Apparently, the average law-abiding citizen officially has no say any more in the state of Michigan. Anyone with a modicum of compassion for non-human animals is being ignored, written off and treated like a child in a power coup led by anti-wolf fanatics in their game department, state legislature and governor’s office.

After all the information that’s come out about the benefits of wolves to an ecosystem, or the intrinsic rights of animals, wolves are still being treated as vermin, trapped, snared and bounty-hunted as blindly as they were in the ignorant 1800’s. Indeed, all hell is breaking loose across the West.

Here’s what the mainstream media wants us to know about the situation there [my comments in brackets]:
Governor signs bill that may open door for wolf hunt
by Anne Cook

LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation today that may open the door for a wolf hunt in Michigan.

Senate Bill 288 gives the Natural Resources Commission the responsibility to establish managed open season hunts for wild game. It exempts the taking of mourning doves, pets and livestock.

The Legislature will maintain its ability to both add and remove species on the list.

“This action helps ensure sound scientific and biological principles guide decisions about management of game in Michigan.” Snyder said. “Scientifically managed hunts are essential to successful wildlife management and bolstering abundant, healthy and thriving populations.”
[Explain how killing healthy wolves is supposed to bolster thriving animal populations.]

The legislation met plenty of opposition, however, from groups like the Keep Michigan Wolves Protected coalition. The KMWP said the legislation was an attempt to run around a proposed referendum on wolf hunting.

“The legislature wants to silence the voice of Michigan voters, circumvent the democratic process and nullify the more than 255,000 signatures submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office,” said Jill Fritz, director of the KMWP coalition.

Michigan Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm group, however, applauded the signing of the legislation [no surprise there] calling it a “triumph of science and reason over emotion stirred by out-of-state interests.”

“Michigan voters’ strong support for Proposal G in 1996 made it clear residents want oversight of wildlife management in the hands of experts,” said Rebecca Park, legislative counsel for Michigan Farm Bureau. “Despite what opponents to this legislation would have you believe, these bills are very much about respecting and reinforcing the people’s will, not denying it.”

[No doubt Michigan residents never knowingly intended to give up their right to the voter initiative process in regards to wildlife.]

“We welcome visitors from out-of-state to come enjoy the bounty of our woods and waters, but have to remain vigilant and draw a line when deep-pocketed activist groups try to tell us how to manage those resources,” Park said.

[Deep pocketed? Surely “out of state” wolf proponents’ pockets are not as deep as the ones on the OshKosh B’Gosh coveralls worn by members of the Michigan Farm Bureau or the suits of their lobbyists.]

Meanwhile, here’s the press release from Keep Wolves Protected:
Governor signs bill allowing NRC to designate animals as game species without legislative or voter oversight

LANSING, Mich. – The Keep Michigan Wolves Protected (KMWP) coalition expressed its deep disappointment in Gov. Rick Snyder, who today signed legislation (SB 288) that circumvents voter rights by allowing the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) to establish a wolf hunting and trapping season before Michigan voters can decide the issue in the November 2014 election.

“Governor Snyder has betrayed the trust of Michigan voters by signing legislation that takes away their referendum right to challenge laws on animal issues. And Governor Snyder failed to defend Michigan’s Constitution by allowing the democratic process and referendum vote in Nov. 2014 to be circumvented. The governor’s action validates the perception that state government is broken and does not reflect the best interests of the people it is supposed to serve. This is a dark day in the history of Michigan and for people who believe in fundamental democratic principles and the humane treatment of animals. We will not give up the fight to stop wolf hunting and trapping in Michigan,” said Jill Fritz, director of KMWP.

SB 288 has resulted in Michigan’s 7.4 million registered voters losing their right to decide whether to protect Michigan’s declining population of 658 wolves in the November 2014 election. KMWP submitted more than 255,000 petition signatures on March 27 to suspend Public Act 520 – a law that was rushed through last December’s lame duck legislative session and classifies wolves as a game species, until a referendum vote in November 2014.

SB 288 was fast-tracked through the legislative process before the Board of State Canvassers has certified signatures from registered voters from every corner of the state. SB 288, which empowers the NRC, a politically-appointed panel of seven persons, to designate animals as game species without legislative or voter oversight, is an an end run around the referendum and an attempt to silence the voice of over quarter of a million Michiganders who signed petitions to stop wolf hunting and trapping . Michigan voters would be unable to reverse decisions of the NRC because it is a regulatory body and not the Legislature.

