Two decades of work. Measurable results.
Since 2005, Footloose Montana has moved public opinion, mobilized voters, won in federal court, and built the infrastructure for a trap-free future in Montana.
On the record, and on the air.
Twenty years of public education: panel discussions with wildlife experts, scientists, and advocates, plus TV spots designed around the research finding that the most persuasive message for Montanans is the suffering traps cause.
Panel Discussions: The Fate of Montana's Wildlife
Billings Panel
The Fate of Montana's Wildlife
Missoula Panel
The Fate of Montana's Wildlife
TV Spots: Narrated by Peter Coyote
2025: Steel Jaws
NBC Montana · Oct–Dec 2025
2025: Your Dog
NBC Montana · Oct–Dec 2025
2025: Wild and Free
NBC Montana · Oct–Dec 2025
2025: Hidden Danger
NBC Montana · Oct–Dec 2025
Footloose Montana put trapping on the public's radar.
Our 2012 poll was the first time that Montanans' opinions, attitudes, or preferences were sampled about trapping on public lands. The 2023 poll shows what twenty years of public education produces.
trapping on public lands
Leading concern
Personal safety
First major statewide poll on trapping. Footloose Montana puts trapping on the public radar.
trapping on public lands
Leading concern
Animal cruelty
Eleven years of public education shifts both support and the leading concern. Animal suffering is now the dominant frame.
Peer-Reviewed Research: Metcalf et al. (2025)
"Montanans do seem to be more informed about trapping and able to form an opinion … than general US residents, 25% of whom reported not knowing enough about trapping to form an opinion (Byrd et al., 2017), which likely means Montanans' attitudes toward trapping are more stable."
Metcalf, A. L. et al. (2025). Increasing tolerance of wolves in Montana, United States (2012–2023). Conservation Science and Practice, e70218.
Read the study →Pioneering trap-free public lands as a ballot issue — and in the legislature.
Footloose Montana was the first organization in Montana to put trap-free public lands directly to voters, twice — and has repeatedly introduced legislation requiring basic safety protections for people and pets.
Montanans for Trap-Free Public Lands
Missed the ballot by 4,000 signatures
The first statewide signature drive for trap-free public lands. Built the grassroots infrastructure and demonstrated that the issue could mobilize voters.
View on Ballotpedia →Montanans for Trap-Free Public Lands
186,000 Montana votes, roughly one in three voters statewide
186,000 Montanans voted to end trapping on public lands. That's not a loss. It's proof of a constituency and a foundation to build on.
View on Ballotpedia →Rep. Robert Carter (D-Missoula)
Defeated in the legislature — twice
Footloose Montana has introduced a bill requiring trappers to post warning signs near trailheads on public lands in two consecutive legislatures. Trappers have fought it every time. The bill was carried by Rep. Robert Carter (D-Missoula).
View bill on LegiScan →Past and current legal action.
Legal challenge: Feds more than a year overdue in designating much-needed critical habitat for wolverine.
Today, a coalition of wildlife advocates filed a complaint in the Federal District Court for the District of Montana against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to designate critical habitat for wolverine, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in November of 2023.
Read more →Judge Molloy Rules USFWS Must Revisit Its Decision on Wolf Protections
In 2025, Judge Molloy ruled that USFWS's rationale for refusing to relist wolves held no factual or legal merit and violated the ESA and the Administrative Procedure Act in numerous ways. Judge ordered the federal agency to revisit and correct its flawed finding.
Read more →Judge Upholds Ruling Limiting Wolf Trapping, Snaring in Idaho
Federal Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale upheld her prior decision to prohibit Idaho’s authorization of recreational wolf trapping and snaring in grizzly bear habitat during the grizzly bear non-denning season.
Read more →Challenging Flawed Wolf Management in Montana
In 2022, Footloose Montana and partner organizations filed a lawsuit against Montana's Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) and the MT FWP Commission for their aggressive, increased quota of killing of 456 wolves, constituting roughly 40% of the state's wolf population, relying on a population model (iPOM) that experts have called unreliable and overestimating the abundance of wolves. Our temporary injunction was denied in Nov 2022. In January 2026, Judge Abbott denied our preliminary injunction and allowed the hunting and trapping season to continue. Our lawsuit is ongoing.
Read more →Court Ruling Halts Wolf Trapping and Snaring in Idaho Grizzly Bear Habitat
A summary judgment ruling in Idaho District Court yesterday will prevent the state of Idaho from authorizing wolf trapping and snaring in grizzly bear habitat during non-denning periods.
