JIM LYNCH
THE DETROIT NEWS
Opponents of Michigan’s upcoming wolf hunt say data used to justify the program are skewed by events at one cattle farm in Ontonagon County.
In November, as many as 1,200 hunters will take to three designated areas in the Upper Peninsula for the first sanctioned wolf hunt in roughly half a century. State officials approved the controversial hunt after wolf-livestock incidents increased in recent years. Licenses will go on sale Saturday at noon.
But members of Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, a group that has lobbied against the state’s hunt, say the statistics are bolstered by a single cattle farm near Matchwood owned by John Koski. According to the organization:
■ 73 percent of the 78 wolf-livestock incidents in Area B of the designated wolf hunt zones involved cattle from Koski’s farm between 2010 and 2013.
■ 80 percent of all livestock killed in Area B during that period were from Koski’s farm.
■ 64 percent of all cattle killed by wolves in the Upper Peninsula since 2013 came from Koskis’ farm.
Jill Fritz, of Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, said the statistics paint an inaccurate picture of how bad the wolf situation is in the Upper Peninsula. Koski’s failure to take even basic steps to protect his animals makes that situation look worse, she said.
“(Koski) has basically set up a smorgasbord for predators on his farm — leaving carcasses around, not putting up fencing,” she said. “He’s basically putting out a welcome mat for predators of all kinds.”
Gray wolves had been on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species list for almost four decades before they were removed in early 2012. During that span, the population in Michigan grew from a handful to 658.
By December, Gov. Rick Snyder had signed Public Act 520 that allowed a wolf hunt — something many state residents felt was necessary to contain the growing wolf population.
Koski could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials confirmed there are steps the farmer could take to potentially decrease the number of wolf attacks on his property, but he has done nothing considered illegal.
But even taking Koski’s farm out of the equation would not alter the need for a wolf hunt, said Brian Roell, a DNR wildlife biologist.
“We’ve had 13 total farms, just since 2010, that have had depredation, just in that management area alone,” he said. The state designated for the wolf hunt “places where they were having (wolf-livestock) conflict, not the severity of the conflict.”