PLEASE, PLEASE count the wolves, put an end to the propaganda once and for all
Posted by Jesse White on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Under: Gray wolf
It seems like every month the gray wolf is back in the news and I find myself getting more and more irritated by the conversation.
Why? It's not because I harbor some hatred for the animal. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I believe there is a place for the wolf in our world and like any other animal, I believe it should be treated with respect.
That being said, however, I've also maintained the wolf needs to be managed in Minnesota. The packs can no longer run unchecked. The population's turnaround in the state - from nearly gone in the 1970's to thousands in the woods today - has been an extraordinary example of how the endangered species, along with good, sound science and wildlife management, can save a section of our wildlife from extinction.
Today the gray wolf population is thriving - some would say growing by leaps and bounds - and it is time to stop with the lawsuits and constant propaganda painting hunters, trappers and the DNR as blood thirsty bad guys and gals, and time for us to let the experts take over and manage the the population.
BUT NOOOOO, that's not what's happening. Instead, groups like "Howling for Wolves" continue to push their anti-hunting agenda and of course the brains that power the capital in St. Paul (and I use the term brains loosely as I have little faith left in our elected officials) are listening.
Howling recently paid a Washington, D.C.-based company called Lake Research Partners to poll Minnesota registered voters on whether or not they favored a five-year delay before the state holds another wolf hunting season. According to the results, nearly two-thirds of the 600 people polled said there is no reason for a hunt.
As you may or may not know, Minnesota held it's first wolf hunting and trapping season this past fall after the wolf was de-listed by the federal government earlier in 2012. Hunters and trappers harvested 412 wolves, a dozen more than a pre-season estimate and goal of 400. The DNR issued 2,400 licenses and hunters had a 6.6 percent success rate, according to the agency.
The season has been done for three months now but this poll was done at the end of February to coincide with a bill to delay the next hunting season for five years the Minnesota Legislature is considering.
Five years.
That number is significant only because a wolf-advisory committee suggested it as the number of years that should come between when the wolf was de-listed and when hunting should begin 10 YEARS AGO - way back at the start of the on and off again de-listing process and before hundreds of thousands of dollars were wasted through frivolous lawsuits.
A decade later the wolf is finally off the list and there are an estimated 3,000 of them in the state of Minnesota. Well, maybe a little less now. Or maybe a lot more. We don't really know and that also pissed off the anti-hunting nuts as, according to the poll results, nearly 75 percent of the respondents thought there should have been a population survey before the first hunt.
I agree. It should have been done and I can't wait until it is (The DNR is currently doing a survey) )and reality sets in as we find out there are most likely a lot more wolves out there than we thought. And if there are more than 3,000, maybe it will finally put the question of whether or not the population has rebounded to rest once and for all.
But I doubt it. They'll find something else to complain about and another reason to put up their heinous billboards.
So be it, I guess. It's a free country and we all have a right to our opinion.
But what really pisses me off is these people expend SO MUCH energy worrying about a wolf when other issues go by the wayside. Imagine if they put this much passion (AND MONEY) into something more relevant to the human condition.
Imagine the possibilities.
Why? It's not because I harbor some hatred for the animal. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I believe there is a place for the wolf in our world and like any other animal, I believe it should be treated with respect.
That being said, however, I've also maintained the wolf needs to be managed in Minnesota. The packs can no longer run unchecked. The population's turnaround in the state - from nearly gone in the 1970's to thousands in the woods today - has been an extraordinary example of how the endangered species, along with good, sound science and wildlife management, can save a section of our wildlife from extinction.
Today the gray wolf population is thriving - some would say growing by leaps and bounds - and it is time to stop with the lawsuits and constant propaganda painting hunters, trappers and the DNR as blood thirsty bad guys and gals, and time for us to let the experts take over and manage the the population.
BUT NOOOOO, that's not what's happening. Instead, groups like "Howling for Wolves" continue to push their anti-hunting agenda and of course the brains that power the capital in St. Paul (and I use the term brains loosely as I have little faith left in our elected officials) are listening.
Howling recently paid a Washington, D.C.-based company called Lake Research Partners to poll Minnesota registered voters on whether or not they favored a five-year delay before the state holds another wolf hunting season. According to the results, nearly two-thirds of the 600 people polled said there is no reason for a hunt.
As you may or may not know, Minnesota held it's first wolf hunting and trapping season this past fall after the wolf was de-listed by the federal government earlier in 2012. Hunters and trappers harvested 412 wolves, a dozen more than a pre-season estimate and goal of 400. The DNR issued 2,400 licenses and hunters had a 6.6 percent success rate, according to the agency.
The season has been done for three months now but this poll was done at the end of February to coincide with a bill to delay the next hunting season for five years the Minnesota Legislature is considering.
Five years.
That number is significant only because a wolf-advisory committee suggested it as the number of years that should come between when the wolf was de-listed and when hunting should begin 10 YEARS AGO - way back at the start of the on and off again de-listing process and before hundreds of thousands of dollars were wasted through frivolous lawsuits.
A decade later the wolf is finally off the list and there are an estimated 3,000 of them in the state of Minnesota. Well, maybe a little less now. Or maybe a lot more. We don't really know and that also pissed off the anti-hunting nuts as, according to the poll results, nearly 75 percent of the respondents thought there should have been a population survey before the first hunt.
I agree. It should have been done and I can't wait until it is (The DNR is currently doing a survey) )and reality sets in as we find out there are most likely a lot more wolves out there than we thought. And if there are more than 3,000, maybe it will finally put the question of whether or not the population has rebounded to rest once and for all.
But I doubt it. They'll find something else to complain about and another reason to put up their heinous billboards.
So be it, I guess. It's a free country and we all have a right to our opinion.
But what really pisses me off is these people expend SO MUCH energy worrying about a wolf when other issues go by the wayside. Imagine if they put this much passion (AND MONEY) into something more relevant to the human condition.
Imagine the possibilities.
In : Gray wolf
Tags: wolf minnesota hunt dnr
A former outdoors writer and reporter for the Mesabi Daily News in Virginia, MN, and the Daily Tribune in Hibbing, MN, Jesse has been in the newspaper business for nearly 20 years. His numerous awards over the past two decades include five first-place awards from the Associated Press; two first-place National Newspaper awards; and a first-place Minnesota Newspaper Association award. He is an avid hunter and angler and enjoys guns and archery.
