Montana Proposes Increase in Wolf Hunting Quota

On Friday, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission approved a proposal to increase the wolf harvest in Montana, including the use of controversial techniques such as snaring, baiting and night hunting. 

The commission approved the take of 450 wolves, compared to last year’s harvest of 328. The current wolf population in Montana is estimated at 1,177.

Also on Friday, the Biden administration announced that it would not reverse a Trump-era policy of delisting wolves in the lower 48 states from the Endangered Species Act. But President Joe Biden also said that his administration was watching the wolf hunting closely in several states.

Defenders of Wildlife’s President & CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark released the following statement in reaction to the proposal: 

“This is an unacceptable and anti-conservation pattern. We must take action, and fast, to protect gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act before the states undo 45 years of progress. The wolf hunting quotas recently adopted in states like Idaho, Montana and Wisconsin exceed scientific recommendations, fly in the face of public opinion and painfully demonstrate that some states are ill-equipped to manage wolves responsibly. Stripping away federal protections for gray wolves was premature and reckless and should be reversed now.”

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Eilish Palmer