Activists want the famous Mollie’s Pack spared from hunters this fall and say the matter is, once again, drawing worldwide attention to Wyoming’s wolf management policy.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on Tuesday followed the Game and Fish Department’s recommendation and voted to approve a 20-wolf quota for the 2026 hunting season. Most hunts run from Sept. 15 to Dec. 31.
Prior to the vote, Lisa Robertson of Wyoming Untrapped and Marke Cooke of Wolves of the Rockies called in to the meeting via Zoom and admonished the commission to carve out an exception for Wolf Hunt Area 1, where the Mollie’s Pack is.
The commission unanimously approved the wolf hunting seasons as recommended, including for Area 1.
Mollie’s Pack Leaves Park
Included in the 20-wolf quota are four tags in Wolf Hunt Areas 1 and 2 (Clarks Fork, North Fork).
For most of its 31-year history, the Mollie’s Pack has lived within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, where hunting is prohibited.
However, the pack strayed outside the park, probably late last year.
The Mollie’s Pack is denning and raising pups on the Shoshone National Forest, in Wolf Hunt Area 1.
Wolf advocates worry that members of the pack could get shot this fall, particularly Wolf 1090F. At age 12, she’s the oldest living Yellowstone wolf and has gained a global fan base.
The Mollie’s Pack is thought to be the first pack to form in Yellowstone, in 1995, shortly after wolves were reintroduced into the park. It was originally called the Crystal Creek Pack.
In 2000, the pack was renamed the Mollie’s Pack. That was in honor of the late Mollie Beattie, the first woman director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Emails From All Over
Robertson and Cooke told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that they, and many others, haven’t given up on trying to save the Mollie’s Pack.
Wyoming Untrapped is leading a social media campaign to keep pressure on the Game and Fish Commission to change its stance. Wolves of the Rockies and other groups are joining in.
Robertson said the matter will likely be brought up again at the commission’s next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 21 and 22 in Evanston.
Commissioner Carlisle "Fonzy" Haskell said he’s received "dozens of emails" about the Mollie’s Pack, including some from across the United States and other countries.
He doesn’t think the campaign will die down anytime soon but isn’t certain if, or how, it might affect any decisions from the commission.
What Could the Forest Service Do?
Robertson is encouraging people to reach out to the Shoshone National Forest headquarters in Cody.
The Forest Service could possibly order that cattle on grazing leases there be moved away from the Mollie’s Pack to avoid any possible conflicts, she said.
And she thinks there’s a chance that the Forest Service could halt wolf hunting in that area.
There could be precedent for that. A similar move has been attempted before, albeit unsuccessfully.
In the spring of 2023, environmental groups sued to have the Forest Service declare a "no-kill zone" for wolves on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, near the Colorado-Wyoming state line.
That was proposed to protect wolves crossing into Wyoming from Colorado.
The Forest Service has authority to shut down wolf hunting in its jurisdiction—and indeed at one time shut down prairie dog shooting in parts of Wyoming, the Center for Biological Diversity claimed at the time.
A message left at Shoshone National Forest headquarters on Friday wasn’t returned by publication time.
Aggressive Policy
The growing controversy over the Mollie’s Pack mirrors that over Daniel resident Cody Roberts running a wolf over with a snowmobile and then capturing, torturing and killing the animal in February 2024, Robertson said.
The push to save the Mollie’s Pack, especially Wolf 1090F, is gaining momentum, she said.
"This is an extreme situation, something nobody expected. We need to address this now, not later," she said.
"A $27 wolf tag could take her life, and the pack’s life, with a long-range rifle," Robertson added.
The Mollie’s Pack not only has great social value, it’s "the most studied wolf pack in history" and could still offer a wealth of scientific knowledge about wolves, she said.
Cooke said the goal isn’t to shut down the 2026 wolf hunting season altogether, but rather to push the commission to at least suspend hunting in Area 1 to ensure the pack’s safety.
He said that Wyoming and his home state of Montana have gained a reputation for being overly aggressive toward wolves and other predators.
"The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission botched an opportunity" to boost the state’s reputation by moving to spare the Mollie’s Pack, Cooke said.
He and Robertson added that wolves have huge value for the tourism industry.
'Humans They’ve Never Met'
Haskell said he understands the tourism value of Wyoming’s wildlife, including wolves.
However, wildlife policy must be guided by the best available science, not sentimentality, he said.
"Do we not take the science into consideration just because it doesn’t match your socio-political viewpoint?" he said.
"I think that’s a risk we run into when we try to humanize or name animals and make them somehow more special than other wolf packs," Haskell said.
"They (wolves) are a species of animal that doesn’t know they’ve been named by humans they’ve never met," he said.
He said that during Tuesday’s commission meeting, he was satisfied by the explanation from Ken Mills, a Game and Fish large carnivore biologist and wolf management specialist, regarding whether the Mollie’s Pack has special scientific value.
Mills indicated that all packs have equal value in that regard.
Haskell noted that some Wyoming animals, such as Grizzly 399, have gained celebrity status, particularly with the advent of social media.
Game and Fish field personnel should work according to hard science, Haskell said. That leaves the department’s top administrators and the Game and Fish Commission to deal with controversy or politics regarding wildlife.
The commission wants all sectors of the public to have a voice while also respecting the hard work and scientific approach of the Game and Fish Department, he said.
Game and Fish is obligated by state statute, in agreement with the FWS, to maintain a population of at least 100 wolves and 10 breeding pairs in the state’s trophy game zone for wolves—adjacent to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, he said.
Mills and other Game and Fish biologists demonstrated a good plan to have at least 160 wolves and 13 or 14 breeding pairs by the end of the year, Haskell said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
