RESOLUTION 2004- 27

DELISTING THE GRAY WOLF IN MONTANA AS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

It is the intent of the Montana Association of Counties to support the de-listing of the Gray Wolf as an Endangered Species and to provide states with sufficient funds for management. MACo also supports the completion of a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to reflect the unanticipated consequences of the re-introduction of Gray Wolves.

WHEREAS, since its re-introduction in 1995, reproduction by the Gray Wolf in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming has far exceeded targeted numbers for de-listing; and,

WHEREAS, since the re-introduction of the Gray Wolf, it has been estimated by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, that the population of the Northern Yellowstone Elk herd has decreased from 19,500 to less than 9,000; and big game populations in other areas, in and around Yellowstone National Park, are being depleted by wolf depredation; and,

WHEREAS, livestock depredation and harassment by wolves, resulting in death loss, injury, and reduced weaning weights and conception rates, is increasingly becoming a problem for livestock producers in counties surrounding Yellowstone National Park; and,

WHEREAS, there is concern on the part of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks that in three or four years the Montana wolf population will have grown to unmanageable numbers,

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Montana Association of Counties supports efforts to de-list the Gray Wolf in the State of Montana, and request that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service be required to provide the State of Montana with sufficient funds to properly manage the wolf population in Montana; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Montana Association of Counties supports the request by counties surrounding Yellowstone National Park that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on wolves to reflect unanticipated consequences of reintroduction.

SPONSORS: Madison, Carbon, Sweet Grass, Park, Fergus, and Stillwater Counties.

RECOMMENDATION: Do Pass

PRIORITY: High

REFERRED TO: Public Lands, Ag

ADOPTED: