Wolf Weekly Wrap-up

Posted: 02 Nov 2012   

Skinny cows, fat chance – The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering compensating ranchers whose cattle purportedly lose weight as a result of the presence of wolves. But, as our wolf expert Suzanne Stone points out in an interview with Northwest News Network, there’s no scientific evidence to prove that cattle lose weight because of wolves.

Listen to the story here:

Download Now

The state wildlife commission will consider proposed changes to their compensation program at its meeting in Olympia on Nov. 9. If you live in the area, we hope you will consider weighing in against this proposal and encourage better ways to address ranchers’ concerns about native predators. Any money allocated to ameliorate the potential impacts of predators on livestock producers should go toward verifiable costs, not be doled out based on speculation.


Wildlife Services Agent Gone Wild – While hunters and trappers routinely post graphic images of their kills, we expect more from federal agents responsible for managing America’s wildlife. Yet, a report from the Sacramento Bee indicates that a federal trapper with USDA’s Wildlife Services posted photos on his Facebook page of his dogs attacking a coyote caught in a leg hold trap. Incidents like these demonstrate a lack of professionalism and suggest that some in the agency are still stuck in the 1930s when bounties were paid for eliminating predators. Hopefully, stories like this one will help raise awareness of the need to reform Wildlife Services.

A proper context for livestock losses – What kills cows and sheep besides wolves? Lots of things. That’s the gist of a recent blog post by our colleagues at Oregon Wild. Newspapers across the region continue to run front page stories when wolves are blamed for dead livestock, while reports of far more devastating losses attributed to other causes get buried. Here are a few recent accounts of livestock lost to something OTHER than wolves:

• 95 sheep died last week from eating poisoned grass in Idaho after their owner illegally grazed his herd in an abandoned mine (link)
• Earlier this month domestic dogs killed 44 sheep in Wyoming in a single incident – about the number killed statewide by wolves last year (link)
• 44 unattended cows were killed by trucks near Madras, OR when they broke through a fence in September (link)
• Last year an Amtrak train killed 24 cows that broke through an unmaintained fence near Klamath Falls, OR The rancher wants compensation (link)
• Over 1,200 cows have been stolen by human thieves in Malheur County, OR alone from 2006 – 2009 (link)
• A single storm in Montana killed over 2,250 livestock (link)

Wolves do kill livestock from time to time. However, these reports show that, in the bigger picture, wolves account for only a tiny fraction of overall losses and don’t deserve as much attention (or blame) as they typically get.


Kenai wolves NOT killing moose – A study of 54 radio-collared moose calves in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula found that bears and humans, not wolves, were the leading causes of death. Of the 45 calves that died, 26 were killed by bears, and seven died after being collared by researchers and subsequently abandoned by their mothers. Only one moose calf was lost to either a wolf or a coyote. Hopefully this new information will convince the state Board of Game to abandon its plan to cull more wolves via aerial gunning in order to boost moose herds.

source

As Wolves’ Numbers Rise, So Does Friction Between Guardians and Hunters

Narayan Mahon for The New York Times

Nancy Jo Dowler, the president of the Timber Wolf Preservation Society, with Comet.

By STEVEN YACCINO

Published: November 1, 2012 

  GREENDALE, Wis. — When people like Nancy Jo Dowler started raising wolves here decades ago, the animals were rare in Wisconsin and nearly extinct across the country.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, via Associated Press

A gray wolf in Wisconsin, which along with Minnesota has legislation permitting wolf hunting.

Enlarge This Image

Narayan Mahon for The New York Times

The Timber Wolf Preservation Society in Greendale, Wis., sells buttons bearing pictures of some of the wolves it is raising. 

Now the president of the Timber Wolf Preservation Society, Ms. Dowler, 66, cares for five full-grown purebreds. She bottle-fed them as pups and howls with them at passing sirens. The other day she gave one breath mints through a hole in the fence, passing it directly from her lips to his. 

Hers seems a fairy tale world compared with the legal dogfights occurring beyond these kennels. Out there, Wisconsin is three weeks into its first wolf-hunting season, sanctioned by the State Legislature in April. Minnesota is scheduled to begin its first registered wolf hunt this weekend. 

The legalization of wolf hunting in both states was devised to manage a rebounding wolf population after the federal government stopped listing the species as endangered in the region last year. Both have drawn lawsuits from local and national animal rights groups that fear the undoing of nearly four decades of work to restore a healthy number of wolves. 

“We’ve spent a lot as a nation to protect them,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, which in October announced a lawsuit against the federal Fish and Wildlife Service to restore protections for wolves. “These plans in Wisconsin and Minnesota are draconian, severe and unwarranted, and we think they may jeopardize the health and viability of this population.” 

Since the wolf hunt began last month, at least 42 have been killed in Wisconsin. All told, officials expect 600 wolves will die at the hands of hunters and trappers in the two states before spring.

Wolves were once so numerous in the United States that ranchers and government agencies paid people to kill them. By the time the Endangered Species Act began protecting wolves in 1973, they were nearing extinction in the lower 48 states. Today, wolf numbers have grown to 4,000 and exceeded recovery goals in the western Great Lakes area, according to federal estimates. 

But some of those packs have started to cause problems again for ranchers in northern Wisconsin and have cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in livestock reimbursement payments, said officials at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. “Without controls, what we’ve seen in the state is a feeling of needing to take it into their own hands for folks that are frustrated,” said Kurt Thiede, head of the wildlife management program for the agency. 

After the Wisconsin Legislature approved the wolf hunt, which ends Feb. 28, more than 20,000 people applied for the required license. The state awarded 1,160 permits and capped this year’s harvest at 201 kills, or roughly a quarter of its current wolf population. 

In Minnesota, about 3,600 licenses were available to hunt up to 400 wolves, which would reduce the state’s numbers by about 15 percent. 

“There ain’t too many people that have one hanging in their living room,” said Timothy Mueller, a hunter from Silver Cliff, Wis. He, like others with a wolf license, was waiting for winter because pelts will be thicker and the snow will make it easier to track the animals. 

Yet some hunters who once proudly talked about the rare opportunity would now rather keep their adventures private. A number declined to speak about the controversy because of reported threats made against a hunter who was among the first to register his kill with the state. 

“There are a lot of the claims about how easy this is and how this is senseless slaughter,” said Scott Meyer, a lobbyist for the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin. “When you see the terrain and the geographies of everything, you understand that the advantage is toward the wolf.” 

Animal rights groups have little sympathy for the hunters. They argue that the state kill quotas do not properly account for other ways that wolves can die, like poaching and vehicular collisions and the killing of the animals by farmers and ranchers protecting their livestock. Those additional causes, they say, could put the animals at risk again. 

On Oct. 15, the day Wisconsin’s wolf-hunting season began, two national groups — the Humane Society and the Fund for Animals — filed a 60-day notice of their intent to sue the federal government to restore wolf protections. 

In addition, Wisconsin humane groups have filed a lawsuit to prohibit the use of dogs for hunting wolves, calling it cruel. Minnesota advocates also took legal action against their state in an attempt to stop its hunt, which lasts from Nov. 3 to Jan. 31. And Minnesota’s Chippewa tribes have banned wolf hunting and trapping on its reservation lands. 

“The whole balance of nature, they don’t want to hear any of that,” said Ms. Dowler, criticizing hunters for killing the animals she has devoted years to protect. “People absolutely love them or they absolutely hate them. There are few people in the middle.” 

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 2, 2012


A picture caption with an earlier version of this article misstated the location of the Timber Wolf Preservation Society. It is in Greendale, Wis., not Glendale, Wis.

source

Students from points afar get hands-on training at Wolf Haven

CHELSEA KROTZER; Staff writer

Published: Nov. 1, 2012

Students measure the teeth of a female Mexican gray wolf during the wildlife-handling training class at Wolf Haven north of Tenino on Thursday. (TONY OVERMAN/Staff photographer)

Emily Blade cradled the head of an anesthetized Mexican gray wolf as her colleagues hoisted the animal onto a piece of canvas.
The team of mostly university students was recording the weight of the 11-year-old wolf, known as Lorenzo, at Wolf Haven International near Tenino.

It took two men to hold a metal rod connected by a chain to the canvas to accurately gauge the animal’s weight: 85.2 pounds.
It was one of many steps necessary during Lorenzo’s annual checkup, which is required by the Species Survival Plan program.

