JODI HAUSEN, Chronicle Staff Writer
When wolves were reintroduced into the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in 1995, they provided opportunities and challenges, people speaking to Gallatin County Commissioners said Thursday night.
More than 70 people were in attendance at the meeting that went until after 9 p.m. County commissioners called the meeting to collect comments from the public for authorities tasked with managing wildlife.
Commissioner Joe Skinner said he is undertaking the task because he’s received many comments from people who say predators such as wolves are affecting moose, deer and elk populations.
State law gives authority to counties to coordinate with state and federal agencies in decisions involving wildlife. Two other counties – Jefferson and Ravalli – have passed guidelines to do that.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks regional manager Pat Flowers said wolf populations have increased about 15 percent in the last year. He said elk populations are declining, below objectives or stable in Gallatin County, except in the Bridger Mountains, where elk populations are growing.
He said 74 cattle, 11 sheep, two dogs and one horse were killed by wolves in 2011, compared to 163 deaths in 2010.
Several speakers Thursday discouraged commissioners from getting involved in wildlife management.
“How many levels of bureaucracy do we need to manage a few canines?” asked Glenn Monahan of Bozeman. “Is Gallatin County going to hire a wildlife biologist to manage wolves in the county?”
Mike Leahy, a hunter and regional director with Defenders of Wildlife, said ranchers should consider looking at innovative, non-lethal, preventative means to control predators.
Environmentalists have an agreement to compensate ranchers for wolf-caused deaths of their cattle. Leahy said environmentalists didn’t pay Gallatin County ranchers for a single cattle death last year.
Carey White, representing Citizens for Balanced Use, said there have not been any wolf attacks on humans in Montana, but there have been several in Canada. He also cited several local incidents of wolves killing pets and provided commissioners with gruesome photographs.
“Agriculture is under attack” and that’s our food source, White added. “You have the ability to coordinate and you have the responsibility to coordinate.”