Please Circulate: Michigan DNR is in the process of updating its Wolf Management Plan and has circulated a citizen survey.
In January 2021, the gray wolf (Canis lupus) was removed from the federal Endangered Species List in the United States. Read the NPR story about the federal delisting of wolves here.
State and tribal wildlife management agency professionals have resumed responsibility for sustainable management and protection of delisted gray wolves in states where they occur, which includes the state of Michigan.
According to John Pepin, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources deputy public information officer, “Management will be guided by the DNR’s respected Wolf Management Plan – crafted with the help of diverse interests ranging from Native American tribes and environmentalists to hunters and farmers – to help ensure the continued viability of Michigan’s wolf population while seeking to reduce human-wolf conflicts.”
At this critical juncture–and before deciding whether or not to allow for a hunting season beginning this Fall (2022)–Michigan DNR is updating its 2015 Wolf Management Plan.
Cody Norton, wildlife biologist for MDNR and specialist in large carnivores, said that before any wolf hunt takes place again, Michigan’s management plan must be updated and tribal governments consulted. Read the full news story here.
Tips for completing the MDNR’s survey:
- Please read the instructions and submit comments according to the process specified by January 31, 2022.
- This is intended to be a species management plan update, not a rewrite.
- Questions 1-4 address these historic goals with the option of selecting whether you are Very Satisfied; Somewhat Satisfied; Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied; Somewhat dissatisfied; Very dissatisfied with the outcome or progress of these goals from 2015-present.
- Question 5 gives you the option to write what you would like to see changed in the gray wolf management plan/goals.
- Written comments — in addition to completing the survey answers — are highly encouraged. The DNR writes, “Your feedback is valuable and will be taken into consideration during the plan update process and in future wolf management decisions.”
- Additional comments regarding the development of the Gray Wolf Plan Update can be emailed to dnr-wmac@michigan.gov.
- Additional documentation to accompany your survey can be emailed to Shawn Riley at rileysh2@msu.edu.
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Michigan’s gray wolf population was nearly extirpated by the mid-1970s because of species persecution and active state-sponsored bounty programs. “The wolf’s role in the environment invites us to work with this species, not against it, to restore and sustain ecological health. We encourage you to share your input with our state’s primary wildlife management agency about the gray wolf, a keystone species for native habitats and ecosystems of the Great Lakes state,” said Heather Good, executive director of Michigan Audubon.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel filed an amicus brief in litigation against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2021, alleging that federal authorities improperly removed gray wolf endangered species protections in Michigan.
“To the Anishinaabe, the Ma’iingan are our brothers. The legends and stories tell us as brothers, we walk hand in hand together. What happens to the Ma’iingan happens to humanity,” shares Marvin Defoe, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians official and elder.
Wolf Nation: The Life, Death, and Return of Wild American Wolves by Brenda Peterson takes readers “inside the world of these top predators — and the cultural war being waged over them.”
You can find out more about the gray wolf’s history, ecology, and news stories in Michigan here.
Featured photo: Gray wolf by Dallie Dee | Flickr Creative Commons