Endangered Mexican gray wolves are “one of the rarest mammals” in the world, said Diane Gallegos, executive director of Wolf Haven.
Students and professionals were at Wolf Haven this week to learn about wildlife handling and chemical immobilization from Dr. Mark Johnson, a wildlife veterinarian and the founder of Global Wildlife Resources, a nonprofit organization based in Montana.

It’s the eighth year Johnson has taught the three-day course at Wolf Haven; his career in handling wildlife spans 20 years.
Johnson became involved with Wolf Haven in the early 1990s while heading up a wolf-relocation project at Yellowstone National Park.

He and the sanctuary have similar philosophies about animal care.
“They learn how to give care, honor and respect to the animals,” Johnson said. “They learn not to joke at the animal’s expense and to work together.”
The 17 students and professionals who signed up for the course traveled from as far away as Alaska, Mexico, Montana and Pennsylvania.

The group spent two days in the classroom before putting its knowledge to use, giving annual checkups to Mexican gray wolves.
The animals were brought to an area covered with temporary tents, protecting against potential rain.
Each wolf was transported from its sanctuary pen to the site in a large crate. Groups anesthetized them, then carried each wolf to a blanket on the ground.

Everyone kept quiet, speaking in whispers to avoid creating further stress for the wolves.
That quiet was interrupted by an occasional chorus of howls from the rest of the sanctuary’s pack.
Anesthesia keeps the wolves down for about 45 minutes.
In that time, the groups drew blood, administered vaccinations, took measurements and constantly monitored the animals’ heart rate and temperature.

Lorenzo’s temperature began dropping shortly after he was brought to the exam site.
Wolves’ blood temperature should be between 100 and 103 degrees, but Lorenzo’s was dropping to about 99.6.
To counteract that, the group put blankets and hand warmers on the animal’s body until he was able to sustain a constant temperature.

Another wolf’s temperature rose to 106 degrees. The team removed all blankets and laid the wolf on the cool ground.
Johnson and some of the sanctuary’s staff and other trained veterinarians were there to offer assistance, but the exam was intended to be headed up by the students.
“We leave it to the group as long as possible,” Johnson said. “We want them to be strong individuals and as confident as possible.”

Many will take the skills they learned this week at Wolf Haven back to their jobs or course work and future careers.
“Talk to each other about how you are going to do this,” Johnson told the group as members divided up tasks.

One kept a close eye on the animal’s breathing and temperature. Another focused on inoculations, while everyone else took turns practicing blood draws.
Kathy Gruenthal, a student at Humboldt State University in California, was having trouble finding a vein.
One of the staffers was able to assist, showing her how to adjust her angle when inserting the needle into the animal’s leg.

The third time was the charm as she eased back the blood-filled syringe.
Colleague Casey Pozzanghera of the University of Alaska Fairbanks said he had taken a class with Johnson at the University of Montana before.
“It’s impressive to do more hands-on stuff,” Pozzanghera said.

source

The wolf is at the mercy of our actions, so let's get it right this time

Nancy Gibson

 

By Nancy Gibson | 11/01/12

CC/Flickr/Sakarri 

 

On Saturday, Nov. 3, another chapter in the lives of wolves will be completed. Minnesota will host its first legal hunt. It has been a long and arduous novel with the wolf being either wrapped in evil or worshiped at the altar. The controversy leading up to this weekend’s hunt offers the same scenarios.

Is it possible to broaden the discussion? According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Endangered Species Act lists 1,990 species that could use a little public relations with their survival. Who is championing the Canada lynx, the piping plover, pipit, critical populations of mussels, fish and butterflies that need habitat and money for their existence in Minnesota? The federal and state budgets are tight, and the environmental areas are the first to cut. Public pressure has a good track record with wolves.

The war on wolves began in earnest a century ago with publicly funded troops lined up to hunt, trap, gas dens, tie up pups to fatally attract adults, aerial hunt and offer bounties. The final assault was a potpourri of poisons that killed wolves and any other wildlife near its toxic leftovers. Just think; the land now cemented over by the Mall of America was home to wolves. Two legs and a head from a male wolf were presented for a bounty in September of 1921. It was a troubling episode.

