FILE - This Nov. 7, 2017, file photo provided by the National Park Service shows a wolf in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Idaho wildlife officials say an attack by two wolves panicked a flock of sheep and 143 died after they ran into a gully where they were crushed and suffocated. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services on Thursday, June 2, 2022, confirmed the sheep deaths in mid-May in southwestern Idaho in foothills north of Boise.
FILE - In this undated photo released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a dispersing wolf from the Oregon Pack OR-54. The past two years have seen a big increase in wolf poaching cases in the Northwest. Four dead wolves were discovered in the northeastern corner of Washington state in February 2022. That followed the poisoning of eight wolves in eastern Oregon in 2021, along with the poaching of a total of eight wolves in Idaho last year.
FILE - This Nov. 7, 2017, file photo provided by the National Park Service shows a wolf in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Idaho wildlife officials say an attack by two wolves panicked a flock of sheep and 143 died after they ran into a gully where they were crushed and suffocated. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services on Thursday, June 2, 2022, confirmed the sheep deaths in mid-May in southwestern Idaho in foothills north of Boise.
Jacob W. Frank - hogp, National Park Service
FILE - In this undated photo released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a dispersing wolf from the Oregon Pack OR-54. The past two years have seen a big increase in wolf poaching cases in the Northwest. Four dead wolves were discovered in the northeastern corner of Washington state in February 2022. That followed the poisoning of eight wolves in eastern Oregon in 2021, along with the poaching of a total of eight wolves in Idaho last year.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota's population of gray wolves is resilient and robust, wildlife managers said Thursday as they released a draft updated plan to keep it that way.
The Department of Natural Resources laid out a blueprint for the next 10 years to both strengthen conservation and minimize conflicts between people and predators. It calls for maintaining a statewide population of between 2,200 and 3,000 wolves. That’s in line with recent annual estimates of about 2,700 and around where it's been since the late 1990s.
“Wolf conservation is a high priority for the DNR and we expect this updated plan to help ensure Minnesota’s wolf population remains healthy,” Kelly Straka, the agency's wildlife section manager, said in a statement.
Of the estimated 6,000 gray wolves in the lower 48 states, nearly one-half are in Minnesota.
However, the draft includes a framework for future decision-making about wolf seasons. It includes ensuring that tribal governments are consulted “with a goal of identifying and pursuing a mutually acceptable decision.” The federal government would continue to compensate farmers for livestock killed by wolves and could send in trappers to kill wolves in the area.
The DNR will hold an informational webinar July 13. Public comments will be accepted through Aug. 8. The DNR hopes to finalize the plan in the early fall.
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