( HAPIKR 4: ENVIRONMIiNTAL CONSEOHENCKS 



localized area closures around den or rendezvous sites, especially within national parks. FWP would not 

 invest much effort in coordinating with land managers or private landowners on wildlife habitat projects 

 that would benefit wolves. 



Monitoring. FWP will monitor the population to ensure that it is secure and above the recovery goal. 

 Telemetry would be required to a greater extent under this alternative, and it will increase monitoring 

 costs compared to the other alternatives. Monitoring efforts themselves must be very precise and reliable 

 because it will be important to document every pack and its reproductive status to determine whether it 

 could be tallied as a breeding pair. Wolves would be captured and handled more frequently to maintain 

 telemetry contact with each pack. Significant effort must be committed to achieve the intensity required 

 to document that Montana is meeting the minimum requirements. 



Prey Populations. At the regional and statewide scale, prey populations will fluctuate through time due 

 to all causes of mortality and environmental factors similar to the historical patterns described in Chapter 

 2. At the localized level, wolf predation may still influence prey populations, particularly in combination 

 with environmental factors. Because so few wolves would be on the landscape, fewer localized impacts 

 are expected. Overall, aggressive wolf management philosophies would benefit prey populations across a 

 broader area because wolf predation on prey would be less under this alternative in that fewer wolves 

 would exist on the landscape. Because there would be fewer wolf packs, ungulate monitoring would not 

 be increased. 



Other Wildlife. Species such as scavengers that benefit from wolf presence in an ecosystem would not 

 benefit as much from this alternative compared to the others. Those species that may compete with 

 wolves for food or space would be less impacted by this alternative. 



Human Environment 



Social Factors. Wolf restoration has been a divisive issue among Montanans. Those citizens opposed to 

 wolf presence would benefit the most by this alternative. Citizens who are supportive or neutral may be 

 impacted by the minimal wolf management philosophy. By not taking an adaptive approach, FWP would 

 not meet the differing conservation and management expectations and interests that exist across the 

 spectrum of social values. While Montana citizens would have a stronger voice in wolf management in 

 their state because the program would be administered from a local perspective, FWP would not be able 

 to address all the local interests. In addition, because FWP management flexibility could be constrained 

 by the low wolf numbers, some management decisions may not be entirely satisfactory in light of the 

 need to maintain enough breeding pairs to prevent relisting. 



Public Outreach. A significant component of public outreach would consist of working with private 

 landowners to achieve management objectives and to notify them when wolves are in the area. This role 

 would partially be filled by biologists or wardens and partially by information officers distributed around 

 the state. The public outreach to inform landowners and the public about wolf pack activities or 

 whereabouts may increase the public's sense of safety. Significant public outreach may also be required 

 to explain the program and its purposes. 



Human Safety. Under this alternative, people would encounter wolves less frequently. There should be 

 fewer encounters between wolves and lion hounds or bird hunting dogs. Other impacts would be the 

 same as Alternative 2 (Updated Council). 



Private Property. FWP does not intend to restrict private property uses to manage a recovered wolf 

 population. While wolf use is primarily on public lands, some use of private lands does occur. Use of 

 private lands will increase in the future with increasing wolf numbers, and conflicts may occur more 



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