Montana just revised its wolf population estimate down by 400 animals and still wants to allow a hunting and trapping quota of 250 wolves killed. Add your name to our comment before the August 12 deadline.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks recently admitted that its wolf population model was flawed. The agency’s corrected estimate puts the statewide population at just 725 wolves. Despite that dramatic drop, FWP is proposing a hunting and trapping quota of 250 wolves for the upcoming season, more than were killed last year.
Add your name to Project Coyote’s public comment below. Once you sign on, you’ll be redirected to Montana’s official comment portal with your personalized comment ready to submit directly to the Commission.
You can copy and paste the below comment into their portal:
Dear Commissioners,
I strongly urge you to reject FWP’s current wolf hunting and trapping proposal for Fall 2026–Winter 2027.
FWP’s own revised population model now estimates just 725 wolves statewide. Yet the agency is still proposing a hunting and trapping quota of 250 wolves, more than were killed last year and nearly a third of the entire estimated population. Average pack size has also fallen to just four wolves, showing how much damage has already been done to family groups and pack stability.
Allowing a single hunter or trapper to kill up to 20 wolves, permitting cruel methods like strangulation snares and thermal imaging, and setting no quota at all for livestock-conflict kills goes far beyond what’s needed to manage a stable population. It risks pushing wolves toward the brink.
Please set far lower hunting and trapping quotas, including around Yellowstone National Park, and account for wolves already lost to poaching. Montana’s wildlife should be managed based on science and the public interest, not the status quo of unchecked killing.
