Minnesota’s wolves have been removed from the federal endangered species list, allowing the Minnesota DNR to manage the state’s wolf population.

Wolves in Minnesota, considered part of the Great Lakes population of wolves, were delisted in March 2007, but a federal court ruling last September reinstated the wolf’s status as threatened, based on technical questions about procedural aspects of the delisting rulemaking. After re-examining its legal authority, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reissued its delisting decision in last March with an effective date of May 4.

Minnesota’s wolf management plan is designed to protect wolves and monitor their population while giving owners of livestock and domestic pets more protection from wolf depredation. It splits the state into two management zones with more protective regulations in the northern third of Minnesota, which is considered the wolf’s core range.

Minnesota’s management plan establishes a minimum population of 1,600 wolves to ensure long-term wolf survival. The state’s wolf population, estimated at fewer than 750 animals in the 1950s, has stabilized at about 3,000 wolves. Under state law, no public hunting or trapping of wolves is allowed for at least five years after delisting. Federal law also requires USFWS to monitor wolves in Minnesota for five years after delisting to ensure recovery continues.

To ensure a seamless transition from federal to state wolf management and to address immediate conflicts between wolves and livestock, the long-standing wolf depredation control program managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services office in Grand Rapids will continue under a cooperative agreement with the DNR.