Michigan committee hears testimony on wolf legislation

IRONWOOD - Many Upper Peninsula residents aren't hunting anymore because they fear their dogs will be killed by wolves, state Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, said Wednesday.

Casperson presided at a Michigan Senate Natural Resources Committee hearing and Gogebic County area residents offered their input via a vidoeconference set-up at Gogebic Community College in Ironwood.

At the end of the session, the Senate committee advanced the legislation on a 4-1 vote.

About 30 people were in attendance at GCC and most offered comments, both pro and con, about Casperson's plans to introduce a resolution asking the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to appeal the U.S. District Court decision that placed wolves under federal protection.

Joe Allen, who traps in the Marenisco area, said he has trapped and released 70 wolves unharmed in the past five years, while seeking other animals.

"I'm dealing with five large packs," he said.

Allen said he believes there are more wolves per square mile in the Upper Peninsula than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.

He said the U.P.'s carrying capacity has reached its limits and the wolves will soon be heading into the lower peninsula.

Allen said he figures only one-third of wolf attacks on dogs are reported.

Speaking of hunters across the U.P., he said, "They're p***ed off."

Nancy Warren, of Ewen, Great Lakes Regional Director of the National Wolfwatcher Coalition, said there's "an inherent risk" for hunters to run their dogs in areas that are known for wolf activity.

She said of the 16 hunting dogs that were killed by wolves in Michigan in 2014, all of the animals were either in training or pursuing game. Most attacks occur when wolves are protecting pups at rendezvous sites, she said.

Baiting with meat also attracts wolves, she said.

An incident in Ironwood Township in which wolves were seen outside a day care center was debated between Warren and Casperson.

Casperson has conceded that children were not outside playing when the wolves were spotted, but they were close to the center.

"It did happen," he said, contradicting accounts that the story was made up.

Warren said classifying wolves as a threatened species, rather than endangered, would allow lethal control of wolves that are responsible for conflicts.

One of those conflicts was pointed out by Art Lyons, of Ironwood Township. His dog came into a face-to-face encounter with a wolf in the back yard of his property in the Sunset Road area of Ironwood Township. He also said wolves were spotted feeding on a dead deer near Ray's Flower Shop.

Paul Grbavcich, of Ironwood, said a 130-pound wolf was spotted near the Pioneer Park Apartments and Little League field.

Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson said the public safety department received 15 wolf complaints in 2014. He noted the city commission recently unanimously supported a return to local control of wolf management.

Tom Richter, of Bessemer Township, showed a trail camera photo of six wolves feeding on a deer carcass about one-half mile from his house, in an area where children boarded the school bus.

He said he lost one dog to wolves and scared another one away with a three-foot long stick.

"I hope you do whatever is necessary to get wolves under a local management plan," Richter said.

Dennis Ellos, of Ironwood, said he also supports getting the federal judge's ruling changed.

But a tribal member from Bessemer who said his native American name translates to Golden Eagle Man said the wolf is his brother and a "gift by the Creator that is not to be taken away."

Only two people commented from a similar videoconference hook-up in Manistique.

Committee members asked questions throughout the proceedings.

The federal court ruling last restored protection of wolves in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota under the Endangered Species Act, ending any recreational hunting and trapping seasons in those states.

Wolves are currently listed as threatened in Minnesota, but endangered in Michigan and Wisconsin, and the rest of the lower 48 states.