Montana Seeks More Aggressive Wolf Hunting

Even as Wyoming’s wolf management policies are under fire in the courts again, a bill that would prevent the closure of wolf hunt areas near Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks before the quota is reached, allow multiple wolf licenses and generally expand wolf hunting in Montana has been unanimously approved in the Montana House of Representatives and now moves on to the Montana Senate for consideration there.  The bill would allow hunters to purchase more than one wolf tag and use electronic calls to lure the animals. It also reduces the price of a nonresident wolf license from $350 to $50.  Montana Representative Franke Wilmer of Bozeman defended the bill as being scientifically sound.  She said it is necessary for the state to mitigate the effects of what has been by all accounts a very successful recovery program with an estimated 650 animals in the state.  Wilmer says, “By federal standards, which set a very low floor of 150 we’re good: by biologists account, about 450 will sustain a biologically diverse genetic pool in the population, so we are still over that.”  The bill will become effective upon passage.