A gray wolf. (Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife)

After more than six hours of public comment and debate, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission at its Aug. 21 meeting adopted new wolf hunting and trapping regulations that significantly increase the number of wolves hunters and trappers can kill statewide.

Under the new hunting and trapping regulations, a 452-animal quota now exists for much of the state, with a few carveouts of more stringent regional quotas. That statewide quota is higher than harvest numbers for the last few seasons — hunters and trappers killed 297 wolves last season, while the most killed in a season was 326 during 2020.

The move follows a contentious legislative session this spring that saw several debates about Republican lawmakers’ intent to decrease the

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