From an AP article posted to today’s Missoulian . . .
State wildlife officials want to extend Montana’s wolf hunting season to give hunters enough time to fill a 220-wolf quota that is intended to sharply reduce the predator’s population.
Ken McDonald with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Wednesday the season would be extended by a month, to Jan. 31, 2012.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks released end-of-month totals for hunting season so far. The Daily Inter Lake has the story, including the wolf numbers . . .
So far this hunting season, hunters have taken 44 wolves in Montana.
The overall statewide quota is 220 wolves spread across 16 hunting districts.
In Northwest Montana’s six districts, a total of 17 wolves have been harvested; the quota of allowable wolf kills is 71.
From today’s Missoulian . . .
A group of wolf advocates have requested an emergency halt to wolf hunting in the Rocky Mountains, one week before the general rifle season begins in Montana.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians want to return the gray wolf to federal Endangered Species Act protection.
Idaho started their wolf hunt the other day, now it’s Montana’s turn. From the Daily Inter Lake . . .
Wolves will be legal game when archery season opens Saturday, but successful hunts are expected to be very rare…
Montana has set a statewide quota for 220 wolves to be harvested this year during the archery season, the early rifle season in wilderness areas and the general big game season that opens in late October…
From an AP article posted to today’s Flathead Beacon . . .
A federal appeals court on Thursday denied a request by environmental groups to halt wolf hunts that are scheduled to begin next week in Idaho and Montana.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and other groups. The groups were seeking to cancel the hunts while the court considers a challenge to congressional action in April that stripped wolves of federal protections in Montana and Idaho, and in parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah.
Among several other items, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission will consider tentative fall wolf hunting season quotas and dates at their meeting this month. The meeting is on May 12 at the FWP Helena office, 1420 East 6th Ave. beginning at 8:30 a.m.
According to the FWP, the “tentative proposals will be similar to those adopted before a federal court halted the state’s 2010 hunting season, with the exception of a statewide quota of 220 up from 186 proposed last year, and the addition of a wolf management unit in the Bitterroot area south of Missoula. Assuming tentative adoption, the public will be asked to comment through June 20. The FWP Commission is expected to take final action at its July 14 meeting.”
Related links . . .
Montana FWP Commission home page