Many Michigan animal advocates can’t remember a time when the gray wolf was not an issue. This week they are back on the front burner with the release of the state’s wolf count and a senate committee set to consider a bill that provides for licenses to hunt this species which is still protected under the Endangered Species Act. There is little doubt that wolves will remain a flash-point for years to come.
Wolves have been a federally protected species since 1973 (and were protected by Michigan from 1965 to 2009). For approximately 1/4 of those 47 years, there has been a concerted effort to “delist” gray wolves, thereby turning management over to the states. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are home to the western great lakes gray wolf, and these states are epicenters of controversy over the continuing protection of the species. Animal advocates, AFA included, argue that the best science does not support removing wolves from Endangered Species status, and that the states, in a rush to begin a trophy hunt, will not properly manage them and the species’s gradual return from the brink will be imperiled.
The Michigan DNR released its biennial wolf count this week with an estimated 695 individuals. The numbers were described as “steady” and “stable”. The DNR’s acting Wildlife Division chief announced: “Our survey results continue to demonstrate that Michigan’s wolf population has recovered.”
We say: not so fast. Wolves were nearly extirpated due to federal government policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the DNR website, by 1973 there were only 6 wolves remaining in the state. When the DNR began counting in the late 1980’s, there were only a handful; by 1992, there were 20. The number has fluctuated between 600 and 700 over the past decade.
This is hardly a population explosion. While we do not discount — and even celebrate — the return of wolves from the brink of extinction, we are concerned that those who want to see wolves hunted are painting an overly rosy picture of their recovery.
That brings us to a bill in the Michigan senate, SB 367. Ostensibly a bill to provide discounts on hunting and fishing licenses to certain nonresidents, it contains this curious (unless one is steeped in wolf politics) provision (page 3, lines 1-3): “For a qualified nonresident, the fee for a nonresident wolf hunting license is $250.” It was introduced in 2019 and languished until it was set for committee hearing this past week. Although it was not heard on Wednesday, we expect the committee to take it up at their next meeting. We see this as a pattern of pro-wolf hunt proponents keeping the issue front and center, and laying the groundwork for a quick hunt should the federal government succeed in delisting the wolf.
One final note: the DNR itself does not see a quick resolution to this issue:
“Before we’d consider any recommendation, we feel it’s necessary for the legal status of wolves to be more permanently established. Even if it’s delisted in the near future, we would not want to jump on that at the drop of a hat. We want to be sure it’s something that sticks, so we don’t get jerked back and forth.”
Cody Norton, DNR wildlife management specialist