Canis lupus 101: News update from DC and St. Paul by @Howling4Wolves

The Difference a Year can make!
Howling For Wolves was proud to watch this November begin without a wolf trophy hunt. For the first time in three years, wolves were not hunted, due to federal protections under the Endangered Species Act put in place in December, 2014.

There have been two further developments in Washington, D.C.

This fall our actions to protect the gray wolf were successful in the U.S. Congress. December’s federal funding agreement in Washington D.C. did NOT include a policy “rider” that would have legislatively removed the Great Lakes gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List and given authority back to individual states. This would have most certainly meant a return to state-organized wolf trophy hunting.
However, just this past week on January 20, a U.S. Senate committee approved an amendment which, if enacted and signed into law, will remove federal endangered species act protections for the gray wolf in Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. This measure will also prohibit courts from intervening on this rule. This amendment has the potential to destroy the Endangered Species Act and puts the wolf on the path to extinction once again. Without federal protections we know now that the state agencies like Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources will “pick up where we left off” and have another state-sponsored wolf trophy hunt. This unpopular, unnecessary, and reckless policy is not ethical or scientific wolf policy nor is a wolf trophy hunt the popular will of Minnesotans. We will keep you posted on how to best engage with public officials in Washington, D.C.

Save the Date for the Upcoming Wolf Day 2016 in St. Paul, Minn.
While we keep diligent watch in Washington, D.C., our attention is turning toward the Minnesota State Capitol for the 2016 session beginning in March. Wolf Day 2016 is Wednesday, March 23rd. The wolf needs you to stand for her and her pack with your state lawmakers. We are fighting to pass wolf protecting bills including a ban on wolf baiting and trapping and all wildlife snaring that injures and kills, dogs, wolves, and lots of other wildlife especially the ground birds pheasants. We will also introduce a bill to repeal the wolf hunting and trapping season.

To register, please visit our Howling For Wolves website RSVP page by clicking on this link.

Celebrating No Wolf Hunt for 2015:
On Saturday, November 7, Howling For Wolves held a celebration event at The Happy Gnome restaurant in St. Paul to express gratitude for our supporters and celebrate the federal protection of wolves. After three consecutive trophy wolf hunting and trapping seasons in Minnesota, there was no trophy hunt in 2015. Thank you to state lawmakers who joined the HFW supporters to cheer wolves living, including Senators Wiger, Hoffman, and Eaton, and Rep. Selcer. A special thank you goes to nature photographer and artist Jim Brandenburg who spoke so beautifully about his time with and passion for wolves. And to Michael Fox, DVM who spoke about his deep relationships with wolves he has lived with and has written about in his book “Soul of a Wolf.” Click here to watch Dr. Hackett giving a recap of activities from 2015 at the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baGUS2BVbRg