Wolf certification course offered by FWP

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is offering a free wolf trapper education and certification course near Kalispell on Saturday, June 1.

The course will be held outdoors at Pine Grove Pond, 3 miles northeast of Kalispell off Rose Crossing east of Whitefish Stage Road and just west of the Whitefish River. Registration is open online at http://fwp.mt.gov/education/hunter.

The course is open to individuals 11 and older. The morning session, from 9 a.m. to noon, will be a comprehensive education session taught by FWP staff. An additional afternoon session, which is not required for certification but encouraged, will be taught by trappers who have considerable experience trapping wolves. To RSVP for the afternoon session or for more information, contact Tom Fieber at tfieber@bresnan.net.

Prospective wolf trappers must complete a certification class and have a Montana trapping license to trap wolves. Trappers who successfully completed a certification course in Montana or Idaho do not need to retake the course.

Certification topics will include:

- Trapping ethics, regulations, equipment, and proper techniques to avoid trapping non-target species

- History of wolves in Montana

- The current status of wolves in the state

- Wolf management and the role of trapping in conservation

- Reporting and registering one’s harvest

An additional wolf trapper certification course will be held in Kalispell on Dec. 7. The wolf trapping season runs Dec. 15 through Feb. 29, 2020.

For more information, contact Dillon Tabish, FWP Region 1 information and education program manager, at (406) 751-4564 or dillon.tabish@mt.gov.