…Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that gray wolves in the Upper Midwest would be removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act, and the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan would manage their respective populations. Minnesota has an estimated 3,000 wolves…
…In a press release, DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said the agency was taking a “deliberate and science-based” approach to implementing wolf hunting and trapping seasons…
…Boggess said a hunting season might to some degree help northern Minnesota residents address problem wolf situations, but the DNR intends to use a trapping program to – even when a season isn’t open – capture and euthanize wolves that are, for example, killing livestock…
…The DNR also offered these items regarding wolves and a wolf hunting/trapping season:
• Federal delisting is slated to go into effect Jan. 27;
• There has been no significant change in wolf population size or distribution since 1998, based on surveys in 1998, 2004, and 2008;
• Minnesota statutes were amended last year to change the status of wolves to a small-game species and provide the ability to authorize a season without a five-year waiting period;
• Under state law, owners of livestock, guard animals, or domestic animals may shoot or destroy wolves that pose an immediate threat to their animals, on property they own or lease, in accordance with local statutes. A DNR conservation officer must be notified within 48 hours, and the wolf carcass must be surrendered to the conservation officer.
• About 80 farms have verified complaints each year, and an average of 170 wolves are captured and/or killed in response to verified depredation;
• For a wolf-hunting/trapping season, it’s likely several wolf harvest management units would be created, and hunters would be selected through a lottery.
Read more via: Outdoor News