A resurgence of public interest in our natural resources created the Endangered Species Act in 1973, and the wolf was one of the beneficiaries. However, ranchers soon feared for their livelihood and the success of eliminating wolves would soon be challenged. As years passed, the fortunes of wolves were, once again, ensnared in the politics of humans.

Meanwhile, wolves were taking advantage of the protection provided them in the Act. Minnesota was thought to have about 750 wolves in the mid-1970s with a ready supply of new wolves from Canada. Wolves travel long distances in search of food, mates and fresh territory, so Wisconsin and Michigan became a destination point. Canadian wolves refreshed Montana’s wildlands as well. But Yellowstone National Park and Idaho needed some human intervention with trans-located wolves in 1995-1996. The wolf’s high reproductive rates and mobility expanded their range and populations. In the eyes of scientists, the wolf numbers and range have recovered sufficiently for de-listing. Others aren’t so sure, hence, a quagmire of tensions and endless trips to the courts.

Several states offering hunts now

Public pressure from ranchers swayed Congress to pass a bill preventing more lawsuits on wolves, and Idaho and Montana each responded with their first wolf hunt last year. Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota started this year. Idaho, with an estimated wolf population of 750 animals, has opened year-round hunting in an attempt to lower the population to 150 wolves. Montana estimates about 650 wolves; it decided not to establish a quota and allows hunting Sept. 1 to Feb. 28, 2013.

Wyoming is a bit more complicated. Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park and the Wind River Reservation are off-limits. Approximately 275 wolves range outside those protected areas, and they are divided into trophy animals in parts of the state and varmints in the remaining area that can be shot on sight with no limit. Forty-one wolves have been killed to date in Wisconsin since Oct. 15. The state hunters and trappers have until Feb. 28 to fill the quota of 201 wolves. Minnesota is the last to start hunting and trapping, with two seasons targeted to kill 400 wolves.

Wolves offer lots of ethical and moral challenges, and the only consistency is the wolf's status as the alpha of conflict. Here is an attempt for some resolution for those sitting on opposite sides of a barbed wire fence:

• For policy holders, hold real public hearings allowing citizens to voice their view and use those views to guide compromise similar to allowing an experimental population of wolves in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. Internet polls are cheap but invite mischief and frustration with no real means of resolution. Would a scientific poll on shooting and trapping wolves really have had an impact on legislators who came to the hearings with preconceived notions?

Consider buying wolf habitat

• For those who think that the wolves should always be protected, consider placing your money and effort into buying wolf habitat that provides a secure location to raise pups, hunt prey and disperse their genes. President Richard Nixon signed the 1973 Act with the words, “Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.” That “rich array” or biodiversity needs the same fervor, science and awareness.
• And finally, for those readying their guns for wolves, it is your turn to conserve the species. When you speak of saving habitat for duck, deer and walleye, please add the wolf to your list. Bobcat, fox and mink are trapped each year with rarely a mention of conserving those species. Show your true colors as a steward of the land. Taking a wolf in early November when the pelt is not prime is baffling. Assuming the wolf won’t be eaten, use the pelt for your wall or fur market, but don’t waste it. Don’t post photos of a bloodied dead, tortured or trapped wolf to provoke more protests. And remember there are biology classes that would welcome a tanned pelt to enhance their education about wolves.   

After watching the wonders of wolves in Minnesota and many remote parts of the world for the past 25 years, I feel joy in its recovery. However, my brain and heart struggle with shooting and trapping wolves. I know wolves are smart and resilient, and their high reproductive rates are an asset for a sustainable population. But I bristle at the extent of boastful and senseless words that has transformed an endangered species one day into a varmint the next. The wolf is at the mercy of our actions, so we are burdened to get it right this time.

Nancy Gibson, of St. Louis Park, is the co-founder of the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn. 

source

Image of the Day

Why won't you come closer, so I can see you better..? ☺, a photo by ~Ranveig Marie~ on Flickr.

Tribal lands closed to wolf hunting, trapping

Posted by: Doug Smith Updated: October 30, 2012  

 

When Minnesota's first regulated wolf hunt opens Saturday, not all lands in the state will be open.
Chippewa tribal lands are closed to wolf hunting and trapping, as is Voyageurs National Park. Affected Chippewa reservations include the Red Lake, White Earth, Bois Forte, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Fond du Lac and Mille Lacs reservations.

