HELENA, Mont. - For the first time ever, Montana has a wolf hunting season.

The season's commencement is contingent on wolves being taken off of the list of endangered species, which is expected to be announced by the federal government today.

That decision to delist also is expected to be litigated, which could tie up the matter in court, meaning that wolves might not actually be hunted for years.

Still, Wednesday's decision by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission to set the dates for the 2008 hunting season - Oct. 26 through Dec. 31 - is momentous.

The backcountry hunting season opener of Sept. 15 also will coincide with wolf hunting in those areas.

The 2009 season is similar, although opening day is Oct. 29. The seasons will be revisited in two years as part of the commission's biannual setting of seasons.

Hunters will not be allowed to use dogs to hunt wolves, bait the animals or use artificial scents or lures.

Aerial spotting and hunting won't be allowed, along with spotlights and other artificial lights, two-way communications devices, electronic calls or night-vision equipment.

Although trapping wolves was included in the two-season authorization, no permits will be issued. So in effect, trapping wolves won't be allowed for at least the next two years.

Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said that although states allowed bounty hunting on wolves for decades during the early 1900s - until the wolf was hunted to near extinction - no state ever had a formal wolf hunting season.

"The Service, when we began the reintroduction in 1994, strongly recommended that the public hunting of wolves be included as a management tool," Bangs said. "The state went through a long process of thinking about that, and I'm pleased to see they're doing it.

"It's time. It's past time, and the sooner we just start treating wolves like any other animal - mountain lions, black bears, deer or elk - the better it will be for everyone, including the wolves."

Lisa Upson, with the Natural Resource Defense Council, disagrees.

"We think a wolf hunt is premature because there's a lot of nervousness about how wolves will respond to the indiscriminate killings of wolves in wolf packs," Upson said after the meeting. "We would like to know more about pack stability or instability first."