In today’s society it’s no surprise factual information is being ignored to push an agenda. The North American model of wildlife conservation is under attack by special interest groups funded largely by out-of-state revenue.
Montana has been utilizing a patch occupancy model to estimate it’s wolf population since 2016. Prior to patch occupancy, populations were estimated through numerous techniques, all of which were labor intensive and arguably less accurate. This change happened under a different governor and a different fish and wildlife committee. All of a sudden, these preservation groups are saying it’s an inaccurate model and that we should “follow the science”. They blame our current governor and his committee for utilizing population data through this method to avoid federal re-listing of the grey wolf in Montana. Prior to this year they had no issues with this method.
These concerns stem from last year’s legislative session where several bills were introduced and passed to help reduce wolf numbers to levels consistent with the original objective goals. Although new tools were provided to help increase wolf harvest, end of the year totals came in well below the statewide threshold set by the committee.
During the 2008 delisting process, population goals were set to maintain a minimum of 30 breeding pairs and 300 total wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Area. Ideal total population numbers were 1,100 wolves. It was noted that a population above 1,500 wolves would be hard to maintain and would be considered the maximum carrying capacity for the region.
Current population estimates put Idaho at 1,543 wolves, Montana at 1,141 wolves, and Wyoming at 161 wolves in their trophy wolf management area (they don’t report the entire state, but estimates are in the 400 ballpark). This brings the conservative total to over 2,800 wolves, nearly double the amount of animals considered to be the biological carrying capacity.
Regardless of where you stand on this topic, the fact remains wolves are not in peril. I’m not certain which science these groups are asking us to follow, but it’s definitely not the science provided by those who originated wolf reintroduction and population goals. The goal never was to have as many wolves possible on the landscape. As is the case almost always in the natural world, quantity is not quality.
Chris Morgan
Clancy
