DNR WANTS MORE AUTHORITY TO CONTROL WOLVES
Monday, March 6th, 2006 -- 2:09 PM
By Andrew Beckett, [url=http://www.wrn.com]WRN[/url]The State Department of Natural Resources and federal wildlife officials hope to have a new plan in place quickly for wolf damage control. When the gray wolf was placed back on the endangered species list, wildlife officials lost the ability to kill or remove wolves that threaten livestock. The DNR's Adrian Wydeven says officials want to restore some of those powers. A judge rejected the state's previous attempt to kill problem wolves because officials didn't take public comment. Wydeven says they'll avoid that problem this time by holding a public comment period. Wydeven says the wolf population is growing, and that's forcing the animals out of the woods and in to more agricultural areas. That could increase the risk of attacks on livestock. The DNR hopes to have the permit approved by this spring.
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