• BY MOLLY TAMULEVICH
• 5 hrs ago
• https://www.record-eagle.com/opinion/opinion-there-is-no-good-reason-for-wolf-hunting/article_e73f1d6c-0cc8-11ec-ad40-47dc1ebbb71f.html

By Molly Tamulevich

Recently, Michigan’s Wolf Management Advisory Council convened in Gaylord to discuss recommendations and updates to Michigan’s wolf management plan. The meeting was not accessible, safe or transparent, as it was held in-person only with no option for providing remote testimony. The only way to watch the meeting was through a livestream on a trophy hunting and trapping lobbying group’s Facebook page. The procedures followed by this five-person council are the latest manifestation of a system that has failed Michiganders, betrayed wildlife and circumvented democracy.

Life-and-death decisions about wildlife in Michigan are controlled by these small but very powerful groups desperately clinging to outdated cultural norms. Attend a meeting of the Natural Resources Commission or wolf council and you will see how quickly talk of “science-based management” falls apart once someone questions long-held but increasingly unrepresentative traditions like trapping, neck snaring…