Last week Senate Democrats brought forward a controversial Environment bill that fails to address numerous concerns, such as an exploding wolf population, the minnow shortage, issues surrounding walleye stock, and holding the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) accountable for wildlife management issues. Senator Nathan Wesenberg (R-Little Falls) offered amendments to address all three issues.

The first amendment offered seeks to authorize an annual wolf hunting season in Minnesota regardless of any federal prohibition. This comes as hunters, farmers and residents across Minnesota have expressed concern about unchecked growth in the state’s wolf population in recent decades.

Wesenberg’s language would authorize an annual wolf hunt 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 wolf population grew to around 2,400 in the late-90s, which put numbers close to double the federal government’s goal for delisting.

“The bottom line is that the current wolf numbers allow Minnesota to have a hunt, and the science says we should have a wolf hunt, so we should be able to make it happen,” said Wesenberg. “Farmers, sportsmen, and homeowners in northern Minnesota are seeing the effects of the exploding population: deer numbers are decreasing, cattle are being killed, and pets and children are constantly at risk. And the wolves are spreading further south. We can have a wolf hunt and we can do it safely. Hunting and fishing are both protected under the Minnesota Constitution in Article 13, section 12. There is nothing about managing wolves. Disallowing a wolf hunt violates constitutionally protected right in Minnesota. We can’t wait until someone’s child dies – we have to address this concern now.”

A second amendment offered by Wesenberg altered the bill to ensure forest roads and trails that are used to access forest lands remain open for commercial minnow trappers, leech trappers, fur trappers and loggers. This amendment was adopted into the bill.

“These are roads that have been used by these workers for years, and there is no reason they should be cut off,” said Wesenberg. “We need to keep these roads open so we’re not messing with livelihoods of people across the state.”