According to the 2017 Montana Gray Wolf Program Annual Report, population estimates suggest there are approximately 900 wolves in Montana. This marks the 13th consecutive year that Montana has far exceeded wolf recovery goals.

FWP now estimates wolf numbers using a method called POM, or Patch Occupancy Modeling. The old way of trying to count wolves from an airplane became a less and less accurate picture of wolf numbers as the wolf population grew beyond anyone's ability to count it. Additionally, the old method was expensive and took up a lot of staff time.

FWP has used POM estimates along w...