Gray wolves were put on the endangered species list in 1973 when the population in the Upper Peninsula had dwindled to six on Isle Royale. The population grew to nearly 700 by 2011. / 2004 photo by Dawn Villella/Associated Press
LANSING -- Gray wolves beware!
By a 23-15 vote Thursday, the state Senate approved the creation of an open hunting season on Canis lupus.
"We need to give the Department of Natural Resources another tool to manage the wolves," said state Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, one of the sponsors of the bill. "The Ironwood city manager testified that they had to shoot eight animals because they were right in the city."
Gray wolves were put on the endangered species list in 1973 when the population in the Upper Peninsula had dwindled to six on the isolated Isle Royale. Protected by that designation, the population grew to nearly 700 by 2011.
The wolves were removed from the endangered species list in January, but only the DNR is allowed to manage the wolf population, which has begun to encroach upon U.P. towns, according to residents. The animals also are having a big impact on the U.P.'s deer population, killing between 17,000 and 29,000 deer every year, according to a report from the DNR.
"I know this is kind of a U.P. issue," Casperson said. "But you let any wolves go in Detroit, or Traverse City, or Alpena and it would be a national story."
The Michigan Humane Society opposes the legislation, preferring nonlethal means of solving conflicts between humans and wolves to an open hunting season.
"They just came off the endangered species list," said Kevin Hatman, spokesman for the humane society. "There have been no reported human fatalities from gray wolves, so establishing a hunting season seems like using a sledgehammer on the problem."
The bill calls for the Natural Resources Commission to establish the hunting season, with a $100 license for the season for residents and $500 for nonresidents.
In nearby Minnesota, which has a wolf population of 2,900, the state issued 6,000 licenses in 2012 and is anticipating that 400 wolves will be killed by hunters, according to an analysis of the Michigan bill by the Senate Fiscal Agency.
The bill now goes to the House for consideration, and sponsors are hopeful it will be finished and sent to Gov. Rick Snyder before the end of the year.
source
By a 23-15 vote Thursday, the state Senate approved the creation of an open hunting season on Canis lupus.
"We need to give the Department of Natural Resources another tool to manage the wolves," said state Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, one of the sponsors of the bill. "The Ironwood city manager testified that they had to shoot eight animals because they were right in the city."
Gray wolves were put on the endangered species list in 1973 when the population in the Upper Peninsula had dwindled to six on the isolated Isle Royale. Protected by that designation, the population grew to nearly 700 by 2011.
The wolves were removed from the endangered species list in January, but only the DNR is allowed to manage the wolf population, which has begun to encroach upon U.P. towns, according to residents. The animals also are having a big impact on the U.P.'s deer population, killing between 17,000 and 29,000 deer every year, according to a report from the DNR.
"I know this is kind of a U.P. issue," Casperson said. "But you let any wolves go in Detroit, or Traverse City, or Alpena and it would be a national story."
The Michigan Humane Society opposes the legislation, preferring nonlethal means of solving conflicts between humans and wolves to an open hunting season.
"They just came off the endangered species list," said Kevin Hatman, spokesman for the humane society. "There have been no reported human fatalities from gray wolves, so establishing a hunting season seems like using a sledgehammer on the problem."
The bill calls for the Natural Resources Commission to establish the hunting season, with a $100 license for the season for residents and $500 for nonresidents.
In nearby Minnesota, which has a wolf population of 2,900, the state issued 6,000 licenses in 2012 and is anticipating that 400 wolves will be killed by hunters, according to an analysis of the Michigan bill by the Senate Fiscal Agency.
The bill now goes to the House for consideration, and sponsors are hopeful it will be finished and sent to Gov. Rick Snyder before the end of the year.
source
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