Read more →Federal Court Overturns FWS Decision Denying ESA Protections for Wolves in the Northern Rockies
After FWS rejected our coalition's 2021 petition to relist gray wolves, Footloose Montana and our partners went to court on behalf of wolves.
Read more →Victory for Wolverines — Listed as Threatened Under the ESA
After more than 20 years of advocacy and legal challenges led by the Western Environmental Law Center, wolverines are now protected as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. With only an estimated 250–300 individuals remaining in the contiguous U.S., this listing gives the species a chance to recover.
Read more →Idaho District Court Ruling Halts Wolf Trapping and Snaring in Grizzly Bear Habitat
Idaho District Court Ruling Halts Wolf Trapping and Snaring in Idaho Grizzly Bear Habitat — trapping and snaring will no longer be allowed during non-denning periods.
Read more →Science-based advocacy on the record.
At Footloose Montana, we are committed to shaping wildlife and environmental policy through thoughtful, science-based, and passionate advocacy. Our public comments reflect a deep respect for ecological integrity, compassionate coexistence, and the long-term health and wellbeing of wild animals and the landscapes we all depend on.
By engaging in policy processes, we work to influence management decisions so that they are informed by the best available science, including the science of animal sentience, ethical considerations, and the voices of those of us who want to protect wild animals. Explore our submissions to see how we are advancing meaningful, lasting change.
Submissions on the record
- Policy comments & letters
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposal to open or expand hunting, fishing and trapping on 95% of national wildlife refuges
June 18, 2026
FWP proposal to add a mountain lion hunting season on the CMR and UL Bend national wildlife refuges
June 4, 2026
Joint letter to Ben Johnson opposing the Seeley Lake Trails Expansion (Lolo NF)
April 20, 2026
Joint letter opposing the Seeley Lake Trails Expansion (Lolo NF)
April 8, 2026
Draft Montana Tri-Forest Federal Sustained-Yield Unit Management Plan
March 12, 2026
Draft Flathead River Comprehensive River Management Plan
March 11, 2026
Granite Moccasin Project: large-scale burning and logging
January 8, 2026
Proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule
September 18, 2025
Westside Ninemile Wildfire Resiliency Project (Lolo NF)
October 12, 2023
Translocation of marten to the Bridger, Snowy, and Crazy Mountains (Draft EA)
October 12, 2023
Fish Creek Draft Recreation Strategy (FWP)
October 12, 2023
Montana DNRC Drought Management Plan
August 3, 2023
BLM Conservation and Landscape Health rule (Docket BLM-2023-0001)
June 18, 2023
Lolo National Forest Plan Revision (Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers inventories)
May 15, 2023
Proposed reductions of mountain lions in the Northwest Ecoregion (2023–2028)
May 10, 2023
Letter to the City of Bozeman urging a trapping ban along Sourdough Creek trail
September 29, 2022
- Letters to the editor & op-eds
Dark money in politics — dark money in lethal wildlife management
Guest column · May 21, 2026
Stop the Spring Bear Hunt
Letter to the editor · Missoulian · May 19, 2026
Trapping Is a Cruel Theft of Wildlife
Viewpoint · Missoula Current · February 20, 2026
Building a community of advocates.
Buddy's Fund
Financial assistance for families whose pets or livestock are injured in traps. Named for a dog caught in a trap on public land, Buddy's Fund has helped hundreds of Montana families cover emergency veterinary costs. Read about Buddy →
Trap Release Workshops
Hands-on workshops teaching Montanans how to safely release a dog or other animal from a trap. Held in communities across the state, these workshops also document where trapping incidents are concentrated.
Newsletter Archive
Published without interruption since 2021: court updates, action alerts, wildlife news, and what supporters can do to help.
Why It Matters
"As I approached, I realized she was in the jaws of a large trap. I was horrified to see that it was clamped hard around her neck."
— Bryan Dalpes, describing finding Betsy, his beloved family dog, in a Conibear trap set in a Missoula open space in 2019. Betsy died. Even the presiding judge, Landee Holloway, noted that she takes her own dogs to that same open space.
In the wake of Betsy's death, Footloose Montana worked with Missoula city officials to strengthen anti-trapping ordinances on city property. One dog's death changed local law, and reminded us why this work matters.