occurring so early and late in the season, it could harm bears. They asked for and received an injunction a year ago to stop the season from opening.
Missoula federal district judge Donald Molloy not only limited the wolf trapping season to Jan. 1 through Feb. 15 in grizzly bear habitat, but he also enlarged the affected area to cover most of the western half of the state where bears have been migrating.
The state of Montana appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which backed Molloy on the shortened season, but not the enlarged region. They sent the ruling back, and in late August, Molloy agreed to a new map that pulls the restricted area back from most of central Montana with the exception of areas north of Yellowstone National Park.
As with all things wolf, many took the opportunity to comment on the proposal, including a late amendment by Region 2 commissioner Jeff Burrows to eliminate trap setbacks on all but four popular roads in Ravalli County, including Skalkaho Pass Road.
Burrows said his amendment benefits trappers because they’re limited by such a short season, and it would increase the efficiency of trapping. Sanders County also eliminated road setbacks except for popular roads. All the affected roads are closed seasonally. Burrows said he worked with the Bitterroot National Forest to identify the four roads where setbacks will remain because they have high levels of winter recreation.
Trappers opposed the requirement of a new permit for nongame and predator animals such as coyotes. They argued that FWP doesn’t manage predators and no license is needed to kill predators.
But the lawsuit plaintiffs claim coyote trapping and snaring pose a threat to grizzly bears, which could lose toes or feet to traps. To address that, FWP attorney Jeff Hindoien said the wolf season package needed to include some regulatory structure dealing with coyote trapping.
“Any action by the commission to adopt this framework would result in them not advancing the lawsuit,” Hindoien said.
Wildlife advocates opposed eliminating road setbacks, voicing concerns about injury to themselves or pets while they were recreating. They also questioned why a grizzly bear had to be trapped first before some of the trapping restrictions kicked in. Chris Servheen, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator, said 17 grizzlies are known to have been caught accidentally and six were caught in coyote traps.
“If the intention of FWP is to reduce incidental captures of grizzly bears by wolf trappers, there should be a regulation that says wolf trappers should not set in places where grizzly bears are seen or documented,” Servheen said.
The commissioners approved the proposal and amendments after reminding the public that the regulations go into effect for just one season, and then everything will be reconsidered next August during the season setting process.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.