As a 484-page Senate Bill made its way through the Minnesota House of Representatives on April 30, an anti-hunting legislator tucked a controversial last-minute change into the bill that prohibits the state from holding a wolf hunting season.

Take Action! Minnesota sportsmen must contact their Senators and Representatives today and ask them to reject the wolf hunting ban. For the contact information of your congressmen, visit the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center.

Senate File 2314 is an omnibus (catchall) environment and natural resources bill that is full of spending authority for various state agencies and programs that deal with that subject area. St. Paul-area Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Representative Peter Fischer is responsible for the amendment, which would prohibit the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources from opening a season for wolves, once permitted by federal law.

While his amendment passed by a razor thin 66-65 vote, the full bill was then approved by a vote of 73-60.

Because the Minnesota Senate has rejected the House-passed version of the bill, the issues of dispute, including the wolf hunting ban, will now be negotiated before a conference committee of Senators and Representatives.

Wolves are currently protected under the Endangered Species Act by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which prevents them from being hunted. However, the population of wolves has been proposed for delisting multiple times, and management, including a hunting season, was actually returned to the state before well-funded animal-rights organizations reversed the action via lawsuit. The Trump administration recently announced a plan to remove wolves in the lower-48 states from ESA protections.

“Administrations from both political parties have been attempting to rightfully return wolves to state management for more than a decade,” said Bruce Tague, vice president of government affairs for the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “This species has not only recovered, they are thriving and state wildlife experts should be charged with their management, which may include hunting. Obviously, animal-rights and anti-hunting organizations oppose this and are attempting everything within their power to prevent it.”

Wolves have greatly exceeded the threshold set for the removal of protections, but anti-hunting groups have repeatedly convinced federal judges to block their removal from the endangered species list. Anti-hunting legislators in the Minnesota House have previously attempted to preempt a future wolf hunt by prohibiting any hunting season, but those efforts have failed, which apparently led to the ambush attack in SF 2314.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the state’s wolf population of 2,655 remains above their minimum goal of at least 1,600 wolves and is above the federal recovery goal of 1,251 to 1,400 wolves. “Subtle changes in wolf population numbers year to year indicate that Minnesota supports a healthy wolf population and the long-term trends demonstrate that the wolf population is fully recovered,” said Dan Stark, large carnivore specialist for the DNR.

“Representatives who have ambushed Minnesota sportsmen and women clearly have no respect for their constituents who hunt, or any sense of transparency or democracy,” said Tague. “There were no hearings on this language, and no chance for the public to testify or voice their concerns. It is absurd that these representatives believe that this type of ambush attack is the best way to enact legislation affecting Minnesota’s ecosystems, conservation and citizens.”

About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research.  Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.