Justyna Tomtas/Valley Press
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released its’ 2012 Annual Report for the Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf population. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks estimate there are eight packs in Sanders County alone containing approximately 60 to 65 wolves.
According to the Service, “the annual report is conducted to monitor the wolf population to ensure that it continues to thrive under professional state management and no longer needs federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.”
According to CEO David Allen of The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, a non-profit wildlife conservation group, the fact that wolf numbers have decreased but the numbers of packs has increased is significant.
The report states that as of December 3, 2012 there were 321 confirmed packs and 1,674 wolves within the Northern Rocky Mountain Region that includes Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The 2011 report showed there were 287 packs with a population of 1,796 wolves.
“It means they are spreading out. While there has not been any significant increase in the population, state-based management of hunting and trapping does not decimate wolf numbers. There has to be a balance. The wolf is not the only reason the elk population is down. There are lots of contributing factors,” said Allen.
Allen went on to say, “We have an obligation to manage wildlife. Some say let the wolves replace the hunters. Nature won’t balance itself because people are here now. Hunting and fishing are critical to wildlife management. We are not promoting the annihilation of the wolf. We are looking for a balance and hunting is a part of that.”
According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ 2012 report there are a minimum of 625 wolves in Montana. This amounts to a four percent drop from numbers counted in 2011. FWP estimated that hunters and trappers harvested 225 wolves during the 2012-2013 hunting season, almost 100 more than 2011 when trapping was not allowed.
While the number of wolves harvested in Montana may seem significant compared to the overall numbers, both FWP biologists and advocates for greater control of the population say the wolf is not particularly susceptible to hunting and trapping.
FWP Wolf Management Specialist for Region 1 Kent Laudon said he has been studying the wolf population in response to the hunt since it was reinstated in 2009.
“We didn’t really know how vulnerable the wolf was to hunting. It turns out due to robust reproductive capabilities, they are not that vulnerable to hunting,” said Laudon.
The wolf was dropped from the Endangered Species List in 2009. That year saw the first regulated hunting season in Montana. In 2010, the wolf was relisted as a result of a lawsuit filed in federal court by conservation groups. The wolf was again removed from the ESL in 2011 and hunting resumed.