By MATTHEW BROWN
| The Associated Press
Billings, Mont. • A proposal to relax the
rules on gray wolf hunting and trapping in Montana got a cool reception
from Yellowstone National Park administrators who said Monday the move
appears to be aimed at substantially reducing the population of the
animals in the park.
Wolves regularly cross from the hunting-free
safe haven of Yellowstone into Montana, where wildlife officials want to
drive down pack numbers in response to complaints from ranchers and
big-game hunters about the wolf.
Montana wildlife commissioners are scheduled on
Wednesday to take final action on proposals to lengthen the wolf
season, increase the bag limit and set quotas around the park.
Park administrators complained Monday that
some of the changes would make it too easy to target wolves that live
primarily in Yellowstone.
The move to loosen hunting and trapping rules was driven in part by the Montana Legislature.
Lawmakers last session passed a measure
increasing the number of wolves that could be taken by individual
hunters and trappers and prohibiting the formation of a no-hunting
buffer zone around Yellowstone.
In response to the concerns raised by
Yellowstone, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said
Monday that the agency is recommending revisions to the original
wolf-hunting proposal tentatively adopted in May.
The changes include a bag limit of just one
wolf per person in areas adjacent to the park and increasing the area
where those quotas will apply.
Yellowstone’s chief scientist Dave Hallac said
he appreciated the changes but added that it was unclear whether the
commissioners will accept the agency’s recommendations.
"The park is not anti-hunting," Hallac said.
"What we’re trying to do is balance the conservation of wolves in
Yellowstone, which are not exploited population right now, with some
level of reasonable harvest."
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