Howling For Wolves

Programs: January, 2017 every other tuesday afternoon, all year, participated in a conference call with the endangered species coalition (esc). Esc is a large group of mostly-ngo wildlife advocacy groups working for the protection of endangered species. These particular conference calls are specific to the wolf throughout the united states. January, 2017 continued our work on wolf population estimate recalculations by elite research with board member joe wolf and statistician weiden. January 19, 2017 interviewed with jack sunday on kfgo from fargo, nd, and later by dan kraker from mpr in response to the bills introduced. February 27, 2017 at the blue state ball hfw sponsored a table where we passed out our pamphlets and educated people about the current situation of the wolf in minnesota. March 19, 2017 contacted john vucetich, wolf researcher on isle royale and michigan tech, regarding our professional statisticians report on wolf population estimates. March 28, 2017 jordan willauer, u of m journalist student, recorded a one-hour interview with dr. Hackett regarding the wolf situation in minnesota and the country. March and april, 2017 met with mary falk, a farmer from wisconsin, to learn more about nonlethal prevention methods and the best way to advocate for farmers to use these methods. April 17-19, 2017 dr. Hackett attended the midwest wolf steward conference in houghton, mi, and met doug smith of yellowstone wolf recovery and many other wildlife agents. Hackett asked a key question of the minnesota dnr: had their estimate methods for calculating wolves ever been compared to real wolf numbers? The answer was no. So whether the wolf estimates reflect the real numbers of wolves has never been established. April, 2017 adopt a highway clean-up of 2 miles of interstate 35 by dedicated volunteers. June, 2017 howling for wolves rented office space and moved in during the month of june. July through december, 2017 developing a short animation film to explain the wolf population estimate techniques by the minnesota dnr. The purpose is to explain to the public what little is truly known about the numbers and locations of wild wolves in minnesota. It is on the website as of dec. And called, miscounting minnesota wolves. August 1, 2017 the court of appeals for the district of columbias unanimous decision by a 3-judge panel affirming the district courts decision of december 19, 2014. Great lakes wolves remain on the endangered species list. August 9, 2017 dr. Hackett was interviewed on espn 1500 with dennis anderson about the august 1 court of appeals decision that kept the great lakes wolves on the endangered species list. August, 2017 began our search for a director and programs manager. Interviewed rebecca convery. Ultimately was not a good fit. August, 2017 hfw sponsored a booth at the minnesota state fair. Beth ventura, a professor at the university of minnesota, left her contact info. We later met with her and may collaborate with her on a survey of farmers to determine how to persuade them to not use lethal response to wolf conflicts. She introduced us to the concept of compassionate conservation. September, 2017 hired devon bowker, wildlife biologist and recent graduate of st. Cloud state to be our programs manager. September through november, 2017 worked with minnesota department of agriculture to finalize their rfp for nonlethal prevention grants. Also suggested names to be on their grant evaluation committee. Hfw contacted tim nolte, former president of the cattlemans association, and jm, sheep farmer in pine county and encouraged them to apply for grants and to assist with notifying other farmers of the program. October 5, 2017 dr. Hackett attended the mn350 gala and met with lots of environmental and animal advocates. October 12, 2017 devon went to st. Cloud state to meet with students interested in forming a university-sponsored official wolf group. October 17, 2017 attended barry babcocks book reading at subtext in st. Paul where dozens of hfw supporters attended. October, 2017 hfw responded to the minnesota senators request to the usda to fund wildlife services and their wrongful statements that usda services were using more money because there are more wolves. In fact, total complaints were down as were livestock losses---though wolf deaths remain high. November 17-19, 2017 sponsored a table at the fall outdoor adventure expo at midwest mountaineering in minneapolis. Devon spoke about our work to stop all wildlife snaring and implement more nonlethal prevention methods for farmers. November, 2017 dr. Hackett and devon met with professor beth ventura, university of minnesota, to discuss and plan outreach to stakeholders (farmers) about wolf conflicts and how to encourage them to use nonlethal methods first and also accept our funds for losses (if not reimbursed by the federal government) they experience in exchange for not killing a wolf. November, 2017 devon met with john hart of usda wildlife services to learn more about when and how he kills wolves in response to predation on livestock. November, 2017 dr. Hackett had a discussion with mike phillips of the turner endangered species fund. Mike phillips provided information about the feasibility from a biological standpoint of placing mexican gray wolves (baileyi) onto isle royale. Mike phillips indicated that it was quite doable for these wolves to survive in this winter habitat. December, 2017 awarded jm $700 for her loss of 2 ewes due to wolf predation and her on-going work to use solely nonlethal methods. This was the cost of the replacement of these ewes since the usda did not reimburse her. December, 2017 during esc calls, dr. Hackett suggested that more captive wolves be released to the wild, in particular on isle royale when wolves are introduced there. This is instead of capturing wild wolves and relocating them to isle royale. Hackett will contact the national park service about this idea. December, 2017 analyzing the conservation officer reports for alleged wolf-livestock conflicts in minnesota where wolves were killed by usda trappers and funds were reimbursed to farmers from 2012 through 2014. December, 2017 dr. Hackett contacted and advocated for the use of captive wolves to be released on isle royale instead of the current proposal to use wild wolves from minnesota, michigan, and wisconsin. The wild wolves will be baited and trapped and relocated. We are concerned about destabilizing the wolf population in minnesota and also would like to see captive wolves, especially the mexican gray wolf. December 2017 hfw responded with an op-ed published in the grand forks herald tribune in response and opposition to their december 19th story, time for another wolf hunt in minnesota.