Northwest Montana hasn't gotten to 10 breeding pairs yet. It's important to consider whether they ever will and explore how we can enhance the recovery process. The availability of remote and protected lands has also affected the way wolves have dispersed throughout the Rocky Mountains. The three areas wolves currently inhabit in the West are geographically separated, but they are easily within dispersal trek range. Yet very few of the wolves that make that trek survive long enough to reproduce.
Trouble exists in all forms beyond remote, protected lands roads, livestock, and guns.
Reintroductions have helped to increase the number of wolves in the western U.S., but full wolf recovery means enabling wolves to recolonize more landscapes in the northern range of the U.S. Rockies. This will require connecting protected areas with other viable habitat. There was a lot of political resistance to reintroducing wolves, particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the idea picked up momentum. Many people believed they could not coexist with wolves, and that has not been the case for a few reasons. First, wolves prefer to kill native prey, and they choose to remain in areas where there is native prey if possible.