MINNEAPOLIS— The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources today released its final wolf management plan, which will guide the state’s wolf conservation efforts for the next decade. It replaces a previous plan that was last updated in 2001.

“Like so many Minnesotans, I treasure our wolves and I’m glad the new plan ensures their future in the state,” said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity and member of Minnesota’s Wolf Plan Advisory Committee. “The new plan incorporates modern science on wolf conservation and better reflects the wolf-friendly values of most people in Minnesota.”

The new plan was informed by a 2020 report that analyzed Minnesotans’ attitudes toward wolves. A key finding was that 87% of residents agree that maintaining the state’s wolf population is important. Accordingly, an objective of the plan is to “maintain a population comparable to recent estimates (2,200-3,000, well above the federal recovery goals) and distributed across the majority of current wolf range.”

Future decisions about whether to allow hunting or trapping of wolves will be made consistent with the plan, which requires public input and Tribal involvement. If wolf hunting is allowed, quotas would be set with the goal of maintaining the current wolf population and range. The Center would oppose any authorization of wolf hunting.

Unlike the 2001 plan, the new plan emphasizes preventing conflicts between wolves and livestock. For example, the state commits to providing technical guidance to livestock owners on non-lethal and preventative ways to avoid wolf predations. State-directed wolf control could occur in areas where there are chronic livestock-wolf conflicts and prevention hasn’t been effective.

Although today’s plan is intended to guide wolf management over the next 10 years, wolves in Minnesota are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. Under federal law, wolves cannot be hunted, and only governmental agents can kill wolves in response to conflicts with livestock.