# Wolf hunting petition



## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

There is a petition circulating around so if anyone is interested please PM me and I can tell them to send a petition. This forces the DNR to actually DO something about the wolf problem. Right now the USDA is the only sole group reducing the packs that cause problems. Brian Rhuel the wolf director needs to be told he's not doing enough. The petition is to support present legislation to list the wolf as a predator and to open hunting and trapping seasons. There is legislation being written up in Lansing just for this. It has been researched by the legislative research department and needs support from the rest of the polititians but will be introduced this fall. These polititians need to be commended to bringing up the bill and forcing the state to take action.


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## M1Garand (Apr 12, 2006)

I'm all for hunting if there's an adequate population but I'm not sure what "problem" you're referring to. If it's hunter competition....that's not a problem, issues with livestock or human safety are.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

The problem is they are already over populated without any means by the DNR to "cull". The USDA has been taking care of the problem Michigan wolves who take calves and other livestock. To this day not one CO from the U.P. has killed a problem wolf! The DNR states there are over 500 wolves but in reality there is close to 800 to 1,000. They count them just like they do the deer, and do not count any single wolves outside a pack, just packs from the air with 7 different aircraft throughout the U.P.


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## crittergetter (Feb 14, 2005)

Gee, lets re-introduce Moose back into the U.P. and then introduce their Number one predator. I've heard that in Yellowstone, you hardly see Elk anymore and that most of the outfitters in the area have gone out of business. I've also heard, that the wolf are finding denned bears in the U.P. and killing them while hibernating. 

Anyway to get an online petition going?


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

WAUB-MUKWA said:


> ,,,, They count them just like they do the deer, and do not count any single wolves outside a pack, just packs from the air with 7 different aircraft throughout the U.P.


:lol:


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## BlackCoyote (Sep 11, 2006)

I think everyone needs to see the data regarding wolf population,and any data on livestock damage actual numbers, and what means the livestock owners are doing to protect there livestock. The UP is 16,452 square miles, and let's use your population of 1000 wolves, that's only 1 wolf for every 16.45 Square miles. I doubt that's considered a huntable or trapable population. 

I'm all for hunting and trapping wolves. I just like to see all the facts first.


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## Mark-n-Fish (Dec 21, 2004)

If you send me a petition I will sign it.
Mark


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## Brown duck (Dec 16, 2005)

WAUB-MUKWA said:


> The DNR states there are over 500 wolves but in reality there is close to 800 to 1,000.


And your estimate comes from...


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

BlackCoyote said:


> I think everyone needs to see the data regarding wolf population,and any data on livestock damage actual numbers, and what means the livestock owners are doing to protect there livestock. The UP is 16,452 square miles, and let's use your population of 1000 wolves, that's only 1 wolf for every 16.45 Square miles. I doubt that's considered a huntable or trapable population.
> 
> I'm all for hunting and trapping wolves. I just like to see all the facts first.


The most concentration of wolves in the U.P. are in Gogebic County and there are over 100 alone in that County so per square in certain area's its way over your estimate.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

Brown duck said:


> And your estimate comes from...


Common sense, abundant food resources and good weather, dry dens in the spring would put the DNR's estimate higher than they said.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

crittergetter said:


> Anyway to get an online petition going?


We are working on that now.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

Here is the link to the petition online. A buddy just made it up. He is a "Technotard" but it will work.

All you have to do is just put your Name, County and the Date. You do not have to register either. 

http://miwolfpetition.informe.com/forum/


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## M1Garand (Apr 12, 2006)

WAUB-MUKWA said:


> The problem is they are already over populated without any means by the DNR to "cull". The USDA has been taking care of the problem Michigan wolves who take calves and other livestock. To this day not one CO from the U.P. has killed a problem wolf! The DNR states there are over 500 wolves but in reality there is close to 800 to 1,000. They count them just like they do the deer, and do not count any single wolves outside a pack, just packs from the air with 7 different aircraft throughout the U.P.


