Wolf bills draw fiery debate in Legislature

One bill would allow thermal imaging for hunters

By Clayton Murphy/UM Community News Service

When it comes to wolves in Montana, there is probably no greater issue that gets people fired up.

Ånd in this year's Legislature, a pair of bills is making its way through the session, with fiery debate on both sides.

Tuesday’s Senate Fish and Game Committee meeting was dedicated entirely to three hours of debate on two controversial gray wolf management bills from Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls. House Bill 258 would extend the seven-month wolf hunting season by another three months and House Bill 259 would legalize infrared and thermal imagery for wolf hunting.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Chief of Conservation Policy Quentin Kujala, speaking for the department director, opposed the season’s extension into spring. He said a spring hunting season during wolf denning season could result in undocumented and indirect mortalities of pups if the lactating female is killed, as well as direct hunting mortality of pups. He added that indirect mortality of pups could also result from increased harvests of other pack wolves near den locations.

Kujala was among more than 40 opponents to the bill, compared with eight proponents. Proponents cited wolf-related livestock, elk and deer deaths as reasons to support the bill, saying Montana FWP needs more tools to maintain wildlife populations.

The House amended the season extension bill last month to set a 15-mile boundary around national parks. That amendment passed near-unanimously. But Fielder is working to remove that amendment, a decision that will ultimately be left up to the Senate committee.

House Bill 259 attracted many of the same proponents and opponents to testify. Kris Killorn with Safari Club International supported the thermal optics bill, saying he sees it as a simple cleanup of prior legislation.

“I remember when it was first passed, night vision was understood as being anything that could see at night. So they thought thermals and all that was in there,” Killorn said. “ We need to add these tools because as our wolves get smarter, they are more nocturnal, just like a lot of animals are.”

But opponents continued to protest what they see as an extended privilege given to wolf hunters, which one conservation lobbyist called a “weapon in the crusade to eradicate wolves from Montana.”

Another effort from Rep. Shannon Maness, R-Dillon, for an unlimited wolf hunting quota when the population is above 550, is also being heard in the Senate. Rep. Jamie Islay, D-Bozeman, carried a bill to classify wolves as furbearers in an attempt to provide more legal sideboards to their harvest, but the bill missed a key deadline and has died.

— Clayton Murphy is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. Murphy can be reached at clayton.murphy@umconnect.umt.edu.