Endangered Plants Used to Limit Montana Wolf Management?

Here in Montana, we know a thing or two about the wild. We also know that too much of anything, even something as iconic as wolves, can tip the scales. But lately, managing our growing wolf population feels like wrestling a grizzly, thanks to a tangle of lawsuits and federal red tape.

Environmental groups, including WildEarth Guardians, have filed a petition urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to restore federal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies. Their claim? That Montana’s hunting policies are too aggressive, allowing hunters to harvest up to 85% of the state’s wolf population.

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The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is increasingly being used by environmental groups to complicate wolf hunting and management in Montana, including efforts that rely on non-wolf-related environmental factors, such as endangered plants and other protected species.

One tactic involves using the protection of endangered plants in habitats where wolf management takes place. Environmental groups argue that disrupting these habitats through hunting or trapping could harm plant species covered under the ESA, further stalling or restricting wolf management.

A recent federal ruling in Montana as an example: Judge Donald Molloy curtailed wolf trapping seasons based on evidence of incidental harm to grizzly bears, even though there have been no confirmed captures of grizzlies in wolf traps since 2013. Critics, including Montana officials, argue that such rulings misuse the ESA, obstructing science-based management and leaving states unable to address predator overpopulation effectively​

As an avid outdoorsman here in Montana, I have seen many public areas closed to hunting but open for anyone who is what my Father lovingly calls "a bunch of flower sniffers." Areas that were once accessible to hunters are being closed during hunting season, but open any other time of the year. How is that fair? I, for one, have got to say that the weaponization of environmental laws has got to end.