By Tim Martin
Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission is poised to vote this week on a recommendation to allow a wolf hunt in the Upper Peninsula.
State wildlife officials from the Department of Natural Resources are recommending a limited hunt in three areas where gray wolves have attacked livestock and pets. A coalition including the Humane Society of the United States is seeking to block the hunt with a possible voter referendum, but the state Legislature has moved to sidestep that effort by approving a new bill that could allow the hunt to proceed anyway.
The Natural Resources Commission is expected to vote on the proposed hunt Thursday at a meeting in Roscommon. A hunt could be held as early as this fall, with a goal of killing a few dozen wolves.
In preparation for Thursday’s vote, the NRC today is expected to hear some testimony related to the wolf hunt proposal.
The Michigan Legislature has approved Senate Bill 288, which would allow the NRC to by itself designate a species as game and allow a hunt. Under current law, the Legislature designates which species are game, and the NRC decides whether to allow a hunt.
Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to soon sign Senate Bill 288, pending a final review of the bill formally sent to him this week.
A coalition called Keep Michigan Wolves Protected says Senate Bill 288 is a deliberate attempt to circumvent their effort to a put a wolf hunt proposal on the November 2014 ballot and negate the collection of more than 255,000 voter signatures. The coalition wants to repeal the 2012 state law that designates the wolf as a game species, allowing the NRC to consider the hunt. A state elections board could verify soon whether the coalition submitted enough voter signatures to make the ballot.
The coalition, backed by the Humane Society of the United States, says Senate Bill 288 would take away the right to vote on wolf hunting and other wildlife issues in the future.
Senate Bill 288 itself does not contain a spending appropriation, so it is possible opponents could try to repeal that law as well.
Keep Michigan Wolves Protected this week urged the Natural Resources Commission to delay its decision until voters decide the issue in November 2014.
“Legislative chicanery must not allow democratic principles to be circumvented and place Michigan’s fragile wolf population at risk,” Jill Fritz, a leader with the coalition and the state chapter of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.
But a delay is highly unlikely. The wolf hunt vote remains on Thursday’s agenda.
Department of Natural Resources spokesman Ed Golder said the NRC “has undertaken a thorough process in reviewing the possibility” of a wolf hunt. “That process has included broad public engagement, government-to-government consultation with Michigan tribes and a complete review of the pertinent science,” Golder said in an email. More input is expected today and before Thursday’s vote.
Supporters of a wolf hunt say the situation is urgent and that current rules allowing farmers to shoot troublesome wolves aren’t sufficient. They say wolves are causing problems and sparking safety concerns in areas including Ironwood, with people living in fear and having to consider whether they should let their children play in backyards.
Some supporters of a wolf hunt question the fairness of leaving the hunting question up to a statewide ballot proposal. They note residents in the affected parts of the Upper Peninsula are vastly outnumbered by residents in the Lower Peninsula where there aren’t any wolves.
Supporters of Senate Bill 288 also say it would help make sure hunting decisions are based on scientific management principles. They say it fits into the spirit of Proposal G, approved by Michigan voters in 1996. It gave the Natural Resources Commission authority to regulate hunting in the state based on scientific management.
The Department of Natural Resources estimates there are about 658 wolves in the Upper Peninsula. That’s down slightly from two years ago but up from roughly 500 in 2008 and roughly 200 in 2000.