Montana Wolf Hunt

Montana officials are proposing to allow 220 gray wolves to be shot during the state's second wolf hunting season this fall.

The figure is the highest proposed quota yet in the state — up from 186 in the canceled 2010 season and 75 in the inaugural wolf hunting season in 2009. The Independent Record in Helena reports Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials say the new quota will result in a 25 percent reduction from the estimated 2010 population of 566 wolves in the state.

Hunts in Idaho and Montana for 2010 were canceled after a judge ruled the predators remained at risk. But an attachment to the budget bill signed into law by President Barack Obama last month strips endangered species protections from wolves in several Western states.

Story from the Associated Press