09/01/2025
83% of Montanans Oppose Wolf Slaughter — FWP Ignored Them.!!!
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) was once a national leader in wildlife biology and research. In their wildlife management decisions and recommendations, the agency considered many factors, including social science. Montanans looked to FWP for knowledge and leadership in sustaining our wildlife populations for future generations.
People trust authority. But it’s becoming clear that FWP no longer cares about the public or the health of our rare, iconic, and sensitive species — shredding our trust.
“Being a 5th generation Montanan, I am all too familiar with the war on our wolves. I have seen the positive impact wolves have on our state and the devastation when they’re gone. Wolf watchers alone contribute at least $82 million annually to our economy. The wildlife does not owe us its blood — we owe this state and its animals protection for the privilege of living amongst them.”
What Happened?
In four short years, FWP has toppled from one of the most respected wildlife agencies to one of the most derided. In 2023 a scathing audit report revealed widespread intimidation, corruption of data and workplace disorganization. Little has been done to clean it up. The core values at FWP appear to have been replaced by special interests: the trophy hunting industrial complex, including trophy organizations, trappers, outfitters, the NRA and a segment of ranchers. The agency now supports an all-out war against predators, with extreme methods and seasons for killing wolves, mountain lions and black bears. They loudly support delisting grizzlies for trophy hunts.
At the August 21, 2025, Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting, Rep. Paul Fielder told the commission to ignore public testimony and support FWP’s wolf slaughter proposal by making decisions based on science. What science is he talking about? Eradication of a keystone species is not backed by any science on planet Earth.
Fielder, a trapper and former wildlife biologist who hasn’t been accredited since 1986, when he worked for the Chelan WA Public Utilities District’s dam sites, has been dedicated to eradicating wolves since 2021. His notion of science precludes any knowledge of trophic cascades or the value of predators, or the accelerating threats of climate change.
Public testimony to the commission in writing and in person included certified wildlife biologists, a wolf researcher and many other scientists and educators. Not one supported the proposal to kill 458 or 500 wolves with the shocking addition of 30 wolves per person, 15 by hunting, 15 by trapping, for bounties up to $1,500 per wolf. Not one.
Yet the commission ignored the overwhelming majority of comments from the public against this mass slaughter of an apex predator badly needed to decrease CWD and sustain the environment in the face of climate change.
There will be lawsuits, there will be pro-wolf rallies. But until people put wildlife as a top priority when they cast their votes, wildlife will be treated like non-sentient targets that either bring profit or get in the way, with no more value or feeling than potholes.
The Wolf Slaughter Proposal
With the help of a few wolf-hating legislators, FWP and their commission have greenlit an all-out wolf slaughter in Montana. Ignoring the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation — the “bible” of FWP — the agency now authorizes commercialization of wolves with bounties up to $1,500 per wolf killed.
They are celebrating an eradication quota of 458 wolves, plus an extra 100 landowner kills for bounties. Five years ago, this would have been unthinkable.
“You are the biggest threat to humanity, Mother Nature, and this planet. Wolves are wild creatures doing what they know best — being wolves. Stop interfering with the course of nature.”
Donate To: Footloose Montana to Support Wolves.
Public Voices Overwhelmingly Opposed
When Montanans spoke, the message was loud and clear: 83% opposed FWP’s wolf hunting and trapping proposal.
Out of 1,337 written comments:
83% opposed
17% supported
And yet, the commission passed the proposal and adopted seven amendments — most of which further liberalized wolf killing methods.
Key Amendments and Public Outcry
Amendment: No trap setbacks in Mineral County
Passed, despite 87% opposition.
“STOP YOUR ABUSE OF WOLVES! These measures are cruel and unnecessary.”
Amendment: Quota of 458 wolves
Passed, despite 87% opposition.
“Do the right thing for once and stop this callous slaughter. The majority of us want to protect and preserve our natural environment.”
Amendment: Extending season dates
Failed, after 75% opposed.
“It should concern everyone that one commissioner is behind so many anti-wolf measures.”
Amendment: Keep wolves trapped for collaring
Passed, despite 89% opposition.
“Traps damage tendons, ligaments, and bones. Leaving wolves trapped is cruel and destructive — this is unnecessary mutilation.”
Amendment: No trap setbacks in Spotted Bear Ranger District
Passed, despite 77% opposition.
“This is not based on science or need. It’s based on hatred of predators.”
Amendment: One license per 15 wolves killed
Passed, despite significant opposition.
“No hunter should be allowed to kill 15 wolves in one season. This policy incentivizes overkill and tarnishes the reputation of ethical hunters.”
Amendment: Regional quota + 450 quota
Passed, despite 88% opposition.
“This is a hard NO. Is there anyone at FWP who gives a damn about wildlife?”
Amendment: Create vast new Wolf Management Unit
Failed, after 86% opposed.
“This caters to a very small group of people, not the will of Montana residents.”
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The Green Fire Within
Wolves and bison are of another dimension that others. Their connection to this land had much to do with creating the vitality of the land and animals and is eons deep.
Aldo Leopold describes the shock of this revelation after killing a wolf:
“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes — something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view”
~ Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac.
I know that green fire because I’ve seen bison hunted and die after being shot. Their eyes glow torchlight red when angry, and then, when shot and dying, they turn green, glowing bright as spotlights that slowly fade. It changes one to see that. It’s beyond our understanding, a spiritual dimension that once glimpsed, one never forgets.
We must do everything in our power to save the wolf.
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Thanks, Tom the Potter
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