The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission on Dec. 8 extended the state's wolf hunt until Feb. 15.

Seeing that hunters had only harvested 105 wolves from a quota of 220, the commission approved a plan intended to assist state and federal officials remove wolves that prey on livestock.

Removing 220 wolves would reduce the state's estimated wolf population by 25 percent to 425 wolves, according to FWP officials. The commission had considered extending the hunting season from Dec. 31 to Jan. 31 but opted to let it continue to Feb. 15.

Ranchers and outfitters, who outnumbered conservationists at the commission's Dec. 8 meeting in Helena, wanted the commission to keep the wolf hunting season open until the quota was filled. Conservationists criticized the commission for not sticking to a scheduled closing date.

Three of the state's 16 wolf management units are closed because their hunting quotas have been reached, with 12 harvested in WMU 130, the Bob Marshall Wilderness; 18 in WMU 390, a large area covering southeast Montana from Helena to South Dakota; and four in WMU 313/316, which is one over the quota of three, in an area just north of Yellowstone National Park.

In Northwest Montana, 10 wolves have been harvested in WMU 100, the Libby and Yaak area, with a quota of 18; 16 have been harvested in WMU 101, the Flathead and Tobacco valleys area, with a quota of 19; one has been harvested in WMU 110, the North Fork, with a quota of two; and seven have been harvested in WMU 121, the Clark Fork River area around Thompson Falls and Noxon, with a quota of 17.

Hunters killed 72 wolves in the state's first wolf hunting season in 2009. The wolf hunt was canceled last year while it was challenged in federal court.

The commission also approved a plan that would allow livestock owners to designate a hunter to respond to a wolf attack on livestock. Up until now, only U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services agents could kill wolves suspected of attacking livestock.

Wildlife Services agents killed 47 wolves in Montana through November. FWP officials noted that hunters would not entirely replace Wildlife Services agents.