Friends and neighbors – 

Rep. Dave Lislegard recently discussed whitetail deer management and the need for a managed wolf hunt in Minnesota in an opinion piece printed in the Mesabi Tribune.

In the past, sensible Democrat legislators from the Iron Range like Tom Rukavina, Tom Bakk, Dave Tomassoni, and others would boldly outmaneuver their Twin Cities colleagues to address the needs of communities on the Range. Sadly, Rep. Lislegard is not following that tradition on this issue. Rather than work together in a responsible, practical way, Rep. Lislegard politically runs to the front of the line.

While it is true that he introduced legislation to allow a yearly managed wolf hunt, that was back in 2022 and no hearing was held on the issue even though his party controls the House of Representatives. For his bill to have any chance of passage, Rep. Lislegard needed to re-introduce it again starting in January 2023. So far, he has not done so. 

Meanwhile, Republicans introduced two separate bills earlier this year, House File 2139 and House File 605, that directly address this issue. All the while, Rep. Lislegard continues to sit on his hands and is not a co-author on either bill.

This year, with complete DFL control of the House, the Senate, and the governor’s mansion, Rep. Lislegard should have signed onto these bills and used his influence to secure a hearing in the House Environment Committee, of which he is a member. 

No hearing was ever held. The issue was never addressed.

Rather than roll up his sleeves and do the work his constituents sent him to St. Paul to do, Rep. Lislegard has done nothing to make progress on a managed wolf hunt in Minnesota, except for writing an op-ed in the local newspaper. 

Minnesotans in Rep. Lislegard’s district deserve to know whether he is working to advance their priorities or simply providing lip service back home before heading to St. Paul to take orders from Democrat leadership in support of a Twin Cities-centric, far-left political agenda run by liberals who couldn’t find the Iron Range on a map.

If we really want wolf management to move forward, this discussion needs to happen in the legislature. Rep. Lislegard should be positioned to easily get one of the existing bills across the finish line by standing up to his Minneapolis and St. Paul party bosses and leading on this issue. House and Senate Republicans are ready to work with him to get this done. One thing is certain: if Rep. Lislegard continues to fail to meaningfully address issues critical to our way of life, we hope a new leader can be found that will.

Rep. Josh Heintzeman
Sen. Justin Eichorn