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Jonas Black wants to protect Yellowstone\u2019s Mollie\u2019s Pack.<\/strong><\/p>\n At least, that\u2019s what he says.<\/p>\n The animal-rights influencer recently offered a $10,000 reward for information identifying anyone who legally kills 12-year-old wolf 1090F or another member of her pack during Wyoming\u2019s upcoming wolf season. He also promised to make the hunter famous, comparing the potential backlash to what followed the killing of Cecil the lion. <\/p>\n I understand what he thinks he\u2019s doing. He wants hunters to believe that killing one of these wolves will come with consequences.<\/p>\n Instead, he may have signed their death warrant.<\/p>\n That plan rests on the assumption that every hunter fears public outrage. That\u2019s a pretty generous assessment of the internet and, well, people. <\/p>\n There are plenty of attention-starved hunters who would love the outrage, the notoriety, and the payday that now comes along with it. For someone interested in provoking animal-rights activists, killing a famous Yellowstone wolf and becoming the center of a national controversy could be the whole appeal.<\/p>\n Black meant \u201cI\u2019ll make you famous\u201d as a threat.<\/p>\n Someone else will hear it as a promise.<\/p>\n Black didn\u2019t remove the incentive to kill these wolves. He added one.<\/strong><\/p>\n (Photo\/Jonas Black, Facebook)<\/p>\n The $10,000 is supposed to go to whoever turns in the hunter. Which, let\u2019s be honest, doesn\u2019t fix anything.<\/p>\n A friend, family member, hunting partner, or anyone else with access to the story could collect the money after the wolf is dead. The hunter gets the wolf. Someone close to him\/he himself gets $10,000. <\/p>\n Black may have additional requirements that haven\u2019t been made public. He may also refuse to pay if he believes the hunter and tipster worked together. After all, he\u2019s just some dude from the internet. <\/p>\n That still leaves him trying to sort out who knew what, who planned what, and whether the person claiming the reward is telling the truth. Regardless, the wolf will already be dead by then, so\u2026 mission failed.<\/p>\n (Photo\/NPS, Neal Herbert)<\/p>\n Look, I\u2019m a hunter. I\u2019ve never killed a wolf. I\u2019ve never had the reason, drive, or desire to, but I do understand the management aspect of wolf hunting. Sure, I\u2019ve carried a tag in my pocket for a just-in-case scenario. In my neck of the woods, I\u2019d rather have one and never need it than find myself in a sticky situation without one and wish I did.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also spent countless days watching these exact wolves during my time as a Yellowstone wilderness guide. I genuinely love and respect these animals. Watching a pack work over a weak elk at the back of a herd, isolate it, and successfully hunt it down is a life-changing thing to watch. I\u2019ve snowshoed in miles by myself and watched these wolves work over a landscape, bathe in winter sun, and enjoy a bloody feast.<\/p>\n So, I get it.<\/p>\n I understand why Black feels passionately about them. I also know that offering $10,000 for the identity of someone who legally kills one won\u2019t change a season date, a hunt boundary, or a mortality limit. It\u2019ll only give the wrong hunter another reason to target the pack.<\/p>\n (Photo\/NPS, Jim Peaco)<\/p>\n I believe that people should challenge regulations in areas they\u2019re passionate about, whether for or against. <\/p>\n Wyoming\u2019s Game and Fish Commission has the authority to set mortality limits, change hunt-area restrictions, and open, shorten, or close wolf seasons. Chapter 47, the regulation governing gray wolf hunting, is reviewed through a public process that includes draft proposals, public meetings, written comments, and a final commission vote. The department says it sets wolf seasons annually using public input, harvest information, and population monitoring data.<\/p>\n The public comment period for the 2026 wolf season closed on June 10, and the commission considered the regulation during its July 14\u201315 meeting. The regulation still has to complete Wyoming\u2019s approval and filing process before taking effect.<\/p>\n That process gives Black several places to direct his money and audience. <\/p>\n He could hire Wyoming policy experts, wildlife biologists, and legal counsel to prepare an actual proposal. <\/p>\n He could ask the commission to reconsider the relevant mortality limit or hunt-area rules. <\/p>\n He could organize supporters to attend commission meetings and submit informed comments during the next rulemaking period. <\/p>\n He could take the argument to the governor, state lawmakers, and the people who have the authority to change Wyoming\u2019s wildlife laws.<\/p>\n My question is: Has he?<\/strong><\/p>\n (Photo\/NPS, Jacob W. Frank)<\/p>\n Black apparently has money, reach, and a decent-sized audience. He could direct all three toward the people writing the regulations. The cynic in me believes his motives are probably partly true passion and partly the undying urge for clicks.<\/p>\n Instead, he announced a $10,000 reward for information after a legal wolf is already dead.<\/p>\n That does nothing to change Wyoming\u2019s wolf regulations. It does nothing for the pack before the season opens or before a hunter pulls the trigger. It only raises the profile of these wolves among the exact people most likely to target them.<\/p>\n If Black\u2019s goal is to keep Mollie\u2019s Pack alive, the work has to happen before the shot.<\/p>\n Everything after that is outrage over a dead wolf, with a pretty hefty check attached.<\/p>\nThe Reward Changes the Incentive<\/h2>\n
Advice: Spend the $10,000 on Changing the Regulation, If You\u2019re So Passionate About It<\/h4>\n
Wolves are rad. So are the proper avenues of conservation.<\/h5>\n
Where Effort Should Be Placed<\/h2>\n