Mich. governor OKs bill that could allow wolf hunt
Source: Associated Press
5/8/2013 3:37 PM
Mich. governor OKs bill that could allow wolf hunt
By JOHN FLESHER
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill Wednesday that clears the way to schedule Michigan's first gray wolf hunting season since the resurgent predator, reviled by some as a menace to farm animals and beloved by others as a symbol of untamed wildness, was driven to the brink of extinction in the lower 48 states a half-century ago.
Michigan would become the sixth state to authorize hunting wolves since federal protections were removed over the past two years in the western Great Lakes and the Northern Rockies, where the animals are thriving. Hunters and trappers have killed about 1,100 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Officials estimate the remaining population at roughly 6,000.
The measure that Snyder approved lets the state Natural Resources Commission decide which types of animals can be hunted — authority that previously rested entirely with the Legislature. The seven-member commission is expected to vote Thursday on a proposal by state wildlife regulators for a season this fall in which up to 43 wolves could be killed — about 7 percent of the 658 believed to roam the remote Upper Peninsula.
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The bill undercuts a statewide referendum sought by opponents of wolf hunting. They have gathered more than 250,000 signatures on petitions seeking a vote on a separate measure lawmakers approved in December that designated the wolf as a game species.
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Read more: http://www.ksro.com/news/article.aspx?id=4867900
