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Letters to the Editor

Wolves mishandled

To the Journal editor:

Just before Christmas, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law authorizing the trophy hunting and commercial trapping of Michigan’s wolves, should their federal Endangered Species Act protections be removed.

This is in spite of the fact that in the 2014 general election, Michiganders soundly rejected two wolf hunting laws, casting more votes against them than were cast to re-elect the state’s own governor.

And just weeks ago, a Michigan court overturned a third wolf hunting law as unconstitutional.

After suffering from hundreds of years of persecution, wolves in the Great Lakes are still recovering, and occupy only a meager portion of their historic range. And the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ wolf population estimates have declined in recent years.

Wolves provide a wide range of ecological benefits, including removing sick or weak deer from the population and increasing the number of vital plants and trees in Michigan.

The rest of the world is waking up to the importance of apex carnivores like wolves, and their acceptance by the public is increasing.

Yet in passing this new law, our legislature and the governor ignored science, ethics and the democratic process to appease the few who are eager to kill wolves out of hatred, fear or ignorance.

What an embarrassment for our state.

Robert Williams

Gwinn

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