CIIAPTI'RZ: AFFKCTI!) KNVIRONMINT 



CHAPTER 2: AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 



This chapter describes the existing conditions with respect to the issues identified during scoping. It 

 provides a foundation, or basehne, by which to compare the consequences that could occur from 

 implementing any of the management philosophies, strategies, or tools contained within each of the 

 alternatives described in Chapter 3. This chapter focuses on the resources that are most relevant to the 

 issues raised by the public and the alternatives designed to address them. 



A Review of the Gray Wolf in Montana 

 History 



The gray wolf was extirpated from the western United States during the 1900s, primarily due to loss of 

 habitat and conflicts with people. In 1 884, the first statewide bounty law was passed in Montana. That 

 first year, 5,450 wolf hides were presented for payment. All but three Montana counties reported a 

 bounty payment for wolves from 1900-1931 (Riley 1998). By 1936, wolves were probably extinct in 

 Montana, although they were occasionally observed and killed in the 1950s and 1960s (Cumow 1969, 

 Singer 1979, Day 1981, Ream and Mattson 1982). No breeding pairs were known in Montana or 

 elsewhere, and the occasional wolves taken were probably dispersers from Canada. Wolves were not 

 legally protected in the U.S. until 1974. At that time, they were classified as "endangered" in all of the 

 lower 48 states except Minnesota, where the gray wolf was classified as "threatened." 



In 1980, the Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Team completed a plan, which would guide wolf 

 recovery efforts for a future wolf population in the northern Rockies. The plan designated three recovery 

 areas -- Northwestern Montana, Central Idaho, and the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA)--each of which 

 included some portion of Montana (Figure 1 ). 



Wolves started naturally recolonizing the Glacier National Park (GNP) area of northwestern Montana in 

 1979. In 1986, the first wolf den in over 50 years was documented within GNP. Since then, new packs 

 have established throughout western Montana due to dispersers from Canada and the GNP area. To 

 hasten recovery in the other two areas, USFWS reintroduced a total of 66 wolves from Alberta and British 

 Columbia into central Idaho and YNP in 1995 and 1996. 



Current Population Status and Distribution 



Gray wolves are thriving and expanding in number and distribution in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming 

 (Figures I and 2). Within Montana alone at the end of 2002, there were approximately 183 wolves in 

 about 34 packs distributed primarily in western Montana (Figures 3 and 4). While wolves are sfill found 

 primarily in northwestern Montana and in the GYA, new packs are establishing along the Montana/Idaho 

 border, in south central Montana, and outside the northeastern comer of YNP. There have been 

 occasional reports in the Crazy, Highwood and Snowy mountains, but no breeding pack has been 

 confirmed. The wolf population in the northern Rockies met the biological recovery levels at the end of 

 2002. 



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