The Minnesota Court of Appeals reached a curious and troubling conclusion when asked to rescind the recent decision to allow grey wolves to be hunted and trapped. The court claimed that the groups had no standing, as their interests were not negatively affected by this law.
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Outrageous? Absolutely, and here is why:
Many people in Minnesota feel that trapping and killing wolves is inhumane and unnecessary. Conservation groups and the citizens of Minnesota rightly believe these wolves need to be protected from brutal trapping or slaughter by hunters.
Wolves need our protection because of what we have done to wolves! They were exterminated indiscriminately until the 1970s. When federal protections were put in place, the wolf population grew again and they re-colonized areas they had not been found in for decades. Clearly, this protection was effective and important to wolf recovery.
In recent years however, the grey wolf was taken off of the endangered species list and thus, was no longer protected under the Endangered Species Act. Adding further insult to injury, the wolf-management plan, which stated wolves could not be hunted for five years after being taken off the endangered species list, was eliminated by a 2011 bill.
Protection has been systematically stripped from wolves in Minnesota. To truly conserve and protect this piece of our natural wildlife heritage, anti-hunting and trapping laws must be reinstated. I sincerely hope that Minnesota lawmakers will listen to their constituents and heed their justified concerns over the cruel trapping and killing of the grey wolf.
Blogging off,
Will