Ok...is there a biologist or official stating they're overpopulated or is that your opinion? Is there been a problem with them and livestock? And the DNR has some very good people working for them with far greater knowledge than you or I. I highly doubt your estimate of their numbers is more accurate than theirs. Have you done any population studies to base this number on? 



WAUB-MUKWA said:


> Common sense, abundant food resources and good weather, dry dens in the spring would put the DNR's estimate higher than they said..


And you know this because you're a biologist with a background in population dynamics or is this an opinion? I'm just trying to acertain the accuracy of your statements.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

Yes, there is livestock being killed in numerous U.P. Counties. No, i'm no biologist but do ADC work in the west end and their numbers are off because they don't count solitary wolves, just the packs, and most of their counts are done driving down 2-tracks counting wolf droppings in the road.


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## Brown duck (Dec 16, 2005)

I suppose no one in the managing agencies has any common sense? Is that the implication? 

I can't say that I know a whole lot about estimating wolf populations, nor do I know a whole lot about their methodology, but in the early 2000's, USFWS biologists had traps set up throughout the UP, I spoke with them one morning and they informed me that they were radio-tagging several wolves that summer. The data that could be taken from that study would be invaluable. These are trained researchers, they are not dummies. They may be limited by funding, but not by know-how. I'll take their estimate any day.

It makes me think of last fall - everyone complained that MI Congress was not allowing the managing agency (MDNR) to do what they felt was right concerning the dove hunt. Now, those who want a petition are doing the same thing.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

No, not really, but you're entitled to your opinion.


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## Mark-n-Fish (Dec 21, 2004)

It makes me think of last fall - everyone complained that MI Congress was not allowing the managing agency (MDNR) to do what they felt was right concerning the dove hunt. Now, those who want a petition are doing the same thing.[/quote]

Not really. The animal rights activists did not want a dove hunt and they convinced non hunters to vote against the dove hunt. I want a dove hunt. I would also hunt wolves too.


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## Brown duck (Dec 16, 2005)

Mark-n-Fish said:


> It makes me think of last fall - everyone complained that MI Congress was not allowing the managing agency (MDNR) to do what they felt was right concerning the dove hunt. Now, those who want a petition are doing the same thing.


Not really. The animal rights activists did not want a dove hunt and they convinced non hunters to vote against the dove hunt. I want a dove hunt. I would also hunt wolves too.[/quote]

Yes, that is what happened, but those in favor of the dove hunt (including myself) argued that it should not be put up to the public to decide, rather the agency that was supposed to have control over management should have been able to make the decision. Now those arguing for a wolf hunt are trying to do just that.


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## MAttt (Dec 15, 2004)

Wolves should not be hunted in Michigan, but simply eradicated like
any other worthless varmit.
But they are a federally protected varmit now and probably will never
be hunted imo with todays tree hugger society.\

As far as doves go, I know quite a few hunters who voted against it including myself.
No need for a couple hundred extra shots going off in the fields and disturbing the hunting woods for a few high classed pigeons.
That's what Ohios for.:lol:

Mattt


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## Fecus (Apr 12, 2006)

If you don't have confidence in the DNRs count what makes you think they will come up with a viable quota?


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

Sorry, I also forgot to add that these two legislators are listing the wolf as a Predator and would then be added to hunt/trap.


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## WAUB-MUKWA (Dec 13, 2003)

Marquette Mining Journal 8-17-07 


Michigan Wolf Management Plan released 

By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Staff Writer 


MARQUETTE  The Michigan Department of Natural Resources Thursday released its draft Michigan Wolf Management Plan, which is now available for public review and comment for 90 days. 


The plan would allow the state to use lethal means to deal with problem wolves, in certain circumstances, after other non-lethal methods have failed. 


The new document, which was presented Thursday to the Natural Resources Commission in Lansing, updates an original Michigan wolf management plan finalized in 1997. 


The 94-page plan incorporates public input, scientific literature, consultation with wolf experts, the results of an extensive public attitude study conducted by Michigan State University and recommendations of the Michigan Wolf Management Roundtable  a 20-member committee convened by the DNR to represent the diverse range of wolf-related interests across the state. 


