The Minnesota Court of Appeals today (OCT. 10)rejected a request for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the state’s inaugural wolf hunting and trapping season.

That means the planned wolf hunting and trapping seasons will go as planned this fall and winter. Consistent with state law, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will issue 6,000 licenses, and the first season will start with the beginning of firearms deer hunting on Saturday, Nov. 3.

The late hunting and trapping season will begin on Nov. 24.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the petitioners, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Howling for Wolves, did not meet their burden of proving irreparable harm for an injunction to be issued.

“We are pleased with the court’s decision,” said DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr. “It resolves any uncertainty that hunters and trappers might have had about the upcoming season.”

The petitioner’s lawsuit to challenge the way the season was established is still before the Court of Appeals and will proceed on its merits. A decision is not expected until next year.

The DNR has taken a conservative approach to the state’s first wolf season by establishing a total target harvest of 400 wolves and a mechanism to close seasons when target harvests are reached. Minnesota has a robust population of about 3,000 wolves, and the season will not have any significant impact on the population.

Consistent with the state’s wolf plan, the DNR is committed to the long-term survival of wolves in the state and resolving conflicts between humans and wolves.

To learn more, go to www.mndnr.gov/wolves.

That is good news!

Just when you think all of this legal nonsense is behind us and we can get on with the season...

Two national wildlife groups say they will sue to protect gray wolf

Two national wildlife protection groups today said they will file suit to return the Great Lakes wolf to the endangered species list, and asked that both Minnesota and Wisconsin suspend their wolf hunts.

The Humane Society of the United States and The Fund for Animals served notice that they will file suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put faith in the state wildlife agencies to responsibly manage wolf populations," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO for The Humane Society. "But their overzealous and extreme plans to allow for trophy hunting and recreational trapping immediately after de-listing demonstrate that such confidence was unwarranted."

He said that Minnesota failed to keep its promise to wait five years after delisting before authorizing a hunt. In Wisconsin, state officials have set a quota that equals "roughly 24 percent" of the population in the state, he said.

"The states have allowed the most extreme voices to grab hold of wolf management, and the result could be devastating for this species," he said.

The groups today filed the 60-day notice of their intent to sue over the rule required under the Endangered Species Act. If the federal agency does not reconsider the delisting rule over the next 60 days, the groups will ask a federal court to reinstate federal protection for gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region.

In other legal action today, two wildlife groups have asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to stop the state's first managed wolf hunt that begins Nov. 3, arguing that the lower court was wrong when it ruled last week that the killing of 400 wolves would not cause irreparable harm.

The two groups filed suit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources claiming that state officials violated their own rules when they failed to give the public adequate chance to weigh in on the state's hunting plan. The appeals court ruled last week that the case could go forward, but it refused to grant an injunction that would stop the hunt while the case is pending.

But without it, the hunt will be over before the legal challenge is even heard, said Collette Adkins Giese, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the wildlife groups that filed suit.

"I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will recognize what the Court of Appeals did not - that the shooting and trapping of 400 wolves is an irreversible harm," said Giese. "Rushing to open a hunt this fall, the DNR slammed the door on meaningful public participation in a controversial management decision about wolf hunting and trapping."

The apeals court said that the state legislature, not the DNR, was responsible for ordering the hunt. And DNR officials that there has been plenty of opportunity for public comment through the legislative process and other means. They also say that with a population of 3,000 wolves in the state, a quota of 400 is conservative and will not harm the population. The DNR will issue wolf hunting and trapping licenses to 6,000 hunters.

The second group is Howling for Wolves, which is behind the anti-hunt billboard and media campaign in the Twin Cities and Duluth.

I hope your Wolf hunt goes as planned. I live in Idaho and the Wolves have all but ruined our Elk hunting. Wolves are like cancer put the radiation to em boys. Ross