Court ends the 2012-13 wolverine trapping season

The recreational wolverine trapping season in Montana will not open this year. Montana District Court Judge Sherlock signed an order last week granting a joint motion from the State of Montana and conservation groups to cancel a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Jan. 10 and keep the temporary restraining order in place, which effectively ends the 2012-13 wolverine trapping season.

“This is great news that this year’s wolverine trapping season is over,” Swan View Coalition Chair Keith Hammer said. “Hopefully, wolverine will soon gain the threatened species protections they need so desperately, including a permanent ban on the intentional killing of wolverines.”

The Western Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of several conservation groups in October 2012 in state district court against the State of Montana to end the trapping of wolverines, a rare species awaiting federal Endangered Species Act protections. The Court granted a temporary restraining order to suspend wolverine trapping in Montana on Nov. 30, 2012.

“Today, common sense prevailed,” Matthew Bishop, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center who is representing the plaintiffs, said. “With the 2012-13 wolverine trapping season effectively over, new leadership at the state, and the likely federal listing of rare wolverines as a threatened species in the coming months, Montana is well positioned to take a leading role in wolverine conservation in the lower 48. I hope the state takes advantage of this opportunity.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is likely to issue a proposed rule to list wolverines as a threatened species under the ESA in the coming weeks. The agency is expected to send the proposed rule to Federal Register by Jan. 18. Wolverines will likely be listed under the Endangered Species Act and federally protected before the next wolverine trapping season starts.

“Wolverine are the real winners with this agreement,” Arlene Montgomery, Program Director for Friends of the Wild Swan, said. “With the threat of trapping off the table for this season, the agency can now focus on recovering wolverines.”

Once prolific across the west, the entire population of wolverine in the lower 48 states is now down to no more than 250-300 individuals. Population estimates for Montana range from approximately 100-175 individuals. A substantial number of the remaining wolverines in Montana are likely unsuccessful breeders or non-breeding sub-adults. The best available science estimates that Montana’s “effective population” of wolverines is less than 35. Montana is the only place in the contiguous states that still allows trapping of wolverines.

Much like polar bears, wolverines are dealing with habitat destruction. Wolverines require deep, late-spring snowpack for denning and raising young and cold year-round temperatures. As suitable habitat is fragmented or vanishes, populations become more isolated and reproduction becomes much more difficult.

WELC, on behalf of eight conservation groups and an individual, petitioned Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to halt trapping in August, well before the season was slated to start on Dec. 1. But the state refused to consider the best available science or arguments made in support of the petition. Nor did the state provide any response to public comments asking for the end of wolverine trapping. Consequently, WELC filed suit in state district court in October, challenging continued trapping as a violation of state laws requiring maintenance or restoration of rare animals.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the wolverine as a species that “warrants protection under the federal Endangered Species Act” in 2010 after determining that the already small and vulnerable population will continue to decline. Trapping represents and additional threat to wolverine mortality in Montana.

The Western Environmental Law Center is representing Helena Hunters and Anglers Association, Friends of the Wild Swan, Montana Ecosystem Defense Council, Native Ecosystems Council, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, the Swan View Coalition, Wild Earth Guardians, Footloose Montana and Mr. George Wuerthner.