3rd wolf petition would leave hunt decisions in hands of NRC, scientists

Jun. 2, 2014

The first wolf hunt was held in November and December and resulted in 23 wolves being killed. / John Vucetich/Michigan Technological University

Written by Kathleen Gray

Gannett Michigan

LANSING — There already are two wolf-hunt petition questions on the November ballot, and now there might be a third. A group hoping to keep the wolf hunt going turned in 374,000 signatures Tuesday to get their question on the ballot. It’s meant to pre-empt a second anti-wolf hunt petition that has already been approved for the November ballot.

It’s also a citizen-initiated piece of legislation, so the Legislature could take it up within 40 days and it will automatically become law, making another anti-wolf hunt question moot. “This initiative will not guarantee a wolf hunt; it will only guarantee that the decision about whether or not to have another wolf hunt, and other hunting and fishing decisions, are based on scientific data and the recommendations of professional biologists,” said Merle Shepard, chairman of Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management, which spearheaded the petition drive.

The initiative would give those decisions to the Natural Resources Commission, which has already approved and set a wolf hunt for three areas in the Upper Peninsula. The first wolf hunt was held in November and December and had a goal of killing 43 of the Upper Peninsula’s population of more than 650 wolves. The hunt resulted in 23 wolves being killed.

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