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Editor: Unseasonably warm weather has left the snow pack in the woods gone, fields bare, and grass tinder dry. Fire departments and residents are edgy that a stray spark might ignite a conflagration.
Meanwhile, another sort of wildfire is sweeping across Northern Minnesota. This one, though, is not in the fields and forests, but is taking place around kitchen tables, coffee shops, outdoor stores, hunting shacks and meetings across our communities. This slow burn has been a long time coming by outdoorsmen, hunters and trappers, farmers, and many just ordinary citizens who have been ignored, forgotten, misled and marginalized for too long by a cabal of incompetent leaders.
The final straw that flared these embers to an open flame was thousands of deer hunters this fall who got really frazzled hearing more wolves howl than deer walking past their stands, and they collectively said, “Enough is enough!” Enough of sitting for days and seeing nary a hair move. Enough of seeing more wolf tracks than deer tracks. Enough of the deer seen that were scrawny runts with no more headgear than a bumpkin billygoat. Enough of only memories of hefty Northern Minnesota bucks hanging in every garage in times past. Enough of glowing programs by DNR bigwigs promising pie in the sky, but they still won’t issue the simple statement that our wolves need delisting.
About this same time, another interesting thing happened: a few ordinary outdoorsmen formed the Northern Minnesota group called Hunters 4 Hunters. This organization has been pulling together all the disaffected voices of hunters, farmers and common-sense citizens concerning wolf depredation. Why was the Northland deer harvest down 21% this year? Why are trailcams recording deer running by…. with a wolf hot on his heels? Why did many hunters go through the whole season without even seeing a deer? It’s pretty hard to interest kids in an activity that is this boring.
Why do farmers and ranchers continue to lose livestock that threatens their financial survival? One farmer near Blackduck said he lost 90 calves in 10 years. He is now out of business. One local producer had a big calf chewed up, and within just a couple weeks, Federal trappers caught seven wolves. Another fellow by Silver Bay lost 81 head of cattle in one summer. Still, the law says these people can’t defend their livestock from ravaging wolves.
Even city folks are getting a dose of reality here as they watch their dogs and cats disappear. Reports and newspaper articles continue to pour in weekly about wolves prowling the outskirts - and even streets and alleys of towns like Tower, Ely, Babbitt, Embarrass, Cook - as well as communities like Palo, Makinen, Skibo and similar areas across Northern Minnesota. Why are joggers and hikers afraid to take a walk down the road or through the woods unless they’re packing iron? Why are rural homeowners seeing wolves gobbling up deer just yards from their houses and buildings?
People have been asking these questions for a long time but, oftentimes, the DNR has waved off these concerns as amateur anecdotal anomalies. Their experts have the answers. The shortage of deer is due to habitat, bugs, global warming … and a few old deer ready to die anyway are eaten by wolves. Or maybe coyotes, bobcats, dogs….
The farmers shouldn’t complain either: there’s a program to reimburse them for their losses. Minnesota has a fund totaling a whopping $95,000 for these losses. With the price of beef these days, that might cover a week’s worth of losses for these ranchers. That is - IF the DNR certifies that this was wolf depredation. “How do you know it was a wolf? Did you see a wolf kill this critter?” Too often, if you don’t have a time-stamped photo signed in blood by this wolf attacking your critter, it’s no cigar. Farmers are getting REAL tired of this song and dance, and often don’t even pick up the phone anymore. And, of course, pet owners should be smart enough to keep their buddies inside where they will be safe.
Thank God we have some leaders who have recognized this dilemma and have jumped in with solutions! Rep. Dave Lislegard and Sen. Grant Hauschild have just (belatedly) introduced legislation for managing wolves, when the Feds delist them. Hmmm… I wonder why they were AWOL with a number of other bills introduced and sponsored last year by many other legislators. Surely, this wouldn’t just be election year cheerleading, would it? Come to think of it, I don’t recall hearing of their presence at ANY of the 18 different meetings (several of which were in their very districts) that this Hunters 4 Hunters group held across all Northern Minnesota. Many other legislators attended all of these meetings (with attendances of 300-500, even 700) where they could clearly see the pulse of the people and hear firsthand accounts of their experiences. I guess these two fellows were just too busy to listen to these people.
One thing is for sure: hunters, farmers, outdoorsmen and ordinary citizens have now united as a common voice with a roar that is being heard down to St. Paul and even Washington D.C. This grassroots movement is spreading across Northern Minnesota faster than the wildfires streaking across Texas, and some genuine leaders are listening and stepping up to the plate. Congressman Pete Stauber has a rock solid bill before the House for delisting our wolves. U.S. Sen. Klobochar’s assistant listened intently at the last Hunters 4 Hunters meeting and indicated hope that the Senator might sign on to this bill.
The time for empty promises is over. Now we need action. This movement is only going to continue to grow and our legislators may be well-advised to listen to these voices. Those who continue to dismiss them stand a good chance of going up in smoke come November 5. Poof!
Jim Hofsommer Markham, MN
