Michigan gray wolves lost Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections in 2011, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the delisting of all Great Lakes populations of the species. At that point there were over 600 wolves in MI, up from zero in the 1970s-80s – making this an ESA success story. However, delisting the wolves opened them up to irresponsible wildlife management by the state.[teaserbreak]
Politicians and state officials exaggerated and even fabricated stories about wolf encounters with people in MI in order to justify opening a wolf hunting and trapping season. Nearly two-thirds of all wolf incidents in the Upper Peninsula occurred on a single farm, where the farmer baited wolves with cattle and deer carcasses. However, these underhanded tactics worked: the state legislature passed a law in December of 2012 that allowed the hunting and trapping of wolves.
In response, the group Keep Michigan Wolves Protected (KMWP) collected more than 255,000 signatures in March 2013 to overturn this law via ballot initiative. However, in May 2013 Governor Rick Snyder approved a new law (P.A. 21) that defers the power to declare game species to the Natural Resources Commission, effectively nullifying the ballot question. That action meant KMWP could still go ahead with a vote to overturn the earlier law, but it wouldn’t have the effect of stopping the hunt.
KMWP collected another 255,000 signatures for another ballot initiative to reverse this law. However, this second initiative was countered by a third initiative by a pro-hunt coalition seeking to invalidate KMWP’s effort. The coalition, calling themselves Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management, put forward an “initiative” in name only, however – what they really did was recycle a bill through the initiative process in order to have it re-passed by the legislature. This proposal, called the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, was designed to remove citizen input from the process of designating a game species, and also to significantly expand the circumstances under which wolves can be killed without a hunting license.
The MI legislature had 40 days to consider this proposal, and both chambers passed it by the end of August 2014. This result was a political charade that disregarded both relevant science and voters’ rights.
However, the fight is not over. First of all, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) plans to file a lawsuit challenging the Act as unconstitutional because it bundled together three unrelated measures – wolf hunting, Asian carp control, and free hunting licenses for veterans – which violates MI’s single-issue law requirement. Secondly, KMWP’s two referendums will still appear on the ballot this November:
Michigan citizens must vote NO on both proposals to restore protections to wolves and the rights of voters to have a meaningful say on wildlife issues.
Take Action: Click here to see how you can assist with this campaign before November 4th!
Update (Sept. 11, 2014): The Natural Resources Commission confirmed that there will not be a gray wolf hunt this year, due to the complexity of planning it while waiting for the outcome of the elections.