Stop Wolf Trophy Hunting Near Yellowstone National Park!

Petition to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission (Mr. Dan Vermillion, Chair) We request that Montana's wolf hunting Unit 313, located immediately to the north of Yellowstone National Park, be closed to wolf hunting and trapping for fall 2017 and winter 2018. We also request that the Commission promptly take measures to end trophy killing of park wolves more broadly along Montana’s boundary with Yellowstone National Park. In 2016-17, the hunting quota for wolves in Unit 313, set by the Commission at two, was exceeded by one. And in April of this year, the alpha female of Yellowstone Park’s Canyon wolf family was mortally wounded in or near Unit 313.  The unintended loss of these two wolves under the quota system justifies our request that wolf hunting/trapping in Unit 313 this fall and winter be dropped to zero instead of the quota of two. More generally, we also wish to express our unequivocal opposition to wolf trophy hunting and trapping near Yellowstone National Park. During the last hunting season alone as many as seven park wolves were killed in these Montana hunts. We trust that the Commission understands the uniqueness of park wolves, wolf families, and lineages, their great significance to park visitors and people across the U.S. and internationally, and their exceptional scientific, educational, aesthetic, natural history, economic, and touristic values. We hope that the Commission understands the seriousness of the stakeholder conflict and the damage to Montana’s reputation caused by trophy hunting and trapping of wolves in the Yellowstone area, particularly as these practices are allowed and encouraged elsewhere across most of the state. In sum, we respectfully request that you close Unit 313 to wolf hunting and trapping this fall and winter, and pursue measures to permanently end wolf trophy hunting and trapping near Yellowstone National Park. Thank you.