A history of wolf restoration policy and politics in the Northern Rocky Mountains, United States

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J. Henry Fair

Bob Ream, University of Montana, USA with Nancy Gibson.

Bob Ream, School of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA

Since the Northern Rocky Mountain subspecies of the gray wolf, Canis lupus irremotus, was listed as endangered in 1973, many changes have taken place in policy and approaches to wolf restoration in this area. In 1978 the focus changed from recovery of this subspecies to restoration of the gray wolf in the northern Rocky Mountains, without any reference to subspecific status. This paper will detail this and other policy changes that have led to establishment of breeding populations of wolves in the three recovery areas delineated in the Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan. It will also contrast approaches taken in this three state area with recovery policies and implementation for the Eastern Timber Wolf and the implications for state and federal management agencies in both areas as we enter the next millennium.