In this update, I’ll start with the status of wolves in Yellowstone and Montana since wolf hunting season ended here on March 15. I’ll also describe efforts to protect wolves in other Northern Rockies states. But first a bit of background.
In February, a federal judge’s decision put wolves in the Lower 48—except those in the Northern Rockies—back under protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Five months earlier, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that the 2,000 or so wolves in the Northern Rockies may need a return to ESA protection because new laws in Montana and Idaho promote such widespread wolf killing. While agreeing to begin a twelve-month study of the need for protection, the agency declined to restore protection on an emergency basis. So wolves have been and will be hunted and trapped while the FWS ponders.
In Montana this year, 270 wolves were killed according to the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Park’s website. In Idaho, 512 wolves were killed in 2021, according to The International Wildlife Coexistence Network. That organization is filing a public records request to obtain information about the number of wolves killed in 2022.
Killing Yellowstone Wolves in Montana
Yellowstone wolves that follow elk and other food out of the park can be shot once they step paw across an invisible border. Remember that most of these wolves were born and raised in a park where hunting is not allowed and humans don’t represent danger. This makes them an easy target. To make matters worse, new Montana and Idaho legislation pays a bounty for wolf killing and allows previously outlawed killing methods, including snaring, baiting, and night hunting.
According to records provided by Yellowstone National Park, twenty-five park wolves have been killed this hunting season. Four were killed in Wyoming and two in Idaho. Nineteen were killed in Montana, sixteen of them in Wolf Management Unit 313 and three in WMU 316. Both of these units adjoin the park’s northern border.
The killing of Yellowstone wolves began early in Montana's wolf hunting season when two female pups and a female yearling from the Junction Butte Pack were killed in 316 in September. The killing in 313 and 316 eventually eradicated the Phantom Lake pack; their territory overlapped the Yellowstone and Montana border.
The Response by Yellowstone National Park
Shortly after the Junction Butte deaths, Yellowstone superintendent Cam Sholly spoke up for park wolves in a press release, “These wolves are part of our balanced ecosystem here and represent one of the special parts of the park that draw visitors from around the globe." Sholly added, "We will continue to work with the state of Montana to make the case for reinstating quotas that would protect the core wolf population in Yellowstone as well as Montana’s direct economic interests derived from the hundreds of millions spent by park visitors each year.”
The quotas Sholly refers to existed for over a decade and limited the number of wolves that could be taken in 313 and 316. In last year's hunting season, for example, the quota was one wolf in each of the two units. But Montana’s Fish and Wildlife Commission voluntarily abolished that quota and watched the carnage soar. Instead of just two wolves that would have died under a quota system, at least nineteen additional wolves were killed in those two units.
The Response from Montana
While the slaughter persisted and protests arose, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) pretended they had no data about the number of Yellowstone wolves killed. As the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported: “Greg Lemon, a spokesperson for FWP, said the department does not distinguish between Yellowstone and Montana wolves when collecting harvesting data, so it cannot confirm the numbers.”
As Yellowstone lost more wolves, Sholly wrote a letter on December 16 to Greg Gianforte, Montana's governor. He gave the governor data on how Yellowstone wolves were being disproportionately impacted. He explained that FWP records shows that in Region 3 (where 313 and 316 are located) wolves were not having a negative impact on elk or livestock. He asked Gianforte to stop the hunting and trapping in 313 and 316.
Unfortunately, Sholly was writing to a hunter and trapper known for killing Yellowstone animals, especially if they're collared. Last year Gianforte shot a collared Yellowstone wolf (Wolf 1155) that had been caught in his trap. Prior to setting that trap, Gianforte had not taken the required trapper education course. For this infraction, he received a slap on the wrist from his underlings at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Just this month Gianforte was in the news again for shooting another collared Yellowstone animal. This time it was a mountain lion (Cougar M220) that was trapped and defenseless in a tree that hounds had chased it into. That killing was on the same ranch where Gianforte had shot Wolf 1155.
Given Gianforte's fondness for killing Yellowstone animals, it was not surprising that he didn't address Sholly’s written request to stop the killing in 313 and 316. Instead, he wrote, "Once a wolf exits the park and enters lands in the State of Montana it may be harvested pursuant to regulations established by the (state wildlife) Commission under Montana Law." Gianforte didn't mention that he had handpicked six of the seven commissioners who control the killing of wolves and mountain lions and other wildlife.
