Tagged: wolves

Governor Rick Snyder has signed a bill to give state wildlife officials more control over which species can be hunted in Michigan – and to permit wolf hunts in the Upper Peninsula.

A state House committee is holding a hearing on a measure that would change how hunting is managed in Michigan, and bypass a referendum on wolf hunting if it’s on the ballot next year.

The Michigan Senate has approved legislation that would name the gray wolf and 38 other animals as game species in Michigan.

The campaign to block wolf hunting in Michigan was dealt a setback Thursday.

Last December, the Michigan Legislature approved a bill that classified the gray wolf as a “game species.”  The act cleared the way for a debate over whether wolves should be hunted for sport.  There are fewer than one-thousand wolves in the state’s Upper Peninsula, and groups opposed to a hunting season want to see that population survive.  Last week, the group “Keep Michigan Wolves Protected” submitted more than 253,000 signatures to the Michigan Secretary of State in a bid to put the wolf hunting question on the ballot in 2014.

A coalition of animal rights groups and American Indian tribes is trying to reverse the new state law that allows a wolf hunting season in the Upper Peninsula.

A Michigan commission now has the authority to establish hunting seasons for the gray wolf under a law signed by Gov. Rick Snyder. 

A big majority of Michigan residents value having wolves in our state.  A small minority, though, mostly in the Upper Peninsula, would like to see a wolf hunting season.