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.
The group unveiled the members of the coalition Tuesday.
The group is collecting petition signatures to put a referendum on the November 2014 ballot. If the effort succeeds, that would put a halt to state wildlife officials’ deliberations on whether to create a wolf-hunting season.
Aaron Payment is the chair of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewas. He says the wolf holds a unique and sacred place in his culture.
“We can’t see any scientific reason, any rational reason, any appropriate cultural reason to hunt the wolf,” he says.
There are only about 680 gray wolves in the western Upper Peninsula, but wildlife officials say there are places where wolves are roaming close to where people live, and threatening pets and livestock.
