Montana stops wolf hunting near Yellowstone

MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS

Montana wildlife commissioners shut down gray wolf hunting Tuesday in backcountry adjacent to Yellowstone National Park after nine of the predators were killed there in recent weeks. Commissioners, however, kept the statewide kill quota at 75, repeating their belief that the planned harvest would not hurt the overall population of the animals that were removed from the endangered species list in May. Wolf hunts this fall in Montana and neighboring Idaho are the first in the lower 48 states since the species came off the list. The states have a combined 1...