- PROJECT: MONTANA
We have taken the liberty of writing up an email for you to send. Just fill in your email address, adjust the message to your liking and click submit!
You can also email Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks directly: fwpgen@mt.gov
Call Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: 406.444.2535
- MONTANA INFO
CURRENT WOLF POPULATION
653 (12/31/2011)
GOAL FOR WOLF POPULATION
The answer to this is: it's vague.
The rhetorical anti-wolf argument continues to try to pin the population at 150 wolves or 15 breeding pairs per state. Ed Bangs, the former Fish and Wildlife Service's wolf recovery coordinator, stated clearly that the numbers were a misinterpretation of the facts, and additionally were subject to scientific review and adjustment based on more recent study.
Montana has, unlike its neighbor Idaho, never stated that they want to drive the population down to just above the 150 needed to prevent the feds from returning the wolves to the endangered species list. However, with an ever increasing quota and allowing trapping to kill wolves, it's certain that the state intends to drive down their wolf population significantly.
THE LOCAL GOOD GUYS
Wolf Action Network
P.O. Box 6733
Bozeman, MT 59771
Phone: 406.587.3389
Wolf Ecology Project
University of Montana
Missoula, Montana 59812
Wild Sentry: Northern Rockies Ambassador Wolf Program
P.O. Box 172
Hamilton, MT 59840
Montana Wilderness Association
P.O. Box 635
Helena, MT 59624
Phone: 406.443.7350
Greater Yellowstone Coalition
P.O. Box 1874
Bozeman, MT 59771
Phone: 406.586.1593
The Montana Wildlife Society
Bozeman, MT 59715
Alliance for the Wild Rockies
P.O. Box 8731
Missoula, MT 59807
Phone: 406.721.5420
Predator Project
P.O. Box 6733
Bozeman, MT 59771
Phone: 406.587.3389
Wolf Sanctuaries
Howler's Inn (wolf sanctuary and bed and breakfast)
Wolf Keep Wildlife Sanctuary
Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
HISTORY
Montana implemented its first bounty laws in 1884, and well over 5,000 wolves paid for that with their lives in the first year.
By the 1930s wolves were essentially wiped out in Montana – though occasional sightings and killings over the following decades indicated that wolves from Canada had dispersed to the south. The dispersing wolves of course failed to successfully establish themselves.
In 1994, Montana was one of the three states which participated in the reintroduction of gray wolves.
Montana's U.S. senator Jon Tester was the driving force behind planting a rider in a congressional budget bill which forced wolves to be removed from the endangered species list.
In 2009, Montana held the first open wolf hunt in its history – setting a quota of 75 wolves. They fell short of that quota by three. They have since held more hunts, expanding the quota, and the methods by which hunters can kill wolves.