Comments on: SB 1350 – Wolf Management Bill Introduced In Senate

By: Michigan United Conservation Clubs » Wolf Management Bill On The Move!

Michigan United Conservation Clubs » Wolf Management Bill On The Move! — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:02:40 +0000

[...] MUCC has been working on this issue for the past year and is delighted to see the bill move. [...]

By: Clearcutter

Clearcutter — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:21:00 +0000

The white-tailed deer are overbrowsing much of their range and wolves are a proper solution. They hunt year ’round and generally take the weak, old, stupid, and injured, though they’ll certainly not pass up new fawn. I’m in favor of 500+ wolves in the U.P. and at least 100 in the northern L.P. to allow the forests to regenerate properly. There’s plenty of regeneration, but too many areas fail to recruit viable saplings (whips) into the next cohort because the deer browse the regeneration to death as soon as it pokes up above the snow.

A generous population of wolves is the ally of foresters in managing our timberlands in Michigan.

By: Bradley Niedzwiecki

Bradley Niedzwiecki — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:15:00 +0000

Without getting into too many details there is obviously much you need to learn about managing wildlife Rork1. For instance; we learn so very much from wildlife biologists that have a great deal of knowledge on how all species in the wild are doing. Fact: wildlife biologists don’t go around criticizing sound management opportunities of any species in Michigan. They test samples submitted by law-abiding hunters, trappers, and fisherman that would like to see a balanced eco-system in Michigan. They take these results and compile all the data. Then they study them and make sound decisions based upon what they see occuring. If human intervention is needed in which to preserve a species or promote growth in numbers, they suggest the appropriate actions be taken to do so. You sir, are the one that is making the Michigan sportsman sound like he or she is out to kill everything they can. That could not be farther from the truth.

By: Rork1

Rork1 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:14:00 +0000

“will exterminate the population” – you set up the extremists as a straw man, but have nothing against more moderate views that might go “apex predators don’t need to be hunted”. One question is what the goal is: intact ecosystems or maximizing hunting opportunity?

I think you didn’t give any argument why wolves need hunting. Why will hunting wolves conserve them? Where is your “science”?

I don’t adamantly oppose wolf hunting, but our reasons for why it is needed are currently a bit weak – that you don’t mention them seemed odd. Some folks will scream it’s obvious, but that isn’t science either. Hunting can be a useful management tool, but you have to show if it is in each specific case.

“If regulated hunting and trapping has worked to conserve nearly every other species in Michigan, why would the wolf be any different?” Ingenuous. 1) For other species it mostly means limiting the kill. 2) Predators are different.