Most Minnesota Chippewa reservation boundaries encompass tribal, public and private lands. Tribal lands are not considered public the way state and county forest lands are considered public. They are subject to tribal regulation.

The DNR says anyone hunting wolves within a reservation boundary will need to ensure they are on public or private land open to hunting. Not all tribal lands are posted. The best source for  information is county plat maps, generally available at county courthouses.

“The bands have the authority to control or ban wolf hunting on the land they own or is in federal trust status,” said Jim Konrad, DNR Enforcement chief. “The Chippewa will be enforcing the wolf hunting ban on their tribal lands.”

For more information on the wolf and deer hunting seasons, visit www.mndnr.gov/hunting/wolf

source 

Hunters more than halfway to 1st Wyo. wolf quota

MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Hunters are easily on track to max out their kill limit for the first wolf season in Wyoming since the animals were reintroduced to the Yellowstone region in the 1990s.
That contrasts with Montana, which fell well short of its statewide limit last year and in a couple months is about to supplement hunting with trapping to help achieve its wolf population goals.
A trophy game season for wolves in the northwest corner of Wyoming outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks began Oct. 1 and ends Dec. 31. As of Tuesday, hunters had killed at least 27 wolves in that area toward the season limit of 52 animals.

Three wolf hunt areas in northwest Wyoming were closed to further hunting after kill limits in those local areas were reached. Might the limit for all 12 areas be reached by year's end?

"It's definitely possible. It's really hard to predict that kind of thing, especially since this is the first time we've had a regulated wolf hunt in Wyoming," Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman Eric Keszler said Tuesday.

Neither Idaho nor Montana has statewide wolf limits this year. In 2009, both states' inaugural wolf seasons were cut short by a judge who suspended them. Montana and Idaho initiated their first full wolf hunting seasons in 2011.

In Wyoming, wolves were removed from endangered species protection for the first time in August. Of the three states, Wyoming is the only one with "dual classification" for wolves. In most of Wyoming, wolves can be killed on sight, without a license, any time of year.

In northwest Wyoming, wolves are classified as trophy game subject to licensed hunting during the new hunting season. Wildlife managers intentionally set a low limit for the first hunt in part because Wyoming has fewer wolves than Montana or Idaho.

"Also, this being our first season, we wanted to approach it fairly conservatively and be able to adaptively manage in the future based on how this first season goes," Keszler said.

In Montana, hunters killed 166 wolves in 2011, far short of that year's limit of 220. Montana ranchers and others eager to control the state's wolf population looked to Idaho, where trappers helped reduce that state's total estimated wolf population by at least one-third over a 10-month hunting season that began in August, 2011.

About one-third of the wolves killed were taken by trappers. Inspired in part by that success, Montana's first wolf trapping season is scheduled for Dec. 15 through Feb. 28.

Wolf trapping could be introduced in Wyoming, depending on how this year's hunting goes, but no decision about wolf trapping has been made in Wyoming yet, Keszler said.

More than 4,000 hunters have bought wolf licenses in Wyoming. Nobody has surveyed them, Keszler said, but it appears few have headed into the field specifically to kill a wolf.

"I think a large portion of people that are picking up a wolf license are in the area hunting elk or deer or something like that," Keszler said, "and have picked one up just in case they see a wolf, as well."

source 

Washington Considers Another Impact Of Wolves: Skinny Cows

Oct. 30, 2012 | Northwest News Network

  Washington ranchers who can show that wolves are making their cattle lose weight could get reimbursed under a new proposal before the state's Fish and Wildlife Commission. | credit: Anna King/Northwest News Network |

Washington ranchers who can show that wolves are making their cattle lose weight could get reimbursed under a new proposal. The rule before the Fish and Wildlife Commission would expand a compensation program for ranchers living in wolf country.

Washington’s cattle ranchers aren’t the first to complain about skinny livestock. Ranchers in Idaho and Oregon also say the reintroduction of wolves has made sheep and cattle move more and eat less.
That translates into the bottom line, says Dave Ware. He’s the game manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The way that a rancher gets paid in the fall when they bring their cattle from the range is by weigh — so much per pound,” he said.

Washington would be the first state in the Northwest to compensate ranchers for livestock weight loss — not just livestock killed by wolves.

But Suzanne Stone is skeptical. She’s with the group Defenders of Wildlife.

