A Briefing: Impact of Delisting on Great Lakes Wolves

It wasn’t coincidental that US Interior Secretary Bernhardt went to Minnesota last October to announce the delisting of gray wolves in the Lower 48. Wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan will suffer significant losses with their delisting from Endangered Species Act protection.

The USFWS claims that the wolf population in the Great Lakes area has recovered enough to sustain wolf populations elsewhere in the Lower 48. They estimate about 4,200 wolves live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 

The USFWS adds that the few wolves that occur “outside of the Great Lakes area, including those in the West Coast States and central Rocky Mountains as well as lone dispersers in other states, are not necessary…” for the recovered status of wolves in the Lower 48. 

The delisting took effect on January 4, 2021, and state and tribal agencies are now creating and implementing their wolf management plans.

Let’s take a look at the situation for wolves in each of the three Great Lakes states. 

MINNESOTA

The most recent report from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) estimates 2,696 wolves in the state. That is the largest wolf population in the Lower 48. The wolves roam northern and central Minnesota. 

Minnesota’s current wolf management plan was written in 2001. The DNR plans to have its new wolf management plan drafted by early 2021. A decision on hunting would occur after that new plan is released.

But wolves could be in for a rough time even without a formal hunting season. “Because of the success of wolf conservation in Minnesota and the fact that wolves and humans share the same landscape, there is also the potential for conflict,” Dave Olfelt, Department of Natural Resources Fish and Wildlife Division director, said in a press release. “Management balances a robust wolf population with effective tools for addressing conflicts with livestock and pets.” In other words, wolves will be killed.

As of January 4, Minnesota recognizes two wolf management zones. The rules in each zone seem intended to keep wolves contained in the northeastern part of the state.

In Zone A, the northeastern part of Minnesota, state law allows owners of livestock, guard animals, or domestic animals to shoot or destroy wolves that pose an immediate threat to their animals, on property they own or lease. “Immediate threat” means the owner observed a wolf in the act of stalking, attacking, or killing livestock, a guard animal, or a domestic pet that was under the supervision of the owner.

In Zone B, the southern two-thirds of Minnesota, that “immediate threat” circumstance does not apply. A person may shoot a wolf at any time to protect livestock, domestic animals or domestic pets on land they own, lease, or manage. People in Zone B also may employ a state certified wolf predator controller to trap wolves on or within one mile of land they own, lease or manage.

State statute also allows harassment of wolves that are within 500 yards of people, buildings, livestock, or domestic pets to discourage wolves from contacting people and domestic animals. Harassment cannot result in physical harm to the wolves.

Similar to federal regulations, state statute allows anyone to take a wolf to defend human life. On their website, the DNR reports only one instance of a wolf attacking a human. In August 2013, a physically deformed and brain-damaged wolf bit a teenager near Lake Winnibigoshish.

WISCONSIN

The most recent Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) monitoring report estimates a minimum of 1,034 wolves in Wisconsin, primarily across the northern third of the state and the Central Forest region.

Wisconsin DNR is working to complete a 10-year wolf management plan to help guide future management decisions for the state’s wolves. The DNR reports on its website that it has "successfully managed gray wolves for decades and will continue to do so in accordance with the laws of our state and the best science available.”

State law requires a wolf hunting and trapping season to be held when the species is not under protections of the Endangered Species Act. After Wisconsin announced that its wolf hunting season would begin on November 6, 2021, a group of Republican legislators pushed to have the wolf hunt begin right away, in January or February. This proposal was voted down at an emergency meeting of the citizen board that sets policy for the DNR.

On its Facebook page the DNR states that until the official hunting season starts it is illegal to shoot a wolf unless there is an immediate threat to human safety. There has never been a verified wolf attack on a human in Wisconsin. 

However, on private land you can shoot and kill wolves that are in the act of killing, wounding or biting a domestic animal.

Wisconsin managed wolves from 2012 to 2014. The state held three hunting and trapping seasons and 528 wolves were killed. A federal judge returned wolves to the Endangered Species List in December 2014.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the current delisting also triggered a change in the funding source and the timing of payments for wolf depredations. When protected by the ESA, compensation for depredation was drawn from the state's endangered resources fund. The money must now come from proceeds of sales of wolf hunting and trapping licenses and applications.

Under state management, payouts for wolf depredations will also be delayed until the end of the year. Payouts could be reduced if enough money is not available.

State statute allows payments of $2,500 to hound hunters and others who have lost dogs to wolves. This compensation could be reduced if enough money is not available.

Wisconsin wolves face the same dangerous attitudes as wolves managed by other states. The president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation told a Door County reporter that too many wolves not only have an impact on deer and elk populations, they also create a headache for livestock producers.

MICHIGAN

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is home to 695 wolves, according to the most recent Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) study. The state’s wolf population has ranged from 600 to 700 over the last ten years.

While federally protected under the ESA, wolves in Michigan could only be killed in immediate defense of human life. While federally protected, two state laws that allowed livestock and dog owners to kill predator wolves were suspended; state permits issued to livestock producers to kill wolves became invalid; and lethal control methods could not be used, according to the DNR.

But in 2013, when wolves were last delisted, Michigan held a wolf hunt and 23 wolves were killed. When wolves were relisted by court order in 2014, the state lost authority to use lethal means of management.

Since January’s delisting, Michigan DNR has stated there will not be a hunting season until the state’s Wolf Management Plan is updated, a public attitude survey is completed, and Tribal Consultation is conducted. The current plan was updated in 2015.

But there will be pressure to hunt and trap wolves. A Citizen Advisory Group recently approved a resolution that called for wolf hunting to be expanded to cover the entire Upper Peninsula and include trapping. The goal would be to maintain a population of 300 to 400 wolves. That’s about half the current population.

WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW TO HELP PROTECT WOLVES?

Sooner or later, with delisting in effect, wolves will die. The Humane Society of the United States recalls that when wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan lost their ESA protection in 2011, nearly 1500 wolves were killed in the three hunting seasons before wolves were relisted in 2014 after a court battle.

Hopefully, the courts will eventually roll back the recent delisting because of low wolf numbers, loss of wolf habitat, and lack of scientific rigor. But there is no guarantee. 

Given that the fate of wolves will likely be in the hands of state and tribal agencies for some time, we must fight for wolves at that level. Here’s a link to the Center for Biological Diversity page where you can tell the governors of states with wolves to act in a way that helps wolves recover.  

We can also ask the Biden administration to begin the process of restoring ESA protections for gray wolves. Here’s a link to the Wildearth Guardians page and a petition you can sign.

You can also donate to the organizations that are fighting the delisting in court. The Western Environmental Law Center represents WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, Cascadia Wildlands, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Environmental Protection Information Center, The Lands Council, Wildlands Network, and Klamath Forest Alliance.

Earthjustice represents Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Oregon Wild, National Parks Conservation Association, and The Humane Society of the United States. 

The Natural Resources Defense Council has also sued the USFWS over the delisting.

Legal battles are expensive and these organizations need our financial support. Please give what you can. 

Thanks for taking action, and I’ll keep you updated as this battle progresses.

Image Credits: 

Wolf staring via Wisconsin DNR

Minnesota map via Minnesota DNR

Wisconsin map via Wisconsin DNR

Wolf howling via Michigan DNR

Rick Lamplugh writes, photographs, and speaks to protect wildlife and wild lands.

His bestselling In the Temple of Wolves; its sequel, Deep into Yellowstone; and its prequel, The Wilds of Aging are available signed. His books are also available unsigned or as eBook or audiobook on Amazon.

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