Federal officials are weighing impassioned testimony from farmers, ranchers, hunters and wildlife advocates at the only public hearing in the country on the government’s latest attempt to take gray wolves off the endangered and threatened species list.
Under the old plan, a wolf that attacked livestock twice or more over any period of time was deemed a “chronic depredator” and could be killed in the eastern third of the state, where wolves are managed by the state. The new plan will allow the state to kill wolves after two confirmed attacks during a nine-month period.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hosting a public hearing to take comments on the agency’s proposal to remove the gray wolf from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife on June 25 in Brainerd, Minn. And as more than a million public comments have already come in, the 480-seat Franklin Arts Center auditorium in Brainerd, in north-central Minnesota, is expected…
The findings could undercut the government’s contention that gray wolves across the Lower 48 have recovered from near extermination.
MINNEAPOLIS — The last time the federal government removed endangered species protections for wolves in Minnesota, the state held recreational hunts aimed in part at culling the population. The open seasons between 2012 and 2014 were controversial, yet backed by both Democratic and Republican leaders, including DFL Gov. Mark Dayton. Now, as the federal government prepares to cut gray wolves…
Trump administration proposal to take the iconic symbol of the wild off the endangered species list has exposed divisions among states.
And Gov. Tim Walz says he supports legislation to ban the recreational hunting of wolves in Minnesota if the federal government succeeds in removing them from the threatened list.
The government first proposed revoking the wolf’s protected status across the Lower 48 states in 2013, but backed off after federal courts struck down its plan for “delisting” the species in the western Great Lakes region states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The translocation boosted the park’s wolf total to eight – four males and four females – including the last two survivors of a dwindling population that had occupied the park for about 70 years.
The Michigan DNR’s citizen-based northern Lower Peninsula wolf survey, to detect the presence of gray wolves in the region, will take place Feb. 19 through March 15.
A California judge upheld protection for gray wolves under the state’s Endangered Species Act, rejecting a legal challenge from ranchers and farmers who fear the predators will threaten their livestock. The judge in San Diego ruled that California was right to list the wolves as endangered in 2014. A lawsuit on behalf of the California Farm Bureau Federation and the…
It’s reportedly the first wolf harvested in that region since Congress removed federal protections for the predators in 2011.
Officials say the other three relocated wolves are doing well.
Wolves are being relocated to Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior. (National Park Service)HOUGHTON, Mich. — Officials at Isle Royale National Park say they’ve wrapped up the first phase of a multi-year effort to rebuild the gray wolf population. Three females and one male were trapped on the Minnesota mainland in recent weeks and flown to the Lake Superior…
Completion of classes required to participate in wolf monitoring program as a volunteer carnivore tracker.
If the margin of error on the eastern grey wolf population in Minnesota is more than 26 percent, what is it for important game species like white-tailed deer? Also, what’s with this white-tailed buck (trail cam image)?
Officials say another gray wolf captured in Minnesota for relocation to the park has died “despite the best efforts of the attending veterinarians” after being trapped, sedated and driven to a holding facility for a medical exam.
Population estimate statistically unchanged from last year – although overall and pack numbers down slightly. Still, Minnesota’s wolf population remains above state’s minimum goal and federal recovery goal.
BOISE, Idaho — Three wolves have been killed by federal authorities in central Idaho near Stanley, an action blasted by an environmental group. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services said it killed the wolves over several days earlier this month at the request of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game after confirming wolves killed six sheep. The three…
Confusion about the animal might be due to the condition of the animal and the photos, which seemed to show short legs and big ears. Inspection revealed a relatively normal-looking, dark-brown wolf.
Wolf numbers total about 3,800 in the western Great Lakes states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
DNR wildlife biologists estimate there was a minimum of 662 wolves found among 139 packs across the Upper Peninsula this past winter. Fifteen more wolf packs were found during this past winter’s survey than in 2016, but pack size has decreased slightly and now averages less than five wolves.
Volunteer trackers reported between 900 and 950 wolf sightings this winter, a slight decline compared to the numbers from the previous year.
With wolves dying out, federal officials announce plan to relocate 20-30 from the mainland to the Lake Superior archipelago over the next several years, starting as early as this fall.
The Mesa County (Colo.) Commission has urged the federal government in a resolution to follow the recommendations of the Colorado Wildlife Commission, which opposes reintroduction of the gray wolf to Colorado, according to a recent story in The Daily Sentinel. “These animals are killers,” Commissioner Scott McInnis said in the story. “They have no place in this state.” According to the story,…
With about 900 wolves, it marks the 13th consecutive year that Montana has far exceeded wolf recovery goals, the agency says.
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