by John S. Adams, Tribune Capital Bureau
HELENA — Montana District Court Judge Jeffery Sherlock on Friday granted an injunction stopping the wolverine trapping season until a full hearing on the state’s trapping season can be heard Jan. 10.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Helena Hunters and Anglers and six other conservation groups filed a lawsuit in October aimed at outlawing wolverine trapping in Montana. Federal wildlife officials in December 2010 determined wolverines were eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Wolverine numbers have been in long-term decline, and their habitat is dramatically shrinking because of warmer temperatures and reduced area of spring snow, which the animals use to den, rear their young and scavenge for food.
The plaintiffs asked the judge to stop wolverine trapping in Montana until the full case can be heard. Wolverine trapping was set to begin today. Montana is the only state in the lower 48 to allow wolverine trapping.
“We are happy that the judge stopped trapping before more wolverines could be killed,” said Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials maintain that Montana’s wolverine populations are healthy enough to sustain limited trapping opportunities. The season was scheduled to run from Dec. 1 through Feb. 15, with a quota of five wolverines to be taken throughout the entire state.
“We’re disappointed with the temporary restraining order,” FWP spokesman Tom Palmer said. “We think our season is sustainable, and we will get our chance to make our argument on Jan. 10.”
Once prolific across the West, the population of wolverines in the lower 48 states is now down to no more than 250-300 individuals, of which Montana has the highest concentration of about 100-175, according to wildlife experts.
The alliance in August petitioned Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to halt trapping. Garrity said the commission did not respond to the petition and did not formally open the wolverine trapping issue to public comment after the petition was filed. Consequently, the alliance and its co-plaintiffs filed suit in District Court in October, challenging continued trapping as a violation of state laws requiring maintenance or restoration of rare animals.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the wolverine as a species that “warrants protection under the federal Endangered Species Act” in 2010 after determining that the already small and vulnerable population will continue to decline.
Ken McDonald, wildlife bureau chief for FWP in Helena, said Montana’s quota of five wolverines is based on sound wildlife management science that doesn’t put the state’s wolverine population at risk.
“Our management is conservative, sustainable and reasonable,” McDonald said.
According to the plaintiffs, trapping is a major source of wolverine mortality in Montana. They cited a study that found of the 14 wolverines tracked in the Pioneer Mountains during a three-year period, six were killed in traps, including four adult males and two pregnant females. The groups say the wolverine population in the Pioneers was reduced by an estimated 50 percent due to trapping.
“Authorizing trapping wolverines under these circumstances is making a bad situation worse,” said Matthew Bishop, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center representing the alliance. “Wolverines need all the help they can get right now and Montana shouldn’t be kicking them when they’re down.”