“Well, the weight loss claim has been made by a lot of ranchers. But as of yet, there’s not been a study that actually has proven that weight loss occurs because of wolves,” she said.
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioners will take public comment on the proposal at their meeting on Nov. 9.

The plan would also expand compensation for livestock loss to more types of animals — including herd dogs, llamas, alpacas and goats, even for noncommercial livestock owners. Top priority for compensation would go to people who take preventive measures.

 source

White Earth acts to ban wolf hunting

Published October 31, 2012,

A new era in Minnesota hunting kicks off Saturday, as the gray wolf hunt starts at sunrise. But some area permit-holders are going to be disappointed.

By: Brian Basham, DL-Online

• Timber wolf

Leader of the Pack: A timber wolf peers back at the camera in this U.S. Fish and Wildlife Office photo.

A new era in Minnesota hunting kicks off Saturday, as the gray wolf hunt starts at sunrise. But some area permit-holders are going to be disappointed.
The White Earth Indian Reservation declared the entire reservation a wolf sanctuary and no wolf hunting will be allowed.

The gray or timber wolf was removed from the endangered species list in January and the Minnesota Legislature quickly passed a wolf hunting bill, which Gov. Mark Dayton signed during the 2012 session.

The main arguing point with many of Minnesota’s northern tribes is that the state rushed into a decision on a 2012 wolf hunt without doing just research into the state’s wolf population. It’s estimated there are about 3,000 wolves in Minnesota — the largest population in the lower 48 states.
“The state never really consulted with the tribe,” said Mike Swan, White Earth Tribal DNR manager. “We met once in what they said was mostly a listening session and we presented the position of the tribe.”

At that March 2012 meeting, Swan said the tribe’s position — to not have a wolf hunt — fell on deaf ears. The Red Lake and Leech Lake bands voiced a similar opinion at that meeting, he said.
“Pretty much all the tribes at that time, too, stated the same thing,” Swan said. “Back in March, we told the state that we didn’t want it, but the state went ahead anyway.”

The Red Lake Tribe declared its more than 800,000 acres of land a wolf sanctuary in 2010. Red Lake conducted a wolf survey in 2008 and subsequently enacted a wolf management plan in 2010.
“The plan describes a ‘common sense approach’ to wolf management,” according to a Red Lake news release, “where wolf issues are addressed on a case-by-case basis, and management actions will promote co-existence with this top-level predator.”

The Leech Lake Band has banned enrolled members from hunting wolves, and tribal land is off limits, but non-native lands within the boundaries of the Leech Lake Reservation are open to wolf hunting, according to Steve Mortensen, fish wildlife and plant resources director.

He said as of Tuesday, Oct. 30, the tribe is still discussing whether to ban wolf hunting all together on the entire reservation.
Leech Lake has a draft of an Eastern Timber Wolf Management Plan, which was started in January, but that plan has yet to be enacted.

Wolves are considered sacred in native tradition and Swan said the hunt is partially a cultural matter.
“Our creation story has the wolf in it,” he said. “And one of our clans is the Wolf Clan.”
But the White Earth DNR has to also consider other possibilities.

“Do we have a viable wolf population out there, and if we do, is it affecting our deer population,” Swan said. “So those are biological things we have to take a look at and those things weren’t even considered when the state did this.”
A modern wolf hunt, Swan said, is more of a sport hunt.

“We kind of look at our hunting, fishing and gathering as more a sustenance — something we’re going to kill and something we’re going to eat. And we don’t see (hunters) doing that with the wolf,” he said.
Swan said he believes there are two active wolf packs that roam the reservation, each with 6 to 8 wolves.

“But they do cover a large area,” he said. “All we can say is the same as everybody else — we really don’t know (how many wolves there are).”

source

Ojibwe bands ban wolf hunting - but only on Indian-controlled lands

by Dan Kraker, Minnesota Public Radio

October 31, 2012

<iframe title="minnesota_general_features_2012_10_31_wolvesreservations_20121031_64s_player" type="text/html" width="319" height="83" src="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/syndicate.php?name=minnesota/general/features/2012/10/31/wolvesreservations_20121031_64" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

FOND DU LAC RESERVATION — Minnesota's inaugural regulated wolf hunt, set to begin Saturday, is being received with sadness by many Ojibwe people.

