 within Isle Royale National Park (where the wolf population is fully protected by the National Park Service).
As with the WI Plan, the MI DNR has chosen to manage the State's wolves as though they are an isolated population that receives no genetic or demographic benefits from immigrating wolves, even though their population will continue to be connected with populations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada. The Michigan wolf population must exceed 200 wolves in order to achieve the Plan's first goal of maintaining a viable wolf population in the UP. This number is consistent with the Federal Recovery Plan for the Eastern Timber Wolf's definition of a viable, isolated wolf population (USFWS 1992, p. 25). The MI Plan, however, clearly states that 200 wolves is not the target population size, and that a larger population may be necessary to meet the other goals of the Plan. Therefore, the State will maintain a wolf population that will “provide all of the ecological and social benefits valued by the public” while “minimizing and resolving conflicts where they occur” (MI DNR 2008a, pp. 22-23). We strongly support this approach, as it provides assurance that a viable wolf population will remain in the UP regardless of the future fate of wolves in Wisconsin or Ontario.
The 2008 Michigan Plan identifies wolf population monitoring as a priority activity, and specifically states that the MI DNR will monitor wolf abundance annually for at least 5 years post-delisting (MI DNR 2008a, pp. 31-32). This includes monitoring to assess wolf presence in the northern Lower Peninsula. As discussed previously, the size of the wolf population in Michigan is determined by extensive radio and snow tracking surveys. Recently the MI DNR also conducted a field evaluation of a less expensive “Minnesota-type” wolf survey. However, similar to WI DNR's experience, the evaluation concluded that the method overestimated wolf numbers, and is not suitable for use on the State's wolf population as it currently is distributed (Beyer in litt. 2006b).
From 1989 through 2006, the MI DNR attempted to count wolves throughout the entire UP. As the wolf population increased, this method became more difficult. In the winter of 2006-07, the MI DNR implemented a new sampling approach based on an analysis by Potvin et al. (2005, p. 1668) to increase the efficiency of the State survey. The new approach is based on a geographically based stratified random sample and produces an unbiased, regional estimate of wolf abundance. The UP was stratified into three sampling areas, and within each stratum the DNR intensively surveys roughly 40 to 50 percent of the wolf habitat area annually. Computer simulations have shown that such a geographically stratified monitoring program will produce unbiased and precise estimates of the total wolf population, which can be statistically compared to estimates derived from the previous method to detect significant changes in the UP wolf population (Beyer in litt 2006b, see attachment by Drummer; Lederle in litt. 2006; Roell et al. 2009, p. 3).
The Plan does not determine whether a public harvest will be used as a management strategy in Michigan, but it discusses developing a “socially and biologically responsible policy regarding public harvest” (MI DNR 2008a, p. 65). Instituting public harvest during a regulated season would first require that the wolf be classified as a “game animal” in the State. Game-animal status in Michigan may be designated only by the State Legislature and, additionally, only the State Legislature could authorize the first harvest season. If such designation and authorization were conferred, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission would then need to enact regulations pertaining to the methods of a public harvest.
To minimize illegal take, the 2008 Plan calls for enacting and enforcing regulations to ensure adequate legal protection for wolves in the State. Under State regulations, wolves could be classified as a threatened, endangered, game, or protected animal, all of which prohibit killing (or harming) the species except under a permit, license, or specific conditions. As discussed above, designating a species as a “game animal” would require action by the State Legislature. Michigan reclassified wolves from endangered to threatened in June 2002, and in April 2009, removed gray wolves from the State's threatened and endangered species list and amended the Wildlife Conservation Order to grant “protected animal” status to the gray wolf in the State (Roell 2009, pers. comm.). A person who commits a violation regarding the possession or taking of most wildlife species with the four legal designations (threatened, endangered, game, or protected animal) in Michigan is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or a fine of not less than $100 or more than $1,000, or both. Penalties may also include costs of prosecution, loss of hunting privileges, and reimbursing the value of the animal ($1,500 for a threatened or endangered species, $100 to $500 for most game species, and $100 for protected animals) (MI DNR 2008a, p. 35).
