Montana shuts down wolf harvest near Yellowstone

This August 2012 photo shows an image provided by Wolves of the Rockies of the Lamar Canyon wolf pack on a hillside in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. The pack’s alpha female was shot Dec. 6, 2012, in Wyoming, among at least five collared wolves from Yellowstone killed by hunters this fall. Four more wolves collared in the park but no longer living there also have been shot. Photo: Wolves Of The Rockies / AP

This August 2012 photo shows an image provided by Wolves of the...
 
This March, 2007 photo provided by National Park Service photographer Doug Smith shows a Gibbon wolf pack standing on snow in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Restrictions on gray wolf harvests around Yellowstone are under consideration as the state prepares to kick off its inaugural wolf trapping season on Dec. 15, 2012. Conservation groups want limits on trapping after several wolves collared by park scientists for research were shot by Montana hunters in recent weeks. Photo: National Park Service, Doug Smith / AP

 
This May 2007 photo by National Park Service photographer Doug Smith shows a Leopold wolf pack hunting a bull elk in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Restrictions on gray wolf harvests around Yellowstone are under consideration as the state prepares to kick off its inaugural wolf trapping season Dec. 15. Conservation groups want limits on trapping after several wolves collared by park scientists for research were shot by Montana hunters in recent weeks. -; Doug Smith; May 2007 Photo: National Park Service, Doug Smith / AP

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press

Updated  Monday, December 10, 2012

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana wildlife commissioners closed down the state's gray wolf season in some areas north of Yellowstone National Park on Monday, in response to a spate of recent shootings of animals that had been collared for scientific research.

The move shuts down hunting and trapping in areas to the east and west of the town of Gardiner, just days before trapping season was set to begin.

But wildlife commissioners did not yield to pressure from wildlife advocates to create a permanent and more extensive buffer around the park.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission chairman Bob Ream said commissioners were addressing only "the particular and unique situation" of collared wolves being shot.

"It seems to be kind of a compromise," Ream said. "Is it political? Yeah, wolves are political."

Hunting and trapping supporters pushed to keep the areas open. Representatives of the Department of Fish, Parks and Wildlife also said no changes were needed because the overall wolf population was not at any risk.

The closures were approved on a 4-to-1 vote. Commissioner Dan Vermillion of Livingston cast the lone dissenting vote.

He said there was no evidence the harvest was damaging the species long-term viability.

Park officials say at least seven Yellowstone wolves — including five wearing tracking collars — were shot in recent weeks by hunters in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Also shot were four collared wolves originally from the park but now living outside it. Three more shot in the vicinity of the park had unknown origins and were not wearing collars, park officials said.

Saturday marks the opening day of Montana's first wolf trapping season since the animals lost federal protections last year.

Wildlife advocates had warned trapping could take even more of Yellowstone's wolves than hunting. They've said only a permanent buffer zone would adequately protect a species that serves as a major draw for Yellowstone's 3 million visitors annually.

Still, Marc Cooke with the group Wolves of the Rockies said Monday's closure of some areas was a positive step.

"I admire the commissioners' courage to step up to the plate and do the right thing," he said.

A Yellowstone scientist said this week that the park's overall population remained strong despite the recent shootings.

Wolf hunting has been underway in Montana since Sept. 1, with at least 89 killed to date. Wildlife officials said Monday that the statewide harvest was down 18 percent through Nov. 25 versus the same period last year.

State officials lifted quotas on wolves across most of Montana this spring in hopes of decreasing a predator population blamed for livestock attacks and driving down elk numbers in some areas.

Hunting and trapping are prohibited inside park boundaries, but wolves range freely across that line.

Shooting a collared wolf is legal if done within a state's hunting regulations.

Radio collars on wolves are used to track the animals' movement, often for research. They also are used outside the park to track down and kill the predators following livestock attacks.

That function — using collars not just to study wolves but to manage their numbers — was a key factor behind Monday's decision, said Shane Colton, a wildlife commissioner from Billings.

"That is an area where we feel we are at significant risk of losing more collared wolves," Colton said of the areas closed to further wolf killing. "Whether hunters are targeting collared wolves or not, I don't know. But if we're going to continue to use collared wolves, steps have to be taken to stop that."

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