LAURA LUNDQUIST?, Chronicle Staff Writer
A proposal to transfer some state wolf-control authority to the federal level has caught Montana county commissioners off-guard.
On Tuesday, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks announced a proposal to streamline the process of investigating and responding to incidents of wolves preying on livestock.
Under the current FWP process, when a rancher reports a livestock loss that was possibly caused by a predator, the federal Wildlife Services agency investigates the kill. If agents believed wolves were the culprits, they would report their findings to FWP to get authorization to kill one or more wolves.
While wolves were listed under the Endangered Species Act, FWP had to carefully manage the population until it sufficiently recovered. Now that the wolf is delisted, FWP can loosen some of that control, said FWP wildlife management chief Quentin Kujala.
Kujala said FWP and Wildlife Services managers recently met after the delisting and re-establishment of wolf hunting. Managers thought some extra oversight could be eliminated, as long as the results were monitored.
The proposal allows Wildlife Services agents to investigate a livestock kill and immediately take action if wolves were responsible. But they have to report all wolf deaths to FWP.
In addition, if they’ve confirmed a wolf was the killer but can’t determine exactly which wolf is responsible and no collared wolves are in the area, agents will be required to spare at least one wolf and collar it.
Wildlife Services agents have operated in a similar manner in Idaho for years because Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter refused to spend state money on depredation investigations.
Kujala said Wildlife Services agents already have similar authority in Montana when it comes to managing mountain lions.
“We will still be evaluating the process, and we’ll continue to report wolf numbers in the weekly report,” Kujala said. “All eyes are still on wolf management, and if it’s not working, we’ll change the protocol again.”
Under a new law, all decisions dealing with large predators must be sent to the county commissions and tribes for comment.
But on Wednesday, few commissioners had seen the proposal.
Park County Commissioner Randy Taylor said he hadn’t seen the proposal, but the commission would probably weigh in.
Gallatin County commissioners were also unaware of the proposal.
Commissioner Steve White tracked down a copy of the proposal Wednesday afternoon. He couldn’t address the details but said he was pleased that local input was being sought.
White said the timing was fortuitous because the county has been writing its own wolf management resolution. He said the FWP proposal appeared to include details that are part of the resolution, so the commission would probably support it.
Commissioner Bill Murdock said he had distanced himself from the county’s resolution because he doesn’t think county commissions should play such a large role in wildlife management.
“You have federal and state agencies that do this full-time,” Murdock said. “Bringing in county commissions just adds more politics to a debate that’s already hotly contested.”
The deadline for comments is Sept. 21.