by an EF!er from Minnesota
With the first season almost over and the death toll at 124 wolves in Minnesota alone. The wolf activist groups “Northwoods Wolf Alliance” and “Howling for Wolves” continue to rally against the hunt all over the state of Minnesota, as well as continue keeping the pressure on lawmakers who pushed through the extremely controversial and unsupported bill that opened the state to wolf hunting.
Since being removed from the federal endangered species list most states with wolves have started “management” plans, that include hunting and trapping. In Minnesota despite the fact that 79% of respondents to a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) pole do not support a wolf hunt in the state, the DNR continued pushing the hunt that began on November 3. The DNR claims that they will use this first “harvest” of wolves to research the current population and use the money generated from the hunt to further ensure the wolfs overall survival. (authors note: This seems incredibly counter intuitive, especially since the wolf has been just fine for the last 40 years with out studies or “management”)
Not only do most Minnesotans disagree with a wolf hunt but the wolf is a central figure in the Anishinaabeg creation story. This hunt is an act of continued genocide against Native peoples and is a violation of tribal laws. All reservations in Minnesota have become wolf sanctuaries despite pressure from the governor. Any person caught with a wolf on tribal lands can and will be prosecuted.
Minnesota is the only state in the lower 48 that has always had wolves in our north eastern sub-boreal forests. In 2008 a population study was conducted and there was found to be about 3,000 wolves living through out the northern half of the state. This year the DNR is allowing 400 to be shot or trapped. There are two seasons, an early shooting season and a late shooting and trapping season that extends until January 31, again with a “target harvest” of 200 wolves per-season. This hunt is an embarrassment to the state of Minnesota and the majority of its residents. We are heartbroken, grieving and we will fight them.
(Authors note: for more detailed information stay tuned, a full length article may appear in the next EF!J)
Wolf hunts fine, you really think you’re a better authority on the matter than the DNR? You don’t speak for those of us in the north you Minneapolis sidewalk-tree-hugger.
ha! “Wolf hunts fine.” good one, Brink. You definitely are not someone from the industry planting ridiculous sentiments here in order to make things appear as though there is a “real debate” on the subject. Enjoy your office, statist.
I am from Northern Minnesota.
Well I’m from the North and fine this DNR sanctioned unjustifiable Wolf Killing in humane and immoral! The DNR only caters to special interest groups like the MN deer hunters association and cattle men’s association, etc. that is their main stakeholders who they are responsible to. Not the 80% of Minnesotans who opposed this so called wolf hunt. This is immoral and if you think this is ok to kill any animal that cannot defend itself against hunters with guns and traps, your immoral and have no soul or compassion. Why don’t you get your head out of your…. Cabin and open your eyes to the beauty of living in the Northland or move the hell out as you do not deserve to live here!
I disagree Brink, there are many in the north who oppose this hunt and I am one of them. I have no problem with MnDNR’s target of 400 wolves killed (or “harvested” to use the wildlife management term) as this will have little effect on the population as a whole in Northern Minnesota. Nor do I have a problem of controlling wolves that area causing livestock depredation or posing an immediate threat to pets and/or human life. My concerns stems from the misconception that the wolf population needs to be managed since it has been stable and self regulating over the past several years. So what needs to be managed? There is also the randomness of the taking of individual wolves that you will find in a public hunt/trapping season. Wolf packs are a family social unit lead by the breeding pair (parents) which teach their young how to be efficient hunters and other vital survival skills. If one or both of the parents are harvested, the pack doesn’t necessarily perish but crucial experience has been lost. If the offspring haven’t learned to be efficient at hunting wildlife, they may turn to easier prey such as livestock thus in effect creating “problem” wolves as a direct result of the hunt. Moving aside for a moment from discussing the wolf as an animal, I’d like to touch upon the wolf as a symbol to many, more specifically to the Native Americans who has been inhabiting these northwoods for hundreds of years along with the wolf. In their religion, the wolf is their spiritual kin and unless you are intolerant of other religious views, then this must also be considered as yet another reason to end the wolf hunt.
By the way, I live in the north and work as a land surveyor spending most of my time trekking around remote areas and have encountered wild wolves numerous times but have never felt threaten by their presence.