Forest and Wildlife Stewards participated in Wolf Day at the Capitol on February 7th. The event, hosted by Howling For Wolves (HFW), was well organized and attended. In morning learning sessions, led mostly by the eloquent founder Dr. Maureen Hackett, we learned about how wolves went from a vital population to near-removal in Minnesota during European settlement. While wolf numbers have struggled back in our region, they remain low. Nevertheless, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has attempted to remove the wolf from the endangered species list. Wolves are protected for now, but some of our state legislators want to reinstate hunting and cruel trapping.
HFW helped prepare us for scheduled meetings with our representatives to promote legislation that would ban wolf hunting and trapping, and provide funding for a number of non-lethal control measures when conflicts occur.
We put our training into action, informing and lobbying our legislators about the proposed law. After discussions and handouts, we gave our post-meeting feedback and left St. Paul, wiser in the operations of our lawmakers, and hopeful for positive upcoming votes. You too can send your comments with this link.