Montana has the fourth largest land mass of all 50 states (57 if you are the president..dig, dig). The total land mass makes up 145,577 square miles of which 93,590 square miles is farm and ranch land. There are 29,800 farms and ranches in Montana, the average size composing 2,010 acres.

Included is a map I pulled from the Montana official government website. This map shows documented wolf packs as of 2009. (Click on the map for a full blown map to easily read all the finer print and details.)

Taking notice of the map, I’d like to draw your attention to two details. First, notice the overwhelming majority of documented wolf packs, plotted on this map, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) comprise the western one third of the state’s land mass. Second, according to the legend on the map, the white areas are private-owned land areas.

According to the MFWP website, in 2009 there were 309 “confirmed” livestock kills by wolves – confirmed indicate those that money was paid out in compensation. Livestock kills by wolves were made up of 97 cattle, 202 sheep, 4 llamas, 4 dogs and 2 goats. Total compensation to livestock owners amounted to $141,462.00 or about $458.00 per animal killed – the bulk of which was paid by Defenders of Wildlife, the remainder through the state’s Livestock Loss Reduction and Mitigation Program. Defenders of Wildlife are subsidized by the Federal Government and announced they will no longer pay out compensation for livestock losses.

The longer that gray wolves remain protected by the Federal Government, meaning they remain listed as an Endangered Species, ranchers have very little means with which to protect their property. Compensation, seldom “confirmed”, doesn’t come close to reimbursement of the total loss for each animal. With no real means of killing problem wolves until long after the act of depredation and continued government protection, residence of Montana can expect to have more and more frequent wolf/livestock/human encounters.

To better illustrate this point, a source that requests to remain anonymous, told me that the law firm in which he works in Montana has compiled a total of 738 claims from ranchers for “wolf mortality issues, unpaid and denied claims with proven facts, video and a picture of a FWS agent watching a kill in progress as this calf is devoured alive”.

Considering the relatively small percentage of private property intermingled with the government-owned property where the documented wolf packs live, that’s an awful lot of claims to be collected by one law firm.

If there is documentation of Government agents standing by watching wolves devour a calf and still that incident goes unconfirmed, it is no wonder the ranchers are becoming more and more fed up with having to deal with their losses while their hands are tied behind their backs.

If and when the dust ever settles on this wolf introduction issue, one has to wonder how numerous the lawsuits will be against those responsible. As more facts and information surface, it certainly adds to the strength of a case should organizations like Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd amass enough funds and bring a lawsuit against those who put this entire program together. The longer wolves go listed and protected, the larger and more numerous claims for just compensation will be.

Tom Remington

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