By Sara Bredesen | Regional Editor
Legislation that would make it legal to hunt wolves in Michigan went to Governor Rick Snyder’s desk after the state’s House of Representatives approved it 66-43 Dec. 13. A similar bill passed the senate in November.
If signed by Snyder, the bill would authorize a hunt that would most likely center on the Upper Peninsula where livestock farmers have reported problems, according to a news release from the Michigan Farm Bureau Federation. Since 2009, when Great Lakes Wolves were declared endangered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources verified more than 100 livestock kills by wolves on almost 20 farms. There also were numerous pet kills and nuisance calls, the WFB said.
Non-lethal methods, including noise makers, flags and flashing lights have been the only recourse for farmers like Dave Bahrman, who raises beef cattle, hay and potatoes near Rumely in Alger County along Lake Superior.
“This move will help farmers and non-farmers alike in helping control the wolf population,” Bahrman said. MFB reported him saying that the predators’ tastes don’t distinguish between sheep and Shih Tzus.
Hunters have complained that wolves are reducing the number of available deer in the U.P., but DNR figures show that the number annually eaten by wolves — 17,000 to 29,000 — is relatively small compared to human-caused deaths at about 64,000 and weather-related deaths that can range from about 35,000 deer in a mild winter to 105,000 in a severe winter. Wolves also are more likely to be taking injured and diseased deer that would otherwise die on their own, the DNR said.
Great Lakes wolves were federally delisted just a year ago, and Wisconsin quickly developed rules for a wolf hunting season. Michigan is expected to follow suit with rules coming from the state’s Natural Resources Commission.
An estimated 687 gray wolves lived in the U.P. in 2011.