Protecting the Gray Wolf
by Sierra Club North Star Chapter
Tomorrow, the Minnesota House Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee will hold a hearing regarding HF 1856. This bill concerns the hunting and trapping of wolves in Minnesota, an issue that the Sierra Club North Star Chapter has been closely and carefully monitoring.
Now that the species has recently been delisted, the state of Minnesota must ensure that the stability of the wolf population does not fall victim to other interests. An initiation of a hunting season immediately following the wolf’s removal from threatened status raises serious concerns. Initially, a 5 year waiting period was called for, after delisting, before a hunting season would be opened. This waiting period was eliminated by legislation passed last year.
It is thanks, in part, to Sierra Club North Star Chapter’s work to protect the wolf under the Endangered Species Act for the past three decades that the Great Lakes Wolf population, which includes Minnesota, has made steps toward recovery. This should be celebrated.
However, we believe that Minnesota’s native wildlife is a public trust and we have an obligation to conserve species for the benefit of all our citizens. Since all of our wildlife species are public resources, including the wolf, the State of Minnesota should not introduce a hunting season on the wolf without a full public notification, involvement and review process.
In addition, we wish to highlight the following specific areas of concern:
- We must enact such laws as will best preserve the wolf, a public trust, and secure its beneficial use in the future to the people of the state. We do not support an open season that overlaps with deer hunting.
- We believe there must be an adequate monitoring plan in place that includes not only “take” numbers but other impacts to wolves and wolf habitat that may cause a decline in population. At minimum, the DNR must have adequate resources to conduct sound scientific monitoring to ensure the continued viability of the wolf.
- We have long had concerns for certain types of trapping of wildlife species and urge extreme care when implementing trapping regulations for the wolf. Lethal trapping of non-targeted species and pets is, and continues to be, a problem in Minnesota.
The wolf, once imperiled, has made an amazing recovery. This marvelous creature is an icon of our state and beloved by Minnesotans. We should move into the future of wolf management through a careful and well-considered process. Such a process should include full transparency and involvement of the public. Without such a commitment, decades of work to recover the species could easily be lost.
Interested in weighing in on this or other issues affecting Minnesota’s environment during the 2012 session? Click here to find out who your state representatives are.
Crossposted at Sierra Club North Star Chapter blog
