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Yellowstone National Park superintendent Cameron Sholly submitted a letter to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission on June 26 as part of the public comment period<\/a> for proposed changes<\/a> to Montana\u2019s wolf hunting and trapping regulations. In the letter, which was acquired by WyoFile<\/a><\/em>, Sholly asked commissioners to consider changes to the state\u2019s wolf hunting regulations in the management unit that borders the national park. Referring to \u201chigh wolf mortality in a very small percentage of [Wolf Management Unit] 313,\u201d Sholly said hunters, poachers, and trappers in the area were taking too big a toll on Yellowstone\u2019s wolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sholly\u2019s main request is for commissioners to break WMU 313 into two separate units, with the current quota of six wolves split between the two units. WyoFile<\/em> reports that one of the state\u2019s wildlife commissioners, Susan Kirby Brooke, has formally introduced a similar proposal to split WMU 313 and divide the six-wolf quota.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sholly pointed out in his letter that 13 gray wolves known to live in the park were killed by humans during the 2023-24 wolf hunting season. Six were legally harvested by hunters in WMU 313; two were harvested outside WMU 313 but near the park boundary; one radio-collared wolf was poached<\/a> inside WMU 313 in February; and two collared wolves reportedly died (one inside the park boundary and one adjacent to it) from gunshot wounds that were likely sustained inside WMU 313. The other two wolves were harvested legally by hunters in Idaho and Wyoming.<\/p>\n \u201cThese losses represented approximately 10 percent of the winter 2023\/2024 Yellowstone wolf population,\u201d Sholly wrote. He said this led to the \u201cdissolution\u201d of three of the park\u2019s known wolf packs.<\/p>\n \u201cRecently published research has documented significant impacts of human-caused mortality on natural social dynamics,\u201d Sholly wrote. \u201cHarvest of Yellowstone wolves has been shown to negatively impact pack persistence and pup production.\u201d<\/p>\n Sholly said that ironically, hunter harvest can sometimes lead to more wolves on the landscape. He pointed to a long-term alpha female wolf that was legally trapped in WMU 313 during the 2021-22 season. He said that in her absence, three other females gave birth to 18 pups in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cIn other words,\u201d Sholly wrote, \u201cthe State\u2019s approach is causing increasing reproduction of wolves.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The area that Montana wildlife managers define as WMU 313 borders the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park, and it\u2019s been an ongoing source of controversy since the 2021-22 hunting season, when Montana hunters killed 15 wolves<\/a> that roamed across the park\u2019s northern boundary. In the wake of that controversial season, MFWP established a quota of six wolves for WMU 313. This makes it unique from the rest of the state, which is subject to regional wolf hunting and trapping quotas<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the 2022 change, the harvest has been mostly concentrated near the Yellowstone Park Boundary by Gardiner and has resulted in the harvest of multiple wolves from one or two packs that primarily reside in Yellowstone Park,\u201d Brooke writes in the proposal<\/a>. She also notes that there have been no livestock depredations in or around WMU 313 for years, and that harvest in Region 3 is meeting its legislative obligation to reduce wolf populations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wildlife commissioners have not formally responded to Sholly\u2019s letter, according to WyoFile<\/em>. However, it could guide the commission\u2019s discussions as they finalize regulations for the 2024-25 hunting season. MFWP is accepting public comments for those proposed regulations and Brooke\u2019s amendment through July 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a broader sense, these kinds of recommendations and tweaks come around every time wolf management is up in the air, MFWP Communication and Education Division administrator Greg Lemon tells Outdoor Life<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis concern is something that the Commission has heard every single time that they\u2019ve taken up wolf regulations,\u201d Lemon says. \u201cWolves are typically controversial, and the Commission has historically done a lot of balancing to tweak the regulations and define the path forward. The charge that we have and that the Commission has is to manage wildlife within state boundaries. That\u2019s the science we focus on.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n