Wolf hunt is best solution

Finally — once again. The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission recently set a quota and rules for the state’s second-ever regulated wolf hunt.

The state’s first season occurred in 2009 after wolves were delisted, but the 2010 season was derailed by litigation from environmental groups. Well, “wildlife management by lawsuit” didn’t sit well in Montana, and the state’s congressional delegation took action in passing legislation that delisted wolves in Montana and Idaho with a provision that the legislation cannot be subject to judicial review — a first since the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973.

So here we are. The commission set a quota of 220 wolves, which amounts to about 25 percent of the state’s minimum wolf population.

Alarmist wolf advocates contend that the target number is unsustainable and will lead to extermination of the species, but we disagree entirely, with confidence that Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has established a responsible wolf management program that will ensure viable populations in the future.

For starters, there is nothing static about the state wolf hunt — quotas and rules will be adjusted from year to year. The quota is divided disproportionately among 14 hunting districts, with higher subquotas in districts where there are heavy wolf impacts on elk and deer and livestock, and lesser subquotas for districts that don’t have those impacts, such as wilderness areas.

The quotas are also driven by the number of wolves on the landscape, which can be affected not only by hunting but by low reproduction and high natural mortality.

The state’s wildlife bureau chief noted that a quota of 220 probably can’t be continued long term, but the goal this year is to gain some management control over the population.

There are other reasons to be confident that the state’s wolf population will not disappear because of a regulated hunt. As we’ve seen with the rapid expansion of wolves across much of the state, they are prolific breeders. For proof, one need look no further than Canada, where far more liberal rules for wolf hunting have been around for decades, along with a healthy population of wolves.

Besides, there is no guarantee that a quota of 220 will be met by hunters who buy the $19 over-the-counter wolf license. In 2009, hunters harvested 72 wolves during the fall season, just shy of the quota of 75, and that prompted the season to be closed early to ensure that the quota would not be exceeded.

Harvesting 220 may not happen so quickly, particularly because some qualified wolf watchers have a theory that wolves may get far more leery and elusive of people as the season progresses.

We’ll wait and see how it goes, but we are sure that the state will manage wolves competently if for no other reason than to ensure that they are not relisted and returned to federal management authority. We’ve all had enough of that.