Montana FWP Proposes to Kill Half Its Wolves: Act Now!

📢 TAKE ACTION NOW

📧 Email Montana FWP: fwpcomm@mt.gov
📧 Email Montana Governor Greg Gianforte: governor@mt.gov

📝 Suggested Statement to Submit:

Dear Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks,
I strongly oppose the proposed increase to Montana’s wolf kill quota. The 2024 report shows declining wolf populations in key regions, and the iPOM model used to estimate current numbers has known flaws that overinflate estimates.

Wolves play a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, and the current level of hunting and trapping—along with livestock conflict removals—already poses a serious threat to their stability.

The proposed regulations (night hunting, thermal imaging, 15-wolf licenses) are not only extreme but reflect a dangerous shift away from science-based wildlife management. Let’s choose compassion and coexistence over death.

Please reject these changes and invest instead in non-lethal coexistence tools and ecological education.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Optional: Location or affiliation]

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Why is Montana FWP out to kill wolves?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) has proposed a sweeping and controversial new wolf management plan that would allow up to 500 wolves—nearly half of the estimated statewide population—to be legally killed in the 2025–2026 season.

The proposed changes come despite no significant increase in the wolf population in 2024. In fact, FWP’s own report, released earlier this week, confirms the wolf population has declined in several regions, particularly Region 3, where wolf numbers fell from 215 in 2020 to just 173 in 2024.

A Drastic Escalation in Lethal Measures

The proposal includes several alarming regulatory expansions:

• Increasing the individual bag limit to 15 wolves per hunter/trapper—double the previous limit

• Legalizing night hunting with artificial light, night vision, infrared, and thermal scopes

• Expanded use of snares and baiting techniques

• Mandating that hunters and trappers kill wolves in specific hard-to-reach regions to qualify for higher kill limits

Marc Cooke, director of Wolves of the Rockies, expressed outrage at the direction FWP is taking, calling it an emotionally driven and politically motivated slaughter:

“We still can’t get elk numbers down 22 years later, but if it’s wolves, let’s kill these animals and let’s kill them now? It’s wrong.”

A Flawed Population Model

FWP justifies the proposed changes using the “integrated patch occupancy model” (iPOM), a statistical system adopted in 2020 that estimates a broader range of wolf numbers. While FWP claims the population sits just under 1,100 wolves, iPOM suggests it could be as high as 1,240 or as low as 920.

However, multiple statisticians and researchers have raised concerns that iPOM overestimates actual populations. When these independent analysts attempted to replicate FWP’s numbers, their findings diverged—raising serious questions about the legitimacy of the data being used to justify mass killing.

“We continue to see declines in estimated wolf numbers... which suggests the current combination of hunting, trapping, and conflict removals can effectively reduce wolf numbers,” said FWP’s Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala in a release.

But critics argue: Why is reducing the wolf population the goal to begin with?

Wolves Are Not the Problem — But They're Being Punished

In 2024, wolves were confirmed to have killed:

• 35 cattle

• 16 sheep

• 3 foals

• 8 livestock guardian dogs

That’s a total of 62 livestock animals statewide—a tiny fraction compared to the over 2.5 million cattle raised in Montana annually. These numbers are also significantly lower than historic depredation numbers. In 2009, for instance, wolves were blamed for 300 livestock kills—nearly five times higher than in 2024. In addition, many ranchers are not taking the proper measurements to ensure these killings don’t occur.

In response to livestock incidents last year, 25 wolves were already lethally removed by Wildlife Services or ranchers. Combined with 297 wolves killed by hunters and trappers during the 2024–2025 season, wolf mortality is already high. Yet FWP now seeks to push that number even higher—without scientific justification.

What’s Really Driving This?

Since 2021, Montana’s Legislature has passed increasingly extreme bills targeting wolves, backed by ranching and trophy hunting interests. Many of the tactics now proposed—including snaring, baiting, and night hunting—were authorized by legislation passed in recent years. Some lawmakers have even attempted to mandate the reduction of the wolf population to 450 statewide—arbitrary numbers unsupported by ecological science.

This is not conservation. This is policy driven by politics and outdated predator control ideology.

Speak Up for Wolves

FWP will present these changes at their August commission meeting, and public input is still open. Conservation organizations, ecologists, and wildlife advocates are urging citizens to take action before it’s too late.