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Ryan Rothstein: Of wolves, whitetails and wetlands; habitat loss the greatest threat to Minnesota’s wildlife

Hunters of whitetails and other wildlife often express discontent and offer reasons for low game numbers. What’s often not considered, in part because solutions seem so out of reach, is how the landscape and habitat have greatly changed as Minnesota's human population has increased. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Rothstein)

Quite frankly, I’m tired of hearing about wolves. Are they a factor regarding our deer herd? Without question. Wolves hunt and kill deer. So do coyotes. So do bears. So do we. You know what lowers deer populations more than all those things combined? Human development and intensive agriculture.
You’ll never hear me say wolves have no impact on deer herds. But bleating about wolves causing our deer-hunting problems is naïve at best, and nefarious at worst. Same scapegoat, different day.

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