OKAl-TI'.lSAin'ENSMX ! 



Table 3. Continued. 



* Montana shares a legal requirement with the states of Idaho and Wyoming to maintain a minimum total of 30 

 breeding pairs in the region. Since not all packs successfully breed and have pups every year, Montana will 

 maintain at least 14-17 packs statewide to insure achievement of a minimum number of 10 breeding pairs with at 

 least two pups on December 31. 



wolf carcasses or filling educational requests. Additional resources will be required to implement these new 

 responsibilities. Existing budget and personnel resources cannot absorb this expansion. 



Table 4 summarizes the direction and guidelines for compensation of livestock losses due to wolf depredation. 

 There are additional responsibilities and workloads associated with providing compensation to livestock producers, 

 although it is not clear who or how a compensation program or livestock insurance program will be administered at 

 this time. Results from the Compensation Research Study will help identify the best, most efficient and responsive 

 ways to fulfill this aspect of the overall wolf management program. 



The Compensation Research Study will address how well livestock producers think the Defenders of Wildlife 

 compensation program meets their needs and ways in which the program could be improved. Livestock interests on 

 the Montana Wolf Advisory Council identified the challenges associated with the issue of unconfirmed livestock 

 losses - losses for which wolf predation could not be coufmned definitively because of decomposed remains, 

 scavenging by other species, or near complete consumption. Presently, these are recorded as unconfirmed by WS 

 agents, with additional information about the evidence and the circumstances noted on their report forms. Defenders 

 of Wildlife uses this additional information along with other supplemental information to make a detemiination of 

 probable loss due to wolves, strictly for the purposes of compensation. If information indicates a strong likelihood. 

 Defenders of Wildlife, has reimbursed producers for probable losses due to wolves. Federal agency management 

 actions have still been based on the WS determination of confirmed/unconfirmed. Whether Defenders of Wildlife 

 would continue to reimburse producers for probable losses in the future, according to their own criteria and 

 information provided from WS, is unknown at this time. Long-term solvency of any compensation fund could be in 

 jeopardy if fund-raising does not keep pace with the amount paid out in claims. 



If Defenders of Wildlife is not the primary source for compensation in the future under state management 

 jurisdiction, the state would need to find or create an entity to administer a compensation program and provide 

 guidelines for payment. Implementation of the Council's recommendation to compensate for probable losses could 

 be somewhat problematic. Guidelines would need to clarify the circumstances and evidence required for payment of 

 probable claims in the absence of a probable designation by WS. Addition of the probable category represents a 

 new type of loss for the Montana-based WS investigative procedures and would need to be approved by WS. It 

 would be challenging for both investigating WS agents and administrators of a compensation program to apply a 

 consistent set of criteria for this determination because the circumstances and available evidence vary from one 

 incident to another. Time elapsed since death, weather, or other factors unique to that incident all affect the 

 evidence available and its interpretation. Selection of the probable category has to do with the degree of certainty 

 on the part of the WS agent, based on less than conclusive evidence to confirm or not confirm a wolf or wolves as 

 the cause of loss. While all investigators look for the same evidence, the interpretation may be less consistent when 

 investigators must use their own professional judgment in the absence of clear evidence. MFWP would also find the 

 decision-making process on the disposition of the wolf or wolves more difficult if there is less certainty about the 

 cause of death or injury, especially in light of all the other means by which livestock die or are injured. Nonetheless, 

 MFAVP will explore the concept and utilize the findings of the Compensation Research Study to help guide the 

 compensation elements of the wolf management program. 



All parties share the responsibility of addressing the economic challenges of minimizing the potential for wolf- 

 livestock conflicts and resolving conflicts where and when they develop. A draft budget is presented as Appendix 3. 



The budget outlines the personnel and financial resources necessary to proactively minimize the potential for wolf- 

 livestock conflict and resolve conflicts where and when they develop. MFWP and WS cooperatively fulfill these 

 responsibilities, as described in this Chapter. 



47 



