Among the moves made by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission during its last meeting of the year was removing reference to the 2003 Grey Wolf Conservation and Management Plan from the guidelines for managing the species.
This change to the administrative rules for wolf management by the commission is tied the larger context of the state’s currently-in-progress new Wolf Plan and its usage of the controversial iPOM method to measure the state’s wolf population, which some say overestimates wolf numbers.
This amendment to the wolf rules — unlike changes to grizzly bear rules also made during that meeting — went into effect immediately upon approval.
In January, Gov. Gianforte instructed Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to create a new structure for managing wolves based on the “public and legislature’s engagement” to replace the 2003 plan.
FWP spent most of this year drafting the new plan before opening it up to a 60-day public comment window starting in October and ending Dec. 19. The department will now review the comments, make changes as necessary, and then work to finalize the plan.
Greg Lemon, administrator for FWP’s Communication and Education Division, said they hope to have the new plan in place in the first few months of 2024.
The Fish and Wildlife Commission, which sets regulations for FWP, moved in March to begin changing the state’s administrative rules so that they no longer reference “a specific plan, rather the current plan, whether that’s the 2003 plan currently in place, a 2023 plan, or some future plan,” according to a department statement.
The reasoning for the amendment is to allow the commission the flexibility to update the management plan without having to change the administrative rules again in the case that the state’s new wolf plan has a different name from the old one.
“We wanted to make sure we had the changes to the rules, so that when we adopt the new wolf management plan that will still be in line with statute and administrative rule,” Lemon said.
Most of the comments, both submitted in writing prior to and given during the meeting, were critical of the proposed amendment. Many comments also raised broader concerns over where the state’s management of the species is headed.
Lemon said the commenters seemed focused on the wolf plan and whether they agreed or disagreed with state management of wolves rather than the change itself. He said he understands the concern, but that the administrative rule process is separate from the wolf management plan.
A few opponents, however, spoke directly against the removal of specific reference to the 2003 plan during a variety of stages during the process.
Jessica Karjala, executive director of Footloose Montana, said after the adoption of the amendment her biggest concern about the change is it may move the FWP towards managing wolves outside of the best available science.
Derek Goldman, national field director and Northern Rockies representative for the Endangered Species Coalition, said in the meeting that he didn’t understand why the commission needed to change the administrative rules to remove reference to the 2003 plan, pointing out that the change raised the question of what Montana will use to guide wolf management moving forward.
Let the news come to you
Get any of our free daily email newsletters — news headlines, opinion, e-edition, obituaries and more.
Send us your thoughts and feedback as a letter to the editor. Submit by email, by post to 2820 W. College St., Bozeman, MT 59718 or use our online form.
Support quality local journalism. Become a subscriber.
Subscribers get full, survey-free access to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle's award-winning coverage both on our website and in our e-edition, a digital replica of the print edition.
