Wolf and deer management have been a hot topic in recent months and in a recent release on their Wolf.Report website, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA) called for home and landowners to kill wolves if pets or livestock were being harmed. This is a direct contradiction of federal law and guidance from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) which claims that effective February 10, 2022 “Minnesota’s gray wolf once again became a federally protected threatened species. Under current guidelines, wolves may only be taken in defense of human life.” Senator Nathan Wesenberg (R-Little Falls) released the following statement in response:

“The message has not changed, we need proper wildlife management—highly educated and trained individuals understand this,” said Wesenberg. “However, we need to hold organizations accountable for spreading misinformation that could lead to legal action – why did MDHA on January 10^th post a release encouraging people to kill wolves if their pets or livestock were being harmed, despite knowing that doing so is illegal? MDHA has now encouraged people to break federal law. This opens up liability concerns for the organization, and puts hunters and homeowners in an awful position. MDHA has typically had a close relationship with the DNR, and I am concerned that this relationship didn’t stop them from posting harmful content that encourages law abiding citizens to break federal law. These organizations and their leadership must be held accountable and anyone involved in this negligent post should consider resigning their positions to those who better understand wildlife management and federal law. For the sake of hunters and wildlife, we need to hold these organizations to higher standards.”