The wolf plays a central role in the Ojibwe, or Anishinaabe creation story, in which man and wolf traveled the world together and spoke the same language. Wolves are often described as family members. That's what makes a wolf hunt so painful to many Ojibwe, who hold the wolf sacred.
"It's viewed as a brotherhood. That's probably the best way I've heard it explained," said Thomas Howes, natural resources program manager for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. "That's the philosophy behind it."

For them, killing the animals is unthinkable. To guard against it, all seven of Minnesota's Ojibwe bands forbid wolf hunting on their lands. They've also issued strongly worded proclamations declaring wolf "sanctuaries," banning wolf hunting by anyone, Indian or non-Indian, within their boundaries.

Thomas Howes

"Certainly we'll be keeping a close eye on all of our borders," said Karen Diver, chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band west of Duluth. "And we are asking non-band member hunters to respect the outer boundaries of the Fond du Lac reservation and not hunt within our borders."

The problem is that the Fond du Lac Band only owns about a third of the land within its borders. The rest is a checkerboard of private, county, state and federal land.

On some other reservations, tribes own even less. The Leech Lake band only owns 4 percent of land within the reservation. White Earth, 10 percent. Only the Red Lake and Grand Portage tribes own all, or virtually all, of the land on their reservations.

Diver said the Fond du Lac band is reviewing its legal options to stop hunting within its borders.
"We do have quite a bit of regulatory authority within our reservations, so we're trying to see what we may do to further discourage that activity in our borders," she said.

Earlier this year, the Fond du Lac band and others asked the state of Minnesota to close their reservations to wolf hunting. They argued it would still leave the vast majority of the state's wolf range open to hunting. But state Department of Natural Resources officials denied their request.
In Wisconsin, however, natural resources officials did agree to close that state's Ojibwe reservations to hunting. Minnesota's refusal to do so irks Diver.

Karen Diver

"To me it's a truly sad day in Minnesota, when tribal-state relations have been [eclipsed] by the state of Wisconsin, because there was a time when that was fractious and violent over there," she said. "They are certainly right now an example to the Minnesota DNR in terms of working with their own tribal people."

Wisconsin also reserved 85 wolf-hunting licenses out of the total state hunting quota of 201 wolves for the state's six Ojibwe bands, although the tribes have said they don't intend to hunt any wolves. A 1983 court decision affirmed that the bands retained hunting and gathering rights off their reservations, a ruling that sparked anger among some white hunters in northern Wisconsin.
But Minnesota DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said private landowners within reservation borders should have the right to hunt. Landwehr said it's not the department's job to consider cultural arguments while managing the wolf hunt. Instead, he said, its purpose is to manage a biologically sustainable wolf population.

"Frankly, it's not necessary for the biology, for sustaining the population, to close the public lands within there," Landwehr said. "So we acknowledge and respect their desire to close the tribal lands, but declined to close the other private or public lands."

Landwehr said he has spoken to Diver and officials on the White Earth reservation and is optimistic they won't overstep their authority.

"From the state's opinion, if a band tried to assert hunting control or trapping control on non-tribal lands, they would be in violation of the law," Landwehr said. "So at some point they would end up in court, if they try to enforce that."

Both the Fond du Lac and White Earth bands say they don't intend to close roads, or confiscate hunters' guns.

Michael Swan, director of natural resources at White Earth, said has told his conservation officers to use caution when informing wolf hunters of the tribe's position on hunting. They should "use respect, inquire about it [and] let them know that this is the position of the tribe," he said.

If the hunters are on tribal land, they will be asked to leave, Swan said.

"If they're not, we're not telling them to leave, just get them well aware of it," he said.

While the bands acknowledge their legal authority over land they don't own may be limited, they still intend to make a point. White Earth resident Bob Shimek is organizing a picket of the reservation boundaries this weekend that he hopes will draw a couple of hundred participants.

"First of all [we want] to welcome people to the White Earth sanctuary," Shimek said. "Second, we're going to remind people, no wolf hunting allowed within the exterior boundaries of the White Earth Indian reservation."

But that's a fine line Shimek is walking, since the band owns only 10 percent of the land within those reservation boundaries.

"This is a typical clash of cultures," Shimek said.

source