Wolf Hunting Dilemma in N.D.

When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Great Lakes wolves from federal protection, Minnesota wildlife officials pushed forward a plan to control the population with regulated hunting and trapping. It caused an entirely different situation for wildlife officials in North Dakota — two sets of regulations and some confusion about how to go forward managing the wolf population.

Brad Dokken covered the story for the Grand Forks Herald:

According to Stephanie Tucker, furbearer biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, the delisting only includes the portion of North Dakota east of U.S. Highway 83 and the Missouri River. That means the state manages wolves in eastern North Dakota, while wolves west of Highway 83 remain under federal protection because they fall in a gray area between the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountain wolf populations.

Tucker said there are no plans to offer a wolf season because sightings are rare, and the state doesn’t support a wolf population.

It’s just another interesting wrinkle in a very complicated delisting process.

Would you buy a wolf tag if they were offered in your area? Leave a comment below.

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9 thoughts on “Wolf Hunting Dilemma in N.D.

  1. Dilemma:

    a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives.
    2.
    any difficult or perplexing situation or problem.
    3.
    Logic . a form of syllogism in which the major premise is formed of two or more hypothetical propositions and the minor premise is a disjunctive proposition, as “If A, then B; if C then D. Either A or C. Therefore, either B or D.

    • The “difficult or perplexing situation” in this case is how two different levels of government (state and federal) will effectively manage a small population of wolves that is split into two completely different management classes and thus two separate sets of rules. The wolves will not recognize the arbitrary boundary of U.S. Highway 83. Problems like dealing with wolf depredation or exploring hunting or trapping seasons in the future are made much more difficult due to the current status of wolves in the state.

      There is more information in the full text of the article if you follow the link.

  2. Simple solution would be to delist the wolf in North Dakota and turn it over to North Dakota Game and Fish.Wolves have been delisted in both Minnesota and Montana,give North Dakota the same privilege,they are caught in the middle now and divided in half,a ridiculous,impossible situation to manage them.Our best and brightest are not at work here,USFWS.If and when wolf numbers increase to a sustainable level,North Dakota can open legal,quota hunting and trapping seasons,it’s not rocket science.

  3. Western North Dakota has already spotted 5 different wolves in the area. So why not get them outta the state if you see them shoot them. Our population of upland game, deer, and antelope are way down. Antelope has been shut down now for 3 years. We don’t need upland game and deer season to be the same.

  4. Wolves in my opinion have no business being in ND!! They cause nothing but havoc with wildlife and livestock. There are way more wolves in ND than the game and fish will say there is as they don’t want to say we have a problem when in fact we do! I have personally seen many of them out hunting every year. ND is getting the vermin from three sides Minnesota/Montana and Canada! By the time ND figures out that there is a problem it will be to late just like Minnesota Idaho and Montana. There should be a season just like the mountain lion one per hunter. The lions are getting thick as well and now the bears are coming in to the state. Wolves I say shoot them all they don’t belong never have never will!

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