CHAI>'n-:R 3: AI.TERN,\T1VE,S 



Alternatives Selected for Analysis 



In general terms, most public scoping comments fell along a continuum from highly protectionist 

 philosophies to highly exploitive philosophies. More specifically, input ranged from the need to prevent 

 all wolf mortalities (no matter what the circumstances) to the need to kill or remove all wolves from 

 Montana. This philosophical spectrum represents peoples' values, opinions, and beliefs. These represent 

 the social factors that need to be considered. Four alternatives were crafted to represent that philosophical 

 continuum within the sideboards of the federal requirement for a secure population. The fifth alternative 

 falls within the continuum, but describes a potential interim state program under a different legal context 

 than the other alternatives — namely state management while the gray wolf is in the process of being 

 delisted. 



The issues establish the framework for the development of the alternatives and guide their development. 

 The alternatives could be thought of as the different ways of accomplishing the proposed action and they 

 encompass a range of possibilities so that there are clear differences between the alternatives. FWP 

 selected one of the alternatives as its preferred approach, but FWP is not legally required to make that 

 alternative its final decision. In fact, FWP could select any of the alternatives or even combine elements 

 of several alternatives into a new alternative based on the public comment it receives on this draft and the 

 results of the environmental review. The public is welcome to comment on specific elements within an 

 alternative. As described previously, the ROD and the final EIS will describe FWP's decision and the 

 wolf conservation and management program in detail. 



The main issues selected for further analysis and which underlie the specific details of the alternatives are: 

 wolf conservation and management, social factors, administration, prey populations, livestock, and 

 compensation. These issues will remain the primary focus for the analysis of environmental 

 consequences (Chapter 4). Because a continuum was also evident for the other issues listed in Table 21, 

 many are also treated differently in each of the alternatives. The five alternatives listed below are 

 described in greater detail in this chapter and summarized in a table at the end of the chapter (Table 30). 



1 . No Action . FWP does not develop and adopt a wolf conservation and management program. 



2. Updated Council . FWP would adopt the Montana's Wolf Management Advisory Council's 

 Planning Document as written and updated by the council in January 2003. Montana's wolf 

 conservation and management program would consist of the original planning document and the 

 updates outlined in this EIS. This is FWP's preferred alternative. 



3. Additional Wolf . FWP would adopt the council's updated Planning Document as the 

 conservation and management program, but the number of breeding pairs would be increased. 

 This alternative was developed in response to public comments expressing general support for 

 FWP to manage the gray wolf, but to do so conservatively and with greater numbers of wolves on 

 the landscape. 



4. Minimum Wolf . FWP would develop and adopt a wolf conservation and management program 

 that meets the minimum standards and requirements for a secure, viable wolf population, but 

 requires aggressive management to maintain wolf population numbers at the lowest level 

 acceptable to USFWS and restricts wolf distribution to primarily public lands in western 

 Montana. 



5. Contingency . FWP would .seek to implement most provisions of Alternative 2 through an 

 agreement with USFWS while the gray wolf was still listed under ESA, in the event that actual 



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