Gardiner, Montana, where I live, is ground zero in the controversy over killing or protecting wolves. Gardiner sits at Yellowstone’s north gate and depends economically on tourists that come to watch park wolves. Gardiner also sits in Montana Wolf Management Unit 313 and near Unit 316 where hunters and trappers come to kill wolves—any wolves.
Yellowstone wolves that live near 313 and 316 spend only about 5% of their time outside the park. Unfortunately, that time outside the park usually occurs during Montana's wolf hunting season. When they make that rare journey into Montana, they enter a death trap designed and operated by Montana’s governor, Montana’s legislature, Montana’s Fish and Wildlife Commission, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Yellowstone wolves become highly publicized casualties in Montana's war against all wolves.
I have received a lot of questions about how wolves are mismanaged in Montana. Here are some of the questions with answers.
1. Does Montana have a plan to control the killing of wolves in the state?
Under Montana’s plan this hunting season’s death toll could reach at least 450 wolves statewide. At that point, the Fish and Wildlife Commission must meet and decide whether to stop the hunt or let it continue. If they let it continue, they must reassess after another 50 wolves are killed and the total is 500. Then another 50 wolves could be killed and so on.
On January 28, the Commission voted to stop the Region 3 hunt once 82 wolves (the preset threshold) have been killed. Region 3 contains units 313 and 316. As of that meeting, 76 wolves had been killed in Region 3; 18 were Yellowstone wolves.
2. How many wolves might Montana allow to be killed statewide?
The most recent Montana Annual Wolf Report was published in 2020. On page V of that report is a graph that shows the minimum wolf population according to the state plan is 150. That graph also shows that as of 2019 the state’s wolf population was, depending on the measurement method, between 800 and 1,000.
If the population is 1,000 and Montana allows wolves to be killed to the 150 minimum, that would mean 85% of the state's wolves would be killed.
The Fish and Wildlife Commission has not said how low it will let the population go.
3. Do wolves in 313 and 316 attack livestock or kill lots of elk?
On December 16, Yellowstone’s superintendent Cam Sholly wrote a letter to Montana’s governor Greg Gianforte, asking him to stop the killing in 313 and 316. Sholly wrote that Montana's data shows little to no wolf-related depredation in northern Yellowstone, an area that includes 313 and 316.
The data also shows that the elk population in units in northern Yellowstone is "At" the population objectives set by Fish, Wildlife & Parks. On a larger scale, in all of Region 3, the elk population is "Over" the objectives.
4. Are there any studies on the impact of hunting wolves near national parks?
So far I have found two studies. These show an impact on wolves and wolfwatchers.
A finding in one of the studies relates to the impact of hunting on wolves. That study analyzed how the loss of a breeding wolf in Denali National Park and Preserve changes the stability and growth of that breeder’s pack. The study found that breeder loss preceded the break up of three-quarters of the dissolved packs. In other words, shooting or trapping a breeder can destroy an entire pack, wherever the pack lives.
Findings in both studies relate to the impact of hunting wolves on wolfwatchers. One study found wolf sightings in Yellowstone fell by 31% following the killing of wolves along the park boundary. The second study found sightings in Yellowstone rose by 45% following the killing of no wolves along the boundary.
5. Can a buffer zone where no wolves are killed be created around Yellowstone?
Ken McDonald, the Wildlife Division administrator for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, said in an interview that there is a legislative prohibition on buffer zones where no wolves could be hunted or trapped, according to a July 4, 2021, Helena Independent Record article.
However, a wolf management unit with a quota of one is possible and has been used.
6. How could a quota that minimizes wolf killing be reestablished in units 313 and 316?
The Fish and Wildlife Commission can vote to reinstate the quota since they voted to eliminate the quota that was in place last hunting season and for many previous seasons.
But reinstating a quota will require a significant campaign, since Gianforte appointed six of the seven commissioners and stacked the commission with folks who support his anti-wolf views. Commissioner Byorth is the only holdover from the previous administration.
Sholly, in his December 16 letter, asked Gianforte to stop the killing in 313 and 316. Sholly asked that the quotas that had limited the kill for the last decade be reinstated. Gianforte didn’t respond directly to either request. Instead, he wrote back that the Fish and Wildlife Commission was monitoring the hunt and would respond according to Montana’s new wolf hunting legislation.
On January 28, the Fish and Wildlife Commission chair said the only issue to be put to a vote that day would be whether to close Region 3. The idea of reinstating a quota could not even be discussed at that meeting.
7. What would be the impact to wolves and wolf hunters if a quota of one wolf in each unit is reestablished?
The impact to wolves would be major. With a quota of one wolf in each unit, 16 Yellowstone wolves would not have been killed this season. And at least one pack, the Phantom Lake pack, would still exist.
The impact to hunters would be minor. Wolf hunters would have to drive farther, but they could find more wolves to shoot or trap. According to a September 27, 2021, Yellowstone press release, ninety-eight percent of wolves in Montana live outside units 313 and 316.
8. Hunters can now bait wolves on private land. How much private land is near Yellowstone’s border?
The September Yellowstone press release stated that over 30% of the boundary Yellowstone shares with Montana is within one mile of private property where baiting is now allowed.
9. Can rules allowing such things as hunting at night be changed?
Trap Free Montana Public Lands and Wolves of the Rockies filed a lawsuit in December against Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Fish and Wildlife Commission. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that the lawsuit focuses on two aspects of current wolf regulations: allowing wolf hunting at night on private land and aerial hunting of wolves.
The groups want the court to void the use of night hunting equipment. The groups also want this year’s regulations to state Montana’s long-held prohibition against hunting wolves from the air. The groups asked for--but were denied--a temporary restraining order while this litigation plays out.
10. How dependent are Gardiner and other gateway communities on tourists?
Sholly, in his December letter, pointed out that visitors to Yellowstone spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year in communities within 50 miles of the park. Tourism to Yellowstone supports thousands of jobs and has an estimated overall benefit of $640 million to the area's economy.
He added that 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.
11. Do hunters or wolfwatchers contribute more to local economies?
While wolf hunting earns Fish, Wildlife & Parks hundreds of thousands of dollars through the sale of licenses, wolf watching brings millions of dollars to communities around Yellowstone.
According to a report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife watchers outspent hunters in 2016 by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1.
Here are some links to learn more:
NPS page that reports Yellowstone wolf mortalities (scroll down page)
FWP database on wolves killed in Montana
Sholly’s 12/16/21 letter to Gianforte
Helena Independent Record 7/4/21 article
2016 FWS study regarding hunting and wildlife watching
2015 study on impact of hunting wolves near national parks
2016 study on impact of hunting wolves near national parks
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.
You can also join Rick in his latest writing adventure, a free weekly letter to subscribers entitled Love the Wild. You’ll find excerpts from his books, podcasts, photo essays, opinion pieces, and more. All aim to excite your mind and warm your heart.
Photo of howling Yellowstone wolf by Rick Lamplugh
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