Take Action: Contact your state senator and ask for NO Vote on SB 2969. Tell your senator that wildlife decisions should be made by experts. Let them know that hunters play a key role in conservation, including the control of overpopulated wolves. Click HERE to obtain contact information for your senator.
Ignoring overwhelming evidence that wolf populations are on the rise, a Minnesota senator has introduced legislation that would prohibit the establishment of a hunting season for gray wolves. Current law prohibits the state from opening a hunting season unless the gray wolf is removed from the federal endangered species list. Senate Bill 2969, introduced by Sen. Chris Eaton (DFL-40), removes that stipulation, resulting in a total prohibition on gray wolf hunting regardless of their populations.
These decisions are typically made by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, after consultation with biologists. Senate Bill 2969 removes scientific management of wolves from the department and instead implements a political decision that makes it much harder to repeal should management ever be needed in the future. The bill has been sent to the Senate Committee on Environment and Energy.
The Great Lakes population of wolves has greatly exceeded population targets set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would normally trigger their delisting from endangered status, which would then allow the states, including Minnesota, to actively manage the species. However, a lawsuit brought by anti-hunting groups has led to a federal judge ordering the species to be relisted against the wishes of federal wildlife officials. Congress is considering legislation that would order USFWS to delist the recovered wolves yet again.
With the population of wolves continuing to rise unchecked, the authors of SB 2969 seek a permanent ban on a wolf hunt. In the meantime, the over populated segment of Great Lakes wolves continues to cause damage to both livestock, pets and other wildlife, including moose, deer, cattle, and dogs.
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance:The Sportsmen’s Alliance is a 501 (c) 4 organization that protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 organization that supports the same mission through public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.