MISSOULA COUNTY
By Will Wadley
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana wildlife advocates are speaking out against a proposed April extension to the wolf hunt in the Bitterroot Valley, south of Missoula. The proposal is backed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
“We want to see wolves be successful, said FWP Region 2 Director Mack Long. “The flip side of that is they are not the only animal on the landscape. We have to manage them as part of all of Montana’s native species, and elk and deer are also a part of that.”
Long says the quota in hunting region 250, which covers the West Fork of the Bitterroot, is 18. Hunters have killed only 3 there so far.
Long says FWP biologists believe the bitterroot elk population has been decimated by a rise in predators, and they think extending the wolf hunt to fulfill the quota would give the elk a chance to recover.
Wolf advocate Marc Cooke, a volunteer for the National Wolf Watch Coalition, says FWP has different motives.
“Their revenue is being drawn by hunters, by trappers, by fishermen. We got get away from that, it’s gotta come out of the general fund. You’re not going to bite the hand that feeds you,” said Cooke.
Fish, wildlife and parks commissioners meet in a week to vote on the proposed extension. We’ll let you know what happens.
For more information on Montana’s wolf hunt and FWP’s proposed extension, click here. To access the National Wolf Advocate’s website, click here.