sports

Minnesota’s inaugural wolf hunting and trapping season will end Thursday because the 400-wolf target quota has nearly been met, the Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday.

Hunters had registered a total of 395 wolves as of Wednesday afternoon, prompting the state to close the season, said Dan Stark, DNR wolf specialist.

The wolf season had closed in the northeast and east-central zones, but has been open in the northwest zone. But the wolf kill there has increased daily, and stood at 181 Wednesday afternoon — just five wolves shy of the 400-wolf quota.

Hunters and trappers during the late-season, which began Nov. 24, had killed 248 wolves. Hunters in the early season killed 147 wolves. The late season was set to end Jan. 31, unless the 400-wolf quota was reached.

Announcing the closure on Wednesday gives hunters and trappers one more day to pursue wolves. The season for wolf hunters closes a half-hour after sunset Thursday; wolf trappers have until 10 p.m. Thursday.

Here’s more from the news release:

Peggy Ladner, who directs The Nature Conservancy’s work in Minnesota, said that “putting Glacial Ridge back together again was an unprecedented challenge.”

“Glacial Ridge is paying off for wildlife, the local community and others who visit the refuge,” Ladner said. “It shows that if you think big and work together, there’s no limit to what can be accomplished.”

Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2004. The refuge provides  wetland and grassland habitat for mallards, northern pintails, marbled godwits, tundra swans, sandhill cranes, prairie chickens and many other waterfowl and grassland bird species. It also provides numerous public recreational opportunities, such as hunting, wildlife observation, photography and environmental education.

National wildlife refuges bring substantial economic benefits to the American public. Habitat restoration efforts like Glacial Ridge are happening across more than 560 refuges nationwide and, taken collectively, yield an average local economic contribution of $1.4 million annually. According to an economic report released earlier this year by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), this benefit includes the creation of jobs and the growth of new, small businesses.

In addition to the economic benefits highlighted in the DOI report, Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge has provided and continues to provide other benefits to neighboring communities:

•    Two wells on the property supply clean drinking water to the nearby town of Crookston.
•    The restored prairies and wetlands store water and help slow runoff into rivers and streams, which benefits farms and communities downstream during flood conditions.
•    Area elementary school and university students use Glacial Ridge as an “outdoor classroom” for nature study and research.
•    Glacial Ridge provides thousands of acres of excellent quality prairie pothole habitat for hunters in pursuit of deer, waterfowl and other game species.
•    Refuge staff are working with a neighboring landowner to use cattle grazing in combination with prescribed fire to manage 2,100 acres of prairie at Glacial Ridge. The collaboration returns grazing to the prairie landscape as a management tool while providing much-needed grazing land to the local rancher and revenue to the county.
•    Four prairie chicken viewing blinds bring bird lovers from across the U.S. and other countries to Glacial Ridge each spring, providing increased tourism revenue to local businesses. The Crookston Chamber of Commerce advertises the blinds and takes reservations.

“The restoration of the prairie landscape at Glacial Ridge is an excellent example of how a partnership in land management can benefit all,” noted refuge manager Dave Bennett.

“This model of partnership will continue as these restored habitats are managed into the future - where good land stewardship can be beneficial to natural land functions and the local economy.”

Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, part of the 96-million acre National Wildlife Refuge System, will include nearly 38,000 acres of wetland and grassland habitat once it is completed.

Minnesota's wolf hunters and trappers have killed 199 wolves so far in the late-season, and, including 147 wolves killed in the early season, now are 54 wolves shy of the DNR's  400-wolf target quota.

The total wolf kill for the early and late seasons now is 346. The late season ends Jan. 31, unless the target is reached before that date. 

Hunters during the late season, which began Nov. 24, have killed 132 wolves in the northwest zone, where the target quota is 187. That is the only zone still open. The northeast zone is closed  because hunters killed 58 wolves there, two above the 56-wolf target quota. And the east-central zone closed after  hunters in that zone killed nine wolves. The target quota was 10.

Hunters registered 147 wolves during the early portion of Minnesota’s first wolf season that ended Nov. 18,  53 fewer than the statewide harvest target. That means hunters and trappers in the second season can take up to 253 wolves.