Montana’s Fish and Wildlife Commission passed several changes to wolf and grizzly management in their recent end of year meeting.
Montana Public Radio’s Austin Amestoy sat down with Ellis Juhlin to discuss how the state is managing one large mammal species and what that can tell us about how it plans to manage another.
Austin: Ellis, let’s talk wolves first. I understand the state released a new management plan for wolves this fall, the first in 20 years. What are the highlights and what’s the response been so far?
Ellis: Well, it's been met with mixed reviews, especially in public listening sessions held across the state this month.
Conservation groups have expressed concerns with the new plan setting a minimum population goal of 15 breeding pairs, statewide. That’s the low end threshold to avoid wolves being re-listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Another point of contention is that the creation of the plan was not overseen by a citizen’s advisory group. The last plan was, and the latest plans for grizzlies and elk, have also had citizen groups involved.
Non-hunting and trapping groups feel like their voices are being intentionally excluded.
And there may be some merit to that, particularly after Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) and the commission admitted to violating public right to know earlier this fall, in regards to wolf management decisions.
But FWP said anyone had the chance to submit a public comment.
Austin: Alright, so all of that was in motion prior to the Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting last week. How did that panel respond to the new plan?
Ellis: The commission removed all references to the wolf plan from the state’s administrative rules. They said it’s just simplifying code, but in public comment, many people say they find this move concerning.
Conservation groups, like the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Large Carnivore Fund, said this decision frees up the state to manage wolves how they see fit, outside of the wolf plan.
And FWP is still following mandates from the 2021 legislature to reduce the statewide population by almost half.
As of the time of our recording, 93 wolves have been killed this hunting season, according to FWP. That’s about a third of the statewide quota, which was reduced this year after population declines the last few years.
Austin: Now let’s pivot to another large mammal: grizzly bears. Federal officials are saying the bears could be recommended for removal from the endangered species list as soon as February. And, they’ve been entangled with management for other animals like wolves, right?
Ellis: Right. Just this fall we saw the wolf trapping season cut in half in many places, after a federal court ruled the season threatened grizzlies that hadn’t denned yet.
But beyond that, wolf management is often seen as a barometer of how the state could manage grizzlies upon delisting.
As we’ve seen with wolves, there’s a lot of debate, disagreement and opposition on both sides of the argument and a lot of legal challenges. State wildlife managers said the populations, at least in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystems, have sufficiently recovered and they’re ready to manage the bears.
But conservation groups who aren’t happy with how the state manages wolves are skeptical of the state doing the same with grizzlies.
Austin: Speaking of bear management, did the commission make any changes in anticipation of grizzlies being delisted?
Ellis: The commission finalized rule changes to prepare for delisting, incorporating legislation passed in the session. This guides how bears would be lethally managed, including guidelines for when landowners can kill a problem bear. And, if you didn’t already guess it, from what we’ve discussed with wolves, there’s both a lot of pushback and a lot of support for these changes.
Opponents have raised concerns over these rule changes being applicable for private and public land and they worry about safety risks for the public if ranchers can shoot bears on public land. Ranchers talk about the need to protect themselves and their livestock, especially as bears are seen more often and in more places.
Austin: You mentioned lethal management just then, Ellis. One form of wildlife management the state often utilizes is hunting. What can we expect that to look like for grizzlies if they’re delisted?
Ellis: This could also follow the trend of wolves. FWP wouldn’t open up hunting for the first few years of delisting, but after that, the current changes show the state plans to use hunting as a primary management technique.
That’s been rebuked by conservation groups, particularly the Montana Wildlife Federation, for not being scientifically sound. And it has people worried the population would decline, and we could see them end up back on the endangered species list.
There’s also the added complexity of delisting being considered for two subpopulations of grizzlies. Even if bears in the Northern Continental Divide and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystems are delisted, other groups would remain a threatened species and this complicates management.
And we’ve seen this year, grizzlies are pushing into areas they haven’t been in for decades, so it’s hard to say how management needs to adapt for that scenario.
