On February 1, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife officially proposed that wolverines be be added to the list of protected species under the Endangered Species Act.

Timothy Preso, a lawyer for the environmental action group Earthjustice, describes the proposal as “the culmination of a 12-year battle to show the plight of wolverines.”

Preso says that the wolverine is a prime example of a species adversely effected by climate change.

"I don't think Montana knows how many wolverines it has," Preso says. "But what I do know is that it is one of the rarest critters in the lower 48 and trapping them at this point doesn't make a lot of sense."

Timothy Preso:

Even if wolverines are classified as endangered, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim has said Montana will ask to continue to allow wolverine trapping.

Montana is the last state in the lower 48 to allow trapping.

“We have wolverines where we’ve always had them, and basically this suggestion that whether they should be put on the endangered species list has nothing to do with management in Montana," Aasheim said.