imxt't las APJ'iiMMX I 



were still fairly common throughout most of the northwestern United States until the early 1900s (Young and 

 Goldman 1944). 



In Montana, wolves were widespread throughout the state at the time of European settlement. Early trappers and 

 explorers, including Lewis and Clark, recorded wolf sightings and encounters in their diaries. The first statewide 

 bounty law passed in 1884 and wolf eradication in Montana began. In that first year, 5,450 wolf hides were 

 presented for payment. Only 3 Montana counties (as they existed in 1900) failed to report 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 in the 1970s, and the occasional wolves taken were probably 

 dispersers from Canada. In the 1960s, the Canadian Province of Alberta reduced its widespread predator control 

 efforts (Ream and Mattson 1982). Tliis probably resulted in higher survivorship and dispersal of wolves from 

 Canada to Montana. Wolves were not legally protected in the U.S. until 1973, with the passage of ESA. 



Pursuant to ESA, the Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Team completed a recovery plan in 1980, with 

 amendments added in 1987. The Plan designated three recovery areas (Northwest Montana, Central Idaho, and the 

 Greater Yellowstone Area), each of which include some portion of Montana (Fig. 1). The USFWS determined that 

 a total of 30 breeding pairs, with an equitable distribution throughout the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming 

 would constitute a viable, recovered population in the northern Rockies (USFWS et al. 2001 ). The number of 

 breeding pairs is the measure by which the USFWS evaluates progress towards recovery. A breeding pair is defined 

 as at least two adult wolves with at least two pups that survive to December 3 1 . When a total of 30 breeding pairs is 

 documented for 3 successive years, the USFWS will initiate the deUsting process, which removes the federal 

 protections conferred by ESA. 



Wolves started naturally recolonizing the Glacier National Park (GNP) area of northwestern Montana in 1979. 

 Reproduction was documented just north of GNP in 1982 (Ream and Mattson 1982). In 1986, the first wolf den in 

 the western United States in over 50 years was documented within GNP (Ream et al. 1989). The newly colonizing 

 wolf population in the GNP area fell within the Northwest Montana Recovery Area. Since then, new packs have 

 established throughout western Montana. They were started by founders from Canada, the GNP area, and their 

 descendants. Northwest Montana has supported a minimum of 5-7 breeding pairs since 1995 (USFWS et al. 2001). 



As wolves recolonized northwest Montana, the other two recovery areas. Central Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone 

 Area (G YA) remained devoid of wolves except for occasional reports of single or lone wolves. No reproduction had 

 been documented in either area since the 1930s. In 1995 and 1996, the USFWS reintroduced a total of 66 wolves 

 from Alberta and British Columbia into the wilderness areas of central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park (YNP), 

 Wyoming. These reintroductions were undertaken on an experimental basis and the populations were considered 

 non-essential to the survival of the species. The "experimental, non-essential" status of these wolves granted 

 additional management flexibility. In 2000, the USFWS et al. (2001 ) documented 13 breeding pairs in the Greater 

 Yellowstone Recovery Area and 9 pairs in the Central Idaho Recovery Area. 



While the USFAVS presently tabulates the number of breeding pairs by recovery area as a subtotal of the 30 total 

 pairs required, the recovery area boundaries dissolve into the individual state boundaries upon delisting. Using the 

 same definition of breeding pair, Montana had eight breeding pairs whose territories lie entirely within its borders in 

 2000 (USFWS et al. 2001). Three additional breeding pairs had territories that straddle the Montana-Idaho or 

 Montana-Wyoming borders in 2000. There are other wolf pairs or small packs within Montana for which 

 reproduction was not confirmed in 2000, but appear to have established a stable territory entirely within Montana. 

 Several new packs appeared to fonn in 2001, but a final count of packs within 



Montana's borders will not be available from USFWS until early in 2002. In the interim, the USFWS updated its 

 most recent annual report with unpublished data on wolf packs in Montana, as it was known in September 2001 

 (Fig. 2). 



