House Bill 554 proposes to amend Section 87-5-131 of the Montana Code Annotated by removing the requirement for the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to manage, protect, classify, or regulate wolves as game animals or furbearers. The bill allows for the removal of the gray wolf from the state list of endangered species following its delisting by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, contingent upon a determination by the department that the wolf is no longer endangered.

Additionally, the bill modifies the management protocol for wolves post-delisting. It eliminates the previous stipulation that the department must wait until it and the commission determine that wolves no longer need protection as a species in need of management before classifying them as game animals or furbearers. Instead, the department will manage wolves as a species in need of management, and it will have the authority to control wolves for livestock protection under an approved management plan, including the issuance of special kill permits for landowners experiencing livestock depredation.

Statutes affected:
LC Text: 87-5-131
HB0554_1(1): 87-5-131
HB0554_1(2): 87-5-131
HB0554_1(3): 87-5-131
HB0554_1(4): 87-5-131
HB0554_1(5): 87-5-131
HB0554_1: 87-5-131
HB0554_X(1): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(2): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(3): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(4): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(5): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(6): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(7): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(8): 87-5-131
HB0554_X(9): 87-5-131
HB0554_X: 87-5-131