Friday, September 13, 2013

Howling For Wolves aims to implement effective ways to prevent wolf deaths due to conflicts with livestock



While historically very limited in Minnesota, wolf-livestock conflicts are ongoing and reinforce attitudes of intolerance towards wolves in rural areas. When a conflict occurs between wolves and livestock, it’s a loss all around:
  • Livestock is lost along with the economic investment and opportunity it represents.
  • Many wolves are typically killed by certified predator controllers and property owners in response. Local ecosystems lose the benefits of having wolves.
  • State funds are used to finance the lethal control of problem wolves and reimburse livestock producers for verified losses. Fund availability is in constant flux; increasing hostility toward wolves.
The current model of managing wolf-livestock conflicts in Minnesota does not address the root cause of the problem. Because of this, the losses resulting from conflicts are doomed to be repeated with no end in sight. As long as livestock production continues in wolf range, conflicts can be expected. There is an opportunity before us to reduce the problem through prevention of conflicts.

Howling For Wolves has submitted a proposal to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) to address the root cause of wolf/livestock conflicts by using non-lethal methods:
  • Turbo-fladry (electrified fencing with flags)
  • Elimination of attractants (carcass removal)
  • Increased human presence with livestock
The project, entitled “Wolf/Livestock Conflict Reduction Using Cost-Effective Non-Lethal Prevention”, will focus on ten unique sites that have experienced chronic wolf depredation losses. This will address the need to validate the effectiveness of non-lethal prevention methods for reducing wolf/livestock conflicts in Minnesota. We aim to show a better way to prevent this problem.



The LCCMR members are both citizens and state lawmakers. These individuals make the recommendations for state funding of environmentally focused projects. Members of the LCCMR are currently reviewing, evaluating and ranking the proposals which have been submitted. The highest ranking proposals will be selected for further consideration in mid-September.

We need your support for the proposal we have submitted. If you have a connection to any LCCMR members
because you are a constituent, know them personally, or live in the same communities, please contact them as soon as possible to express your support for this project.

Read the complete project proposal by clicking here.

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