Wolf population growing, but slowly

Montana's gray wolf population continued to grow in 2009, but at a much slower rate thanks to the state's first hunting season and repeated clashes with livestock that prompted agencies to order the killing of 145 wolves.

"The rate of population growth continues to slow because the best habitats already have resident wolf packs," said Joe Maurier, director of Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks.

FWP released its annual wolf report Thursday, calling the population "secure but dynamic," and subject to checks and balances, including conflicts with people, disease and vehicle strikes.

The report said the population was 525 animals in 101 packs with 37 breeding pairs at the close of the year, a 4 percent increase from 2008.

The previous year saw an 18 percent increase.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the 2009 Northern Rockies population, of which Montana is a part, increased by 4 percent as well, with 1,706 wolves and 242 packs and 115 breeding pairs. That's the lowest growth rate since 1995, the agency said.

Carolyn Sime, Montana's gray wolf program coordinator, said the slow-down in population growth here resulted from the first hunting season and agency control measures resulting from wolves killing livestock.

She noted that the population still increased despite the hunting and agency control efforts.

"For those folks who were concerned things were going to go very, very badly for wolves, this report documents that's not the case," she said.

Gray wolves in Northern Rockies states were removed from the list of endangered species last May, but the decision is being litigated in federal court in Wyoming and Montana, with conservation groups arguing removal of federal protections was premature.

Hunters harvested 72 wolves in Montana's first hunting season last fall. At the May meeting of the FWP Commission, the agency plans to propose increasing the harvest. Sime said she can't say at this time by how much.

Wolves are increasing the most on public lands, in areas without livestock, but 90 percent of the state's wolf population is outside national parks on a combination of public and private land, Sime said.

In areas occupied by both, such as the Rocky Mountain Front, turnover of wolves is higher, she said.

"They will be there but they won't be there in high numbers," she said.

The state confirmed that 38 percent of the packs killed livestock in 2009, including 97 cattle and 202 sheep, the report said. The state compensated livestock producers $141,462 for their losses.

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