Minnesota State Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) and Senate Republicans offered an amendment to the Senate’s environment policy bill on Thursday that would authorize an annual wolf hunting season in Minnesota regardless of any federal prohibition.
The wolf hunt amendment comes as hunters, farmers, and residents across Minnesota have grown increasingly concerned about the state’s wolf population.
“Minnesota hunters and farmers have been extremely vocal about their concerns regarding wolf impacts on deer, livestock and even family pets,” Sen. Eichorn said. “I hear from my constituents about it nearly every day. Unfortunately, the DNR has long dismissed these concerns by lowballing wolf estimates rather than relying on science and transparency. The reality is we have successfully conserved and sustained the wolf population over the last several decades. We should be proud of that, but now it is time to reinforce smart scientific management that maintains our wolf population without allowing excessive growth that threatens deer and moose, livestock, or pets.”
Sen. Eichorn said a regulated hunting season is necessary to properly manage wolves as a game species in Minnesota, just as the DNR manages deer, bear, and other wildlife populations through annual hunting seasons.
The amendment authorized a wolf hunt annually in consultation with the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service to determine season dates, quotas, and other requirements based on scientific wildlife management practices.
Wolves were once nearly eradicated from the lower 48 states before being protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1970, when there were estimated to be between 1,000-2,000 wolves in Minnesota. A report by The Wolf Center on wolf population expansion noted Minnesota’s wolf rebounded to around 2,400 in the late-90s.
The wolf population reached over 2,500 wolves by 1998 – double the federal government goal for delisting.
Gray wolves were delisted from the Endangered Species Act in 2011, but a federal court decision in December 2014 put wolves back under temporary federal protection while the delisting process underwent further review. In 2022, a federal court ruling again restored Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across most of the lower 48 states, including Minnesota.
While wolves are considered endangered in most of the lower 48, they are only considered threatened in Minnesota. Additionally, hunting and fishing are protected rights under article 13, section 12 of the Minnesota Constitution.
The amendment failed by a vote of 35-29.