Wolf Bill Caught in Legislature
Good news for all Howling for Wolves supporters. In opening remarks on Tuesday April 17, 2012, to the MN Senate floor, the Game and Fish bill's author Senator Ingebrigtsen stated that the wolf hunt was drawing attention and comments from people locally, across the state and internationally. Keep up the efforts to let our MN state Senators and the Governor know that we want to them to delay the proposal for any wolf hunt by five years per the original wolf management plan.
The MN state senate heard and voted on provisions regarding the Game and Fish bill and then suddenly the bill was "tabled." Tabled means that the bill's fate is not determined and that it may be brought up again this legislative session or possibly not. The following two Star Tribune articles by Doug Smith and Stephanie Hemphill discuss the MN Senate Game and Fish Bill and the difficulties early on during the floor session. Friction regarding license fee increases and the elimination the of the conservation fee stalled the bill.
Stephanie Hemphill writes concerning the wolf hunt and the history of how the original MN Wolf Management Plan's five year wait before a public take (trap or hunt) proposal was eliminated in the summer of 2011.
In commentary with Stephanie Hemphill of MPR, the Cattlemen's Association spokesperson stated that the hunting and trapping of wolves will not affect livestock depredation problems. He stated that livestock depredation is a separate issue and requires funding so that professional trappers can be hired by farmers who have specific livestock by wolf depredation problems.
A wolf hunting season could still come about. While there is a stall in the senate Game and Fish bill, it could still come back this session. Wolf hunting and trapping proposals may happen through a different legislative bill. There are several bills with a wolf hunting provision, HF 2171, SF 1943, SF 1628 and SF 1945.
According to a DNR spokesperson, the DNR can allow a public take on wolves now. But that the DNR would not have a license fee authorization.
http://minnesota.publicradio.