The Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association President, Krist
Wollum, provided a letter of support for Collin Peterson’s H.R. 424, the Gray
Wolf State Management Act of 2017. This
bill was heard during a House Natural Resources Committee in July.
July 17th, 2017
The
Honorable Rob
Bishop The Honorable Raul Grijalva
Chairman Ranking Member
House
Natural Resources
Committee House
Natural Resources Committee
1324
Longworth House Office
Building
1329 Longworth House Office Building
Washington,
DC
20515 Washington, DC 20515
Re: H.R. 424 – Gray Wolf State Management Act of
2017
Dear
Chairmen Bishop and Ranking Member Grijalva,
The Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association
thanks the House Committee on Natural Resources for showing support and
granting a hearing for H.R. 424 - Gray Wolf State Management Act of 2017.
While under state control, the State of
Minnesota, through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Department
of Agriculture, developed and implemented a comprehensive and time proven wolf
management plan. That plan, accepted by the US Department of Interior, was the
basis for delisting and the means of ensuring Minnesota’s wolves would never
again become threatened or endangered.
Minnesota’s gray wolf, by all measures
established, was effectively maintained in Minnesota and should once again have
population control returned to the state.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of Minnesota do not
dispute that wolves have recovered and maintained their population here. However, efforts to de-list wolves in this
area continue to be challenged on procedural and technical, rather than wolf
conservation, grounds. The success of the ESA in recovering this population and
the management efforts of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources have
been overshadowed by litigation and the unnecessarily onerous process to delist
the gray wolf. If the State of Minnesota satisfactorily follows
their approved population management plan, then future delisting of the
gray wolf should not be
subject to judicial review. With this type of action, we firmly believe
it would remedy what is necessary to overcome the long history of legal and
technical challenges to managing a clearly recovered species in the state of
Minnesota.
Once delisted, the State of Minnesota
will continue to protect wolves and monitor their population, while giving
livestock and domestic pet owners and wildlife more protection from wolf
depredation as well as diseases
carried by wolves. According to
the original recovery plan, wolves have recovered in Minnesota and no longer
warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The original USFWS recovery plan called for
1,251 to 1,400 gray wolves in Minnesota to meet delisting criteria. The state
plan establishes a minimum population of 1,600 wolves to ensure the long-term
survival of the wolf in Minnesota. The state’s wolf population, which was
estimated at fewer than 750 animals in the 1950s, has grown an estimated 2,300
animals according to the 2015-16 mid-winter wolf population survey. This obviously far exceeds state and federal
recovery goals and has led to increased conflicts between wolves and humans,
pets, and livestock. This would also show that, while under state control,
state agencies have been able to successfully manage wolf populations.
Minnesota’s cattle and beef industry
is a diverse and robust sector of the state’s agricultural economy. Cattle and
beef production is the second largest livestock sector in Minnesota, accounting
for 27% of Minnesota’s livestock cash receipts and 13% of the state’s total
agricultural cash receipts. Nationally, Minnesota ranks tenth in cattle
production and is home to roughly 2.4 million head of cattle and calves. This
sector of animal agriculture has a “multiplier effect” of $2.05 for every
dollar of output. Specifically, Minnesota’s beef and cattle production creates
economic activities in many other economic sectors including agronomy,
manufacturing, transportation, trade, services, finance, insurance, real
estate, and construction. Minnesota beef production’s total economic impacts at
the farm level (not including meat processing) equals 4.2 billion dollars and
employs nearly 27,000 Minnesotans. Ensuring Minnesota’s beef farmers and
ranchers are able to protect their cattle and herds when needed is vital to
supporting this important sector of Minnesota’s economy.
Thank-you for your time and
consideration of H.R. 424 - Gray Wolf State Management Act of 2017.
Krist Wollum
President
Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association
Posted: July 18, 2017
