MARQUETTE – A wolf attack this week on a Forsyth Township man’s dog fanned flames in a decade-long debate about whether and how the state should manage the Upper Peninsula’s wolf population.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is investigating the attack, though the dog was not injured.

Dennis Stachewicz was near his home walking his German shorthaired pointers, who were running freely along the empty county road, when he heard a distressed animal in the woods. There he saw his dog, Gabby, being attacked by two wolves.

“She was pretty much scrambling in the fight of her life,” Stachewicz said.

Stachewicz rushed toward them shouting and clapping to scare the wolves away.

“The smaller wolf looked up and turned around and ran off,” Stachewicz said. “That gave my dog an opportunity to get out and she went screaming by me. And the larger wolf took off after her, until it got about 10 feet from me and just stopped. It shot me a glance, looked at me, turned around and trotted off.”

Stachewicz breeds and trains bird dogs professionally as the owner of Aspen Thicket Grouse Dogs.

He said he’s been a big advocate over the years of not worrying about wolves, but this experience was disconcerting, since Stachewicz has two young boys and was only a quarter-mile away from a residential area.

Kevin Swanson, wildlife management specialist with the DNR’s bear and wolf program, said the wolves were likely part of the Strawberry Lake pack, which contains at least two wolves and covers a large territory north of Gwinn.

Wolf encounters are more likely with a larger deer presence, Swanson said.

“We’ve had reports of people feeding deer in that area, as well as baiting coyotes with deer carcasses. So when that is happening, you can obviously attract wolves,” Swanson said.

Wolves can view other canid species as a threat to their territory and will kill coyotes and dogs, Swanson said, but only a handful of dog attacks occurred in 2015.

Swanson said Stachewicz’s close proximity likely saved Gabby, since most dogs don’t survive. He recommends putting a bell or beeper collar on dogs when hunting or exercising to keep them safe.

Swanson said allowing the DNR to manage the wolf population would also reduce conflict.

“Our hands are tied right now, unfortunately. Wolves were placed again on the federal endangered species list in December of 2014, and we adamantly disagree with that ruling,” Swanson said.

Wolves had been delisted based on their population recovery in the western Great Lakes and Northern Rockies after facing near-extermination in the last century.

But animal protection advocates say wolf populations remain vulnerable and have sued repeatedly over more than a decade against federal efforts to remove the shield of the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits killing them except in defense of human life.

“We have a viable wolf population in the Upper Peninsula and the state of Michigan should … have the authority to manage those animals sustainably, just like we do with black bear and deer and many of our other game species,” Swanson said.

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission controversially designated wolves a game species, leading to the state’s first authorized wolf hunt in 2013.

The following year, two citizen votes rejected wolf hunts, but the state Legislature passed a bill nullifying them and formally granting the NRC authority to designate game species.

This week, wolf legislation introduced in November was approved by the U.S. Senate Environment Committee.

The Republican amendment to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list in Wyoming, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota also prohibits courts from intervening in those states on behalf of the embattled predator.

The bill now goes to the full Senate.

Nancy Warren, of Ewen, executive director and regional coordinator for the National Wolfwatcher Coalition, said recreational wolf hunting is not proven to reduce conflict, yet is extremely harmful to the survival of wolf packs as units.

Wolf population levels stabilize and self-regulate based on prey and habitat without human management, she said, adding that other game species, like bear, are far more populous.

“Conflicts have really been very low with this population of 636 wolves,” Warren said. “Livestock losses were at 11 last year. … The wolves are not causing any major problem. The big problem is we have the press that sensationalizes any kind of wolf interaction.”

But Warren said she supports states’ right to manage “problem wolves,” which is why a coalition of 22 animal advocacy organizations petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to change the wolf’s status from “endangered” to “threatened” last January. The petition was denied.

The change in status would give the DNR the authority to kill wolves that pose a threat to pets or livestock.

“The only thing threatened status would prevent would be a recreational wolf hunt, so we’ve been strong advocates for threatened status,” Warren said.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net