The 2008 Plan emphasizes the need for public education efforts that focus on living with a recovered wolf population and ways to manage wolves and wolf-human interaction (both positive and negative). The Plan recommends continuing reimbursement for depredation losses, citizen stakeholder involvement in the wolf management program, continuing important research efforts, and minimizing the impacts of captive wolves and wolf-dog hybrids on the wild wolf population (MI DNR 2008a, pp. 31, 59, 61, and 66).
The 2008 Michigan Plan calls for establishing a wolf management advisory group that would meet annually to monitor the progress made toward implementing the Plan. Furthermore, the Plan will be reviewed and updated at 5-year intervals, to address “ecological, social, and regulatory” changes (MI DNR 2008a, p. 66). The plan also addresses currently available and potential new sources of funding to offset costs associated with wolf management. The MI DNR has long been an innovative leader in wolf recovery efforts, exemplified by its initiation of the nation's first attempt to reintroduce wild wolves to vacant historical wolf habitat in 1974 (Weise et al. 1975). The MI DNR's history of leadership in wolf recovery and its repeated written commitments to ensure the continued viability of a Michigan wolf population above a level that would trigger State or Federal listing as threatened or endangered further reinforces that the revised 2008 Michigan Wolf Management Plan will provide adequate regulatory mechanisms for Michigan wolves. The DNR's primary goal remains to conduct management to maintain the wolf population in Michigan above the minimum size that is biologically required for a viable, isolated population and to provide for ecological and social benefits valued by the public while resolving conflicts where they occur (MI DNR 2008a, p. 22).
Depredation Control in Michigan—Data from Michigan show a general increase in confirmed events of wolf depredations on livestock (Table 2). These livestock depredations occurred at 59 different UP farms (approximately 7 percent of the existing farms); 16 (27 percent) of those 59 farms have experienced more than one depredation event. Over 80 percent of the depredation events were on cattle, with the rest on sheep, poultry, rabbits, and captive cervids (Roell et al. 2009, pp. 9, 11). In 2010, 26 (57 percent) of the depredation events occurred on a single farm. The relationship between the number of wolves and the number of depredation events suggests that for every 100 additional wolves in the population there will be about 3 additional livestock depredation events per year (Roell et al. 2010, p. 6).
Table 2—Number of Verified Livestock Depredation Events by Wolves in Michigan by Year.
Michigan has not experienced as high a level of attacks on dogs by wolves as Wisconsin, although a slight increase in such attacks has occurred over the last decade. Yearly losses vary, and actions of a single pack of wolves can be an important influence. In Michigan, there is not a strong relationship between wolf depredation on dogs and wolf abundance (Roell et al. 2010, p. 7). The number of dogs killed in the State between 1996 and 2010 was 34; 12 additional dogs were injured in wolf attacks during that same period. Of the 34 wolf-related dog deaths during that time, 50 percent involved hounds used to hunt bears (Roell 2010, pers. comm.). Similar to Wisconsin, MI DNR has guidelines for its depredation control program, stating that lethal control will not be used when wolves kill dogs that are free-roaming, hunting, or training on public lands. Lethal control of wolves, however, would be considered if wolves have killed confined pets and remain in the area where more pets are being held (MI DNR 2005a, p. 6). However, in 2008, the Michigan Legislature passed a law that would allow dog owners or their designated agents to remove, capture, or, if deemed necessary, use lethal means to destroy a gray wolf that is in the act of preying upon the owner's dog, which includes dogs free-roaming or hunting on public lands.
During the several years that lethal control of depredating wolves had been conducted in Michigan, there was no evidence of resulting adverse impacts to the maintenance of a viable wolf population in the UP. A total of 41 wolves were killed by the MI DNR and Start Printed Page 81712USDA-Wildlife Services in response to depredation events during the time period when permits or special rules were in effect or while wolves were not on the Federal list of threatened and endangered species (Roell et al. 2010, p. 8). Wolves were euthanized as follows: 4 (2003), 5 (2004), 2 (2005), 7 (2006), 14 (2007), 8 (2008), and 1 (during 2 months in 2009) (Beyer et al. 2006, p. 88; Roell in litt. 2006, p. 1;