A vast majority of people responding to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources online survey oppose the idea of a gray wolf hunting and trapping season in the state, according to a DNR official.
More than 7,000 people have completed an online survey about Minnesota’s first formal wolf hunting and trapping season, Kathy DonCarlos, deputy director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said Thursday.
Of the 7,351 respondents, only about 1,500 supported a hunting and trapping season on wolves, DonCarlos said.
“Many more people responded that they did not support a season,” DonCarlos said.
The online survey, which ran for about a month, was not intended to help the DNR decide whether to hold a season or not. After the gray wolf was removed from the federal endangered species list in January, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill establishing this fall’s season. The early wolf hunting season will begin on Nov. 3, the same day as the state’s firearms deer season. A later hunting and trapping season will begin Nov. 24.
The DNR now must decide how to structure and manage that season, and the primary purpose of the online survey was to gather input for that process. However, the first question in the survey asked whether the respondent supported or opposed the wolf season.
“I’m surprised at the results,” said Nancy Gibson of St. Louis Park, Minn., co-founder of the International Wolf Center in Ely. “There’s a strong contingent of people in Minnesota who don’t want to see the wolf hunted and didn’t want to see the (protected) status changed so quickly. I’m glad they participated in the process.”
Joe Cannella, development director with the Minnesota Deer Hunters Assocation said many hunters might not have weighed in on the survey because the season already had been established.
“In all reality, that survey was just to see how people felt,” Cannella said. “The public had already spoken via the Legislature.”
Response to the survey was much greater than DNR officials had expected, DonCarlos said.
“The vast majority responding were responding to whether there should be a season or not,” DonCarlos said.
The agency will tabulate results of the survey, which included an opportunity for respondents to offer comments. The DNR hopes to have results of the survey compiled by Monday or Tuesday, DonCarlos said.
Typical government move: take a survey and then ignore the results.
Right on, Lowell!
I can almost understand hunting deer or other animals / birds PROVIDING you eat the meat. Killing, just for the sake of killing does not do much for me at all. And I am all for total freedom to have guns, but honest folks, you can set up targets, make moving targets and make them increasingly more difficult — and you do not need to KILL something to enjoy.
A lot of time, effort and money was spent to re-intoduce the wolf into Minnesota, and for what?? Just to kill it?? What a waste of time, effort and money.
When was the grey wolf re-introduced into Minnesota? From what I remember they have always been in Minnesota. If I remember correctly Minnesota at one time had the only naturally producing grey wolf population in the lower 48.
What is the big hangup with allowing the MN sportsman the opportunity to participate in the management of the MN wolf population? Wolves will be killed to manage the population and minimize depredation of domestic animals, so either the sportsman contribute their dollars in license fees to management or more of your tax dollars to pay for contract trappers.
“The public has spoken via the legislature” says Joe Cannella, development director with the Minnesota Deer Hunters Assocation. Umm. No. The legislature is almost deaf to public input and frankly did not hear a lot on this issue. The legislature should be ashamed of itself, as should the Commissioner and Governor for caving so easily. The lack of science that has gone into this is depressing. House Nat Res Chairman Denny MacNamara basically said he was going to get a wolf season no matter what within weeks of the 2010 election, and voila, he got it. Maybe Denny should worry less about wolves affecting his deer hunting success (his stated reason for wanting a wolf season) and more about why hunting deer in bad habitat may not make the most sense. Idiot.
Well, sam cook, I doubt that your survey was spread amongst MOST Minnesotans.
I predict that a lot of wolves will get shot this fall, WITH or WITHOUT A LICENSE.
Most Minnesotans are tired of being insulted by the tree=hugger community, and are ready to deal out a lot of PAYBACK.
That’s the usual response for ignoring your oposition’s opinion for SO LONG, especially when they pay a TON OF TAXES. Shoot, shovel, SHUTUP.
The opposition for DECADES, asked for a CONTROLLED, SUSTAINED population of wolves, not some BULLSHIT, politically skewed, undernumbered population or an ignorant mass media ignoring the special interests or their funding sources for continuing a “threatened” status for the wolf, which is THRIVING in Minnesota.
The legislature has spoken, HAH! Since when is the public listened to?
The time to make your voice heard is during the legislative process when it counts, not an online survey done after the fact. Those who have understood the need for and long supported wolf hunting did not respond to the unscientific online survey; because they figured after all this time, all the meetings, court challenges and finally the legislative process and Governor’s signature enough opinions had been expressed. The need for wolf hunting has been clearly established.
Of course McNamara didn’t listen. He’s the chair of the environment committee and that makes him GOD.
He admitted shutting out hunters and dog owners when he snuck the poorly written MN Trappers Association bill through his committee as an unannounced amendment. That bill along with the promotion of using baited body grip traps on the ground is going to kill a lot of dogs next fall and Denny “owns” every one of them because of the underhanded way he runs his committee.
A few years ago 5 and even more deer were allowed to be taken by each hunter because of the rampant population of white tails…it makes more sense to have natural selection through native predators than to up the ante for hunters again and again. If we do have a wolf hunting season, which it seems this out of touch legislature has planned, then we should go back to the days of real hunters instead of shooters…dispense with stands and drives, ATVs and nonsense…and take buck only or barren does.
As Bud Grant posed in an op-ed piece a year or so ago in the Strib…time to return to the ethics and knowledge of real back country hunters.