By STEVE CARMODY
Beginning tomorrow, Michigan hunters will start laying down 100 dollars for a license to hunt wolves in the Upper Peninsula this fall.
State wildlife officials admit they don’t know if the wolf hunt licenses will sell out. The licenses will be available for hunters as young as 10 years old and from out of state.
1200 licenses are being sold for the wolf hunt which starts November 15th.
It’s the first wolf hunt since the Gray Wolf rebounded from near extinction in the Upper Peninsula.
But along with people buying wolf hunting licenses, there will be people working this weekend to protect the wolves.
Jill Fritz is with Keep Michigan Wolves Protected. Her group is collecting signatures on a petition to put a challenge to the wolf hunt law on next year’s ballot.
“We’re encountering an enthusiastic public everywhere we go. Whether we’re out in front of a library in Marquette or at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids,” says Fritz.
The Department of Natural Resources has set a goal of killing 43 wolves in this fall’s hunt. The hunt will take place in 3 separate zones in the Upper Peninsula.
Supporters say the U.P.’s growing wolf population is threatening livestock and household pets. Detractors complain the hunt will indiscriminately kill wolves and may make wolf attacks on livestock more common.