State wildlife officials will start mulling wolf hunt this month

Michigan natural resources officials will start the new year considering a possible wolf hunt in the state.

Governor Rick Snyder recently signed a bill that establishes the gray wolf as a game species.

But that doesn’t mean there will be a wolf hunt in the state. That will be up to the state wildlife commission.

Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Ed Golder said the commission will start looking into the issue in January.

“It will be the Natural Resources Commission’s responsibility to evaluate populations, to look at impacts on other species in the state, to look at social impacts—a whole host of things. And that’s the process that will start now,” Golder said.

If the commission establishes a wolf hunt, it will likely be limited to an area of the western Upper Peninsula. Some locals have complained about wolves attacking livestock and coming into populated areas.

The gray wolf was recently removed from the endangered species list. Opponents of the hunt say the population is still fragile.