Public meetings on wolf management scheduled
By DARYL GADBOW of the Missoulian
Two public meetings to discuss the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks plan to manage wolves in the state are scheduled in Avon and Missoula in April.
The meetings to discuss FWP’s environmental impact statement on its Draft Montana Wolf Conservation and Management Plan are scheduled Thursday, April 3, in Avon, and Tuesday, April 8, in Missoula. The sessions will begin with an open house from 6:30 to 7 p.m., followed by introductions and a short presentation. There will then be an opportunity for comments from everyone.
The Avon meeting will be held at the Avon Community Center and the Missoula meeting will be held at Meadow Hill Middle School, 4210 Reserve St.
The purpose of the state’s environmental impact statement is to decide how wolves will be managed in Montana when the state assumes responsibility for the species. Since 1974, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has managed wolves in Montana under the authority of the Endangered Species Act. Wolves met the biological requirements for recovery at the end of 2002. Upon delisting, management authority for wolves will return to state governments where the wolves are found.
In 2000, a 12-member Wolf Management Advisory Council was appointed by then Gov. Marc Racicot. The group worked for seven months and identified about 30 issues FWP used to frame its Montana Wolf Conservation and Management Planning Document. After 12 community work sessions were held, resulting in nearly 6,700 individual comments, a draft environmental impact statement was written. The document included five alternatives to wolf management.
FWP’s preferred alternative sets a benchmark of 15 breeding wolf pairs. Federal officials estimate that 183 wolves, in 35 packs, and about 16 breeding pairs now inhabit Montana. The alternative also directs the state to help find long-term sources of revenue to reimburse damages caused by wolves; develop ways to reduce the risks wolves present to owners of livestock and others; provides for regulated harvest of wolves; and offers FWP flexibility to manage wolf numbers and distribution.
There will be a total of 13 public meetings on the draft plan throughout the state in April.
Copies of the plan are available by calling (406) 444-2612. Comments on the draft environmental impact statement can be made on FWP’s Web site at www.fwp.state.mt.us. Click on Montana Wolf Management in the “Hot Topics” box, or by writing to Wolf Plan EIS, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 490 North Meridian Road, Kalispell, MT 59901. Comments will be accepted through May 12.