Wolf rule affect livestock

[Lee Borgersen]

Minnesota wolf ruling could affect Minnesota livestock, farm union says

Updated:   01/21/2015




ST. PAUL -- Minnesotans lost their ability to protect livestock and pets when a federal court ordered wolves to return to the endangered species list, a Minnesota House committee heard Tuesday.

"This is one of the top issues for our members," Thom Peterson of the Minnesota Farmers' Union said.

The state pays farmers when wolves kill livestock, but state Agriculture Department officials said that fund has been depleted.

"As the wolf population has expanded and recovered, the number of farms experiencing (livestock) depredation has increased," Blane White of the department told the House Mining and Outdoor Recreation Policy Committee.

Some told the panel that the federal judge erred in forcing Minnesota to stop its hunting and trapping seasons.

"Minnesota has far exceeded the objectives of the (wolf) recovery program, yet that wasn't deemed good enough," Doug Busselman of the Minnesota Farm Bureau testified.

The comments came while the committee received an update about federal judge's decision that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was "arbitrary and capricious" in removing the wolf from the endangered species list in the western Great Lakes region. The ruling in December restored wolves to federal protection in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

The federal ruling means that the three states cannot allow hunting seasons and forbids people from shooting wolves that are threatening livestock or pets.

Committee Chairman Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, did not allow wolf supporters to speak at the committee hearing, but suggested that committee members read their written testimony.

The committee took no action, and there is little it can do because the federal government takes priority.

Minnesota has allowed wolf hunting and trapping three years.

Dan Stark of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources told the committee that last winter, the state counted 2,423 wolves, about 200 more than the previous year.

The state's goal has been to keep 1,600 wolves, nearly all in the north.

"The wolf population in Minnesota has totally recovered..." Stark said.

The wolf was removed from the endangered species list in 2012, prompting the state to launch a hunting and trapping season.

In the last hunting season, 15,000 people applied for licenses and 330 were awarded. The DNR reports 272 wolves were killed by hunters and trappers last year.

Blane said wolves are doing so well in the state that they are moving to the south and west from their traditional northeastern Minnesota home. That puts them in livestock territory.

"Now, you really are at risk," Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, said about farmers who before the December court ruling could protect livestock by shooting wolves.

"Any livestock in the area is vulnerable to wolf attack," Blane added.

The federal government is considering appealing the court ruling.

 A gray wolf in an April 2008 photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Gary Kramer, File)


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[Lee Borgersen]

             In wake of federal court ruling, DNR delays draft wolf plan

Jan. 15, 2015

In response to a December federal court ruling, the WISCONSIN Department of Natural Resources has delayed a planned update to its wolf management plan.

The agency had planned to release a draft of an updated wolf management plan in January and begin holding public hearings across the state.

However, last month a federal judge ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had been "arbitrary and capricious" in its handling of wolf management in the western Great Lakes region. The ruling restored Endangered Species Act protections to wolves in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan and prohibits state-managed hunting and trapping seasons in the region.

Dave MacFarland, DNR large carnivore specialist who oversees the state's wolf management program, said the federal ruling "altered the timeline of our wolf management plan efforts."

"We still intend to proceed, but will not be holding public hearings this month nor will we present the plan to the (Natural Resources Board) in April," MacFarland said Thursday.  "We do not yet have an updated timeline but hope to soon."

The DNR is still working on the revised plan, MacFarland said, and hopes to have a "draft available in the next few months."

The Wisconsin wolf management plan has not been updated since 1999. It called for a wolf population goal of 350 wolves.

When it regained full management authority in 2012, state wildlife officials expressed a goal of "putting downward pressure on the wolf population" through hunting and trapping and removal of wolves at depredation sites.

After two seasons of regulated wolf hunting and trapping, Wisconsin had at least 660 wolves in late winter 2013-'14, down from an estimated high of 834 in 2012, according to the DNR.

The wolf population roughly doubles after pups are born in spring, then begins to decline due to various sources of mortality.

A wide range of people and organizations interested in wolf management are awaiting release of the agency's updated wolf management plan, especially the wolf population goal.

Roughly one month after the federal court ruling, the future of wolf management in the western Great Lakes region remained unclear.

However, a bill is being drafted in Congress that could restore state management of wolves in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. An appeal of the December federal ruling is also possible.

[ray634]

This will most likely result in the unmanaged control of the wolf population in problem areas as farmers, ranchers and others employ the SSS wolf depredation solution. The unintended consequences of this ruling could be the decimation of the wolf population in certain parts of the state. Better to be managed and controlled.