Facts
• Michigan’s wolf population has decreased from 687 to 658 according the latest census by the Department of Natural Resources.
• More than 2,000 Michigan residents from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas volunteered for Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, a coalition of animal welfare groups, conservationists, veterinarians, Native American tribes and faith leaders, to gather signatures during sub-freezing temperatures in just 67 days.
• Despite the wolf population’s fragile status and over the objections of renowned Michigan-based wolf scientists, the Michigan legislature rushed a bill through in December 2012, opening the door to the same practices that virtually eradicated the wolf population in the first place.
• Wolves are extremely shy and have a natural fear of humans. In the past 100 years, there has never been a verified attack by a wolf on a human in the lower 48 states.
• Current state law already allows farmers and dog owners to remove or shoot wolves that are attacking their animals, and farmers may obtain a permit from the DNR to remove additional wolves following a depredation incident. Fewer than 8 percent of the Upper Peninsula’s farms have reported any wolf depredations in the past 17 years.

Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson

We interrupt our regularly scheduled rant against hunters, trappers and wolf-haters to bring you some good news for Michigan wolves–just in time for Easter Sunday…

from Keep Michigan Wolves Protected:

253,705 Signatures Submitted to Place Wolf Hunting Referendum on 2014 Ballot

More than 2,000 Michigan volunteers rallied to gather signatures in 67-day period

LANSING, Mich. – Keep Michigan Wolves Protected submitted 253,705 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office, that, when certified, will place any plans for a wolf hunting season on hold until Michigan voters decide the issue at the ballot box in November 2014. During a short 67-day period, the coalition far surpassed the 161,305 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

“The public response over the past few months has been tremendous, and it demonstrates that Michigan voters in every corner of the state oppose the pointless trophy hunting of wolves,” said Jill Fritz, director of Keep Michigan Wolves Protected. “Mounting a petition drive in the dead of winter and collecting a quarter of a million signatures in 67 days has been a monumental feat. We look forward to giving Michigan voters—not the politicians—the opportunity to decide whether to keep wolves protected or to allow sport hunting and trapping of these rare creatures just beginning to recover from the brink of extinction.”

Across the entire state, hundreds of thousands of Michiganders have spoken with their pens to tell legislators that they were wrong in approving a wolf hunting bill last December.

More than 2,000 Michigan residents volunteered for Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, a coalition of animal welfare groups, conservationists, veterinarians, Native American tribes and faith leaders — to gather signatures during sub-freezing temperatures. The volunteers participated in more than 700 events statewide, most of them outdoors.

By the time Keep Michigan Wolves Protected received approval for the wording by the Board of State Canvassers and printed petitions, the 90-day petition period prescribed by law had dwindled down to only 67 days to complete the task. The most common response heard by signature gatherers — whether they were in Houghton, Marquette, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Petoskey or Lansing — was “Thank you for being here and speaking up for our wolves.”

Once submitted, the Board of State Canvassers has 60 days, with an option of 15 additional days, to determine if the petitions contain enough valid signatures. If so, implementation of Public Act 520, the wolf hunting law, will be suspended pending the outcome of the November 2014 vote.

Wolves have been protected in Michigan for almost 50 years after being hunted to the brink of extinction. After more than four decades of protection, there are fewer than 700 wolves in Michigan. Despite the wolf population’s fragile status, the Michigan legislature rushed a bill through last year’s session authorizing a sport hunting season for wolves – opening the door to the same practices that virtually eradicated their population in the first place.

It’s already legal in Michigan to kill wolves in order to protect livestock or dogs, making a sport hunting and trapping season unnecessary. People don’t eat wolves, and it’s just pointless trophy hunting for no good purpose. Wolf hunting may involve especially cruel and unfair practices, such as painful steel-jawed leghold traps, hunting over bait, and even using packs of dogs to chase down and kill wolves.

Michigan residents interested in volunteering, donating or learning more about the issue can visit KeepWolvesProtected.com.

And you can vote for wolves in this LA Times poll here:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-wolves-idaho-montana-hunt-trap-20130305%2c0%2c1324251.story

Action Alert from the HSUS

It’s devastating to watch. In just one year, wolves have taken one brutal hit after another.

First, wolves were stripped of their federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. Then, state by state, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all opened fire on these majestic animals. Now, Michigan may be just months away from joining in the bloodletting.

Keep Michigan Wolves Protected is a coalition racing to collect 225,000 signatures by March 27 to put a referendum on the 2014 ballot. If the signatures are collected, we will automatically stop the Michigan wolf hunts through November 2014, an effort that would save as many as 500 wolf lives from pointless trophy hunting.

But we’re running out of time.

There is just more than one week left, and we haven’t reached our goal of 225,000 signatures. Can you help us put more people on the ground by making a donation of $25 — or whatever you can afford — today?

Just 50 years ago, these beautiful, shy, highly intelligent animals were pushed to the brink of extinction by the very same cruel and unsporting practices that are threatening them today. When it comes to wolves, our nation is going backward — and we must act now. Help us in this race against time for America’s remaining wolves — donate today.

Keep Michigan Wolves Protected is working day and night to reverse the fate of America’s wolves. Every dollar raised will help in the fight to stop the senseless killing of this iconic species.

The future of our wolves is at stake.