Numerous ideas posed by the roundtable were included in the plan when a consensus could be reached. The committee was widely divided on the proposed recreational hunting of wolves. No consensus was reached on that issue. 


Weve taken all the guidelines that were created by the roundtable and drafted a plan, said Michigan Wolf Coordinator Brian Roell, of the DNRs Marquette office. Were now rolling this out to the citizens of Michigan. Its going to basically replace the plan that was done in 1997. 


Public comment will be solicited until Nov. 14. 


After that, DNR wildlife division staff will consider comments received in creating a final version of the wolf management plan, which will be presented to DNR Director Rebecca Humphries for approval. Comment will be solicited on the final plan before it is adopted, likely in spring of next year. 


The draft plan outlines four principal goals, which are to maintain a viable Michigan wolf population above a level that would warrant classification as threatened or endangered; maintain positive wolf-related interactions at socially acceptable levels; minimize negative wolf-related interactions; and conduct wolf management according to methods acceptable to Michigan society. 


In order to meet these goals, the plan outlines strategies to address several issues: information and education, research, regulatory protection, wolf prey and habitat, diseases, human safety, depredation of domestic animals, public harvest, and wolfdog hybrids. 


Roell said that in 1997, the state had comparatively few wolves and efforts were focused on recovering wolf populations from endangered status. Since then, the wolf population size has grown to more than 500 wolves in the Upper Peninsula and their distribution has expanded widely. 


Today, state wildlife officials are now focused on managing wolf populations, using an understanding of wolf biology that has improved over the past decade. 


Were beyond recovery now and we need to consider the social factors as well as biological factors in wolf management in the state of Michigan, Roell said. 


Gray wolves are currently threatened species in Michigan. Wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin were taken off the federal endangered and threatened species lists on March 12. That action by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shifted management of the species to those three states according to their individually developed wolf management plans. 


Marvin Roberson, a Michigan Sierra Club forest ecologist from Skandia, was one of the roundtable members. He praised the DNR for having the foresight to gather diverse wolf interests together to work out issues to be included in the plan. 


I thought the process was extremely successful, Roberson said. Overall, I thought it was a spectacular process. 


Roberson said almost all of the issues Sierra Club members wanted included in the plan were addressed. One issue of particular importance to the group was recognizing the cultural significance of wolves to Native Americans. A tenet the group had hoped for but was not adopted was a ban on hunting wolves. 


John Hongisto of Deerton represented the Upper Peninsula Sportsmens Alliance on the roundtable. He said he initially was as welcome as Typhoid Mary on the panel because he has opinions many people are opposed to, including support for recreational wolf hunting and rejection of the DNRs insisting wolves migrated to the Upper Peninsula on their own to establish the current population. 


Hongisto said wolves were transferred to the U.P. from Minnesota, a contention he says is supported by some wolf experts and anecdotal evidence in the field. 


It bothers me that these people (the DNR) have lied to us on this issue since day one, Hongisto said. 


Hongisto said he thinks he may have changed some minds working on the committee. 


While they might not necessarily agree with my stands, I think I have their respect, he said. 


Hongisto said that although he took his responsibility on the roundtable seriously, which involved a lot of work, he says experts in the know, and not committees, should determine wolf management decisions. 


Thats why we have wildlife managers, Hongisto said. 


Hongisto said many aspects of the plan would most likely be decided by courts of law. 


Five parties, including the Humane Society of the United States, have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the federal delisting decision made earlier this year. Roell said an appellate court will likely hear that lawsuit late this year. 


If the opposition parties prevail, and wolves are returned to endangered federal status, much of Michigans wolf management plan would be in conflict with that decision. Many facets of the plan were written based on the assumption that wolves were delisted, Roell said. 


The draft wolf management plan is available on the Michigan DNR Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr Requests for hard copies can be sent to: Michigan DNR Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 30444, Lansing, MI 48909. 


Comments can be e-mailed to: [email protected]; or mailed to: Wolf Plan Comments, Attn: Endangered Species Coordinator, Michigan DNR Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 30444, Lansing, MI 48909.


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