Wolves May Soon Become a Game Species in Minnesota
Mike Bolton 02.29.12
Wolves that just last month were on the endangered species list in Minnesota could very well be a game species by the time the next deer hunting season rolls around in that state.
The opening of Minnesota’s first wolf hunting season would coincide with the opening of the state firearm deer season in fall, according to the text of a bill a state house committee is considering this week. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources had earlier recommended a later season for wolves.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, also shot down a Natural Resources recommendation that wolf hunting and trapping licenses be $50 each. His bill would make those licenses $26, the same as deer hunting licenses.
The bill would allow the harvest of 400 wolves annually and a lottery would be held for awarding licenses.
Minnesota has an estimated 3,000 wolves, the most in the lower 48 states.
Wolves were taken off the endangered species list last month in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, thus giving the individual states the right to determine whether wolves can be hunted within their borders.
Mike Bolton, 56, served as the outdoors writer for the Birmingham News for 25 years until his retirement in 2009. He won the AP Sweepstakes Award for best sports story in Alabama on eight occasions and his stories on the Cahaba River were nominated for a Pulitizer Prize. He has also contributed to Sporting Classics, Bassmaster Magazine, Buckmasters Magazine and other national pubications.