On January 28, weeks after Sholly wrote to Gianforte, the Fish and Wildlife Commission finally met to decide if wolf hunting should be stopped in Region 3. Many people, including myself, attended that meeting virtually. By the meeting’s end, I was more concerned about Montana’s wolf management than I was when the meeting began. With mistakes in math, with a disregard of public opinion, with going beyond the agreed upon threshold, and with making a serious mistake regarding regulations, FWP is not competently managing wolves. Instead, FWP has become a tool for Montana’s governor, legislature, and Fish and Wildlife Commission to use in their war against wolves. (I explained my concerns further in a second open letter to Interior Secretary Haaland.)
Two Different Realities
Montana’s reality: a wolf is worth more dead than alive. Selling licenses to shoot or trap wolves brings FWP hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Yellowstone’s reality: wolves are worth more alive than dead. As Sholly wrote in his letter to Gianforte: "The positive economic impacts of visitors viewing wolves in Yellowstone is estimated to be well over $30 million annually, much of which is spent in local Montana communities and counties.”
According to a report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife watchers outspent hunters by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1 in 2016. So the spending by people who come to see Yellowstone's wolves alive must far exceed the spending of the smaller number of hunters and trappers who want to see wolves dead.
While wolf watchers outnumber wolf killers, a small number of hunters and trappers can wreak havoc. New Montana rules allow each trapper to take up to ten wolves. That’s in addition to the up to ten wolves that each hunter can take. One person that hunts and traps could take up to twenty wolves in a season.
Efforts to Protect Western Wolves
Of course, wolves throughout the West are at risk along with Yellowstone wolves, and there have been many efforts to protect western wolves. Here are a few.
Last October, twenty-one U.S. senators sent a letter that asked Interior Secretary Haaland to shield wolves from being killed for 240 days while permanent protection was considered by FWS. The ESA allows Haaland to authorize an emergency relisting if she determines a species faces a significant threat.
Last December, a bipartisan group of 78 members of Congress sent another letter urging Haaland to consider an emergency relisting. That letter notes that more than 800 scientists have called on the Biden Administration to take immediate action against laws in various states that threaten gray wolves and ignore science.
In January, a coalition of conservation groups asked the National Park Service Director to work with Haaland to issue an emergency relisting.
In February, Representative DeFazio and two other members of Congress wrote to Haaland urging her to issue an emergency relisting. They reminded her that dozens of House members had already made this request in July and December 2021.
Numerous Tribal nations have also called for emergency relisting of wolves. Tribal leaders have asked to meet with Haaland to discuss wolf management. As Tom Rodgers, president of the Global Indigenous Council, said, “The problem is the FWS and its antiquated culture when it comes to the management of the wolf. We requested a follow up meeting to address FWS with the Secretary of Interior in the room.” But repeated efforts did not bring Haaland into the room.
Unfortunately, all the letters and petitions, emails and phone calls, by senators, members of Congress, Native Americans, and many conservation organizations did not elicit a response from Haaland until, finally, on February 7 she wrote an op-ed. Her words sounded good but she took no action to stop the killing of wolves in the Northern Rockies. (Secretary Haaland is good with words but short on action for wolves, as I described in my first letter to her.)
Threats in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming
While FWS ponders and Haaland does nothing, Idaho continues its long-standing and state-sponsored campaign to kill as many wolves as possible as quickly as possible. Wolf hunting season is year-round on private land and some public land. There is not a daily or season limit on the number of wolves taken. And Idaho resists revealing to the public the actual number of wolves killed.
In Wyoming, there is a small area—about 15% of the state—just outside Yellowstone and the Tetons where wolf hunting is regulated. In that area, 29 wolves were killed in the season that ended December 31. In the remaining 85% of the state, wolves are considered vermin to be killed by anyone, at anytime, in any way. It's hard to say how many wolves die in Wyoming.
In Montana, the governor and his Fish and Wildlife Commission ignored Yellowstone's plea to set meaningful restrictions on the killing of park wolves that cross an invisible line. The killing continued until, thankfully, wolf hunting season ended.
Now we have to wait for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or Secretary of the Interior Haaland to protect western wolves in the Northern Rockies. And while we wait, wolves die.
If you would like to see western wolves protected, here's a way to make your voice heard.
Award-winning Indie author Rick Lamplugh writes and photographs to protect wildlife and wild lands.
His award-winning book In the Temple of Wolves; its sequel, Deep into Yellowstone; and its prequel, The Wilds of Aging are available signed. His books are also available unsigned or as eBook or audiobook on Amazon.
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