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Minnesota DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr opened the DNR's annual stakeholder meetings Friday in St. Paul listing accomplishments his agency and supporters have achieved in the past year, and challenges that lie ahead.

Accomplishments cited by Landwehr:

• Successful wolf season
• A hunting and fishing license fee increase
• The undertaking of two enforcement academies
• Wild lands and waters secured by the Outdoor Heritage Fund (Legacy money.)
• The writing of a state prairie conservation plan
• Changes in the waterfowl season; establishment of a new invasive species research center at the U
 

Challenges:

• Water quantity and quality
• Loss of grasslands
• Aquatic invasive species
• Recruitment of hunters/anglers
• Mille Lacs walleye management
• Decline of the state's moose
• Forest management in a time of difficulties for the forest-products industry

Wolf hunting and trapping season in Minnesota is still open, despite a Department of Natural Resources web site that indicated the season might be over.

Matt Steffen of the Twin Cities was among trappers who pulled up the DNR site New Year's Day morning, as required, before heading into the northern Minnesota woods to check his snare.

Instead of indicating how many wolves remained in the DNR's "harvest target'' in the state's Northwest wolf hunting and trapping zone, the site listed "null'' under the "harvest'' category for each of three zones including the Northeast and East-Central.

Thinking the harvest quota of 400 for the year had been reached, he was prepared to head home.

But DNR wolf specialist Dan Stark of Grand Rapids said the special web site the agency established to track the wolf harvest experienced a problem Tuesday morning.

"We've been trying to fix it since about 8 this morning,'' Stark said.

The harvest target for the Northwest Zone is 187 wolves, and as of New Year's Eve, Stark said, 165 had been registered.

"That leaves 22,'' he said.

Trappers and hunters have been registering about eight wolves a day in recent weeks, Stark said, with trappers accounting for the majority of the animals.

At that rate, the season is expected to remain open for at least a few days.

The quota, or harvest target, for the current wolf season, in which trapping and hunting are both allowed,  is 253.

Only hunting was allowed in a first season that ran concurrent with firearms deer hunting.

Below is Wisconsin DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp's statement following a federal judge's ruling Wednesday afternoon that prohibits Chippewa in that state from night hunting of deer with aid of a light, at least until a Dec. 12 hearing.

The Chippewa declared last week, through their Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, that beginning Monday their band members could hunt deer at night across the northern third of Wiscsonsin with aid of a light "at the point of kill.''.

The DNR  objected and filed suit, saying an earlier federal court ruling prohibited the practice, even though night hunting for coyotes is allowed by the state.

The latest conflict arose after the DNR also allowed night hunting for wolves beginning Monday with aid of a light "at the point of kill.''

Most Wisconsin Chippewa oppose the state's wolf hunt.

Here's Stepp's statement:

“This afternoon Judge Barbara Crabb of the Western District Federal Court ruled that the State may enforce state shining laws against any Chippewa Tribal member hunting deer at night within the Ceded Territory (roughly the northern third of the state) until the preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Dec. 12 and further order of the court. Chippewa Tribal members have been prohibited from night hunting/shining deer since 1990 in line with a 1989 federal court decision.

“The State is pleased that shining will be prohibited until such time as we can adequately address these issues within the appropriate court setting. We will continue to try to work with the Tribes to resolve this issue.”

Night hunting for wildlife is in the news in places other than Wisconsin, where the Department of Natural Resources and the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) are tussling over after-hours hunting of wolves and deer.

According to Wisconsin DNR rules, wolf hunting is allowed in Wisconsin beginning today with the aid of a light "at the point of kill.''

Disagreeing with that allowance, GLIFWC last week voted to allow Chippewa tribes to hunt deer at night using a light "at the point of kill'' in the northern part of Wisconsin.

The DNR argues the Chippewa lack authority to hunt deer at night, arguing that its — the DNR's — night wolf ruling is in line with allowances it grants night coyote hunters in Wisconsin.

In North Carolina, meanwhile, coyote hunting at night with an artificial light is suspended in five counties pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, whose suit was filed on behalf of the Red Wolf Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife and the Animal Welfare Institute, according to the Outdoor Wire.

"While we accept the judge's decision, it is important to note that this is a decision on a preliminary injunction only. It is not a decision on the lawsuit," said Wildlife Commission Executive Director Gordon Myers. "We remain confident of our position and its merits."

According to the Outdoor Wire report:

The Wildlife Commission passed temporary rules in July allowing the taking of coyotes and feral swine by hunting on private lands at night with a light. Night hunting is one means of controlling localized populations of coyotes and feral swine, both of which are non-native to North Carolina, destructive to the landscape, and potential disease carriers. Coyotes also pose predatory threats to pets and livestock.

The preliminary injunction issued  by the Superior Court only applies to hunting coyotes at night in Washington, Beaufort, Tyrrell, Hyde and Dare counties The order does not prevent taking of wildlife, including coyotes and red wolves, while in the act of depredation. It does not affect hunting feral swine at night with the aid of a light.

The preliminary injunction will remain in effect pending the final ruling by the Superior Court on this issue.

Wisconsin firearms deer hunters had a busy opening weekend: 134,772 whitetails were registered on the first weekend of the nine-day  season.

The Wisconsin DNR reports  the statewide harvest is up more than 19 percent from 2011, with registrations rising in all regions. Buck registrations rose 24 percent.

It's possible that deer that typically would hang in Wisconsin camps for a few days were brought to towns and registered because of the warm weekend weather, perhaps accounting for the harvest increase, officials said.

Notwithstanding the higher harvest this opening weekend than last, some hunters in northern counties are reporting low deer sightings.

The DNR said in a press release Monday that almost  26,000 new hunters  bought licenses to deer hunt for the first time, or for the first time in 10 years, this year. Females represented 32 percent of resident First Time Gun Deer licenses.

“I find this statistic particularly exciting. If we get the women involved in hunting, we get the family involved. It is so important to be getting youth out there in the tree stand. We will all be looking to them to keep our wonderful hunting heritage alive,” said Wisconsin DNR secretary Cathy Stepp. “But I also want to recognize that 66 first-time licenses were sold to hunters 80 and older. The involvement of so many generations in the deer hunt truly illustrates how deep the deer hunting tradition runs in Wisconsin.”

The DNR noted these facts about Wisconsin hunters in its press release:

• 614,435 Total Deer Gun Hunter, up 2 percent from last year
• Resident deer licenses (568,831) are up 1.5 percent
• Nonresident deer licenses (32,554) up 2 percent
• 10/11 year old Mentored Gun Deer licenses (13,050) are up 10 percent
• 60 percent of gun deer licenses were sold in the month of November
• Females represent 9.5 percent of total gun hunters
• 78,604 (or 13 percent) were youth (under age of 18)
• 61,276 (or 10 percent) were senior citizens (65 years of age and older)
• Hunters come to Wisconsin from all 50 states and several foreign countries
• 25,703 First Time Buyer Licenses were sold
• 13,511 resident gun deer
• 8,976 resident junior gun deer
• 3,216 nonresident gun deer
• 9,001, or 35 percent of First Time Buyers were youth (17 years of age and under)