BOZEMAN — Three leading conservation organizations are telling the State of Montana they intend to sue to block liberalized rules for trapping wolves.
The reasons go beyond wolf protection, with the groups saying the changes are putting grizzlies and lynx at risk.
The Montana Legislature approved the revised rules in the last session. The two measures that originated in the House and the Senate bring significant changes in wolf hunting regulations.
The changes include allowing hunters and trappers to kill more wolves, hunt at night and lengthen the trapping season by several weeks.
Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club complain the changes could kill as much as 85% of Montana's wolf population.
But the groups also say protected species, specifically grizzly bears and Canada lynx, could be injured or killed by snares and other traps set for wolves.
The groups say the changes "complete ignore science and agency professionals".
The state has 60-days to respond.
