Will Minnesota have a wolf-hunting season again? That’s one of many questions now that federal officials reportedly plan to lift protections for grey wolves across the Lower 48 states. Doctor Maureen Hackett with the group Howling for Wolves says, “There are a lot of unknowns and it is my hope that, at minimum, we do not have a wolf hunt.”
Minnesota D-N-R officials weren’t reachable for comment on whether they’ll re-instate Minnesota’s wolf hunting season if federal protections are lifted. There have been bills introduced at the legislature to prohibit a wolf hunting season in Minnesota, but no vote.
Hackett wants a re-evaluation of the original wolf management plan from the late 1990s to “look at all those aspects of the plan that were never implemented, like increasing the public’s tolerance, teaching the public how to co-exist with wolves, leaving farmers with methods for prevention [of livestock depredation] so that we don’t have mass killing of wolves.” Officials with the Minnesota D-N-R weren’t immediately reachable for comment.