Dr. Maureen Hackett: Climate change is worsening. Wolves can help fight it

Climate change is getting worse, threatening every aspect of daily life here in Minnesota. Fortunately, we have a powerful and surprising ally in the fight to prevent further damage: the gray wolf. Unfortunately, our state's leaders have just missed a historic opportunity to do so.

Minnesotans adore our Boundary Waters, lakes, rivers, forests, and other natural treasures, which last year drew 77 million tourists who contributed $13 billion in revenues. We have the wolf to thank for much of that windfall.

Wolves maintain balance in their ecosystems by preventing other animals from eating young trees and vegetation faster than they can grow back. Those trees and plants prevent soil erosion and act as natural buffers against flooding. Healthy trees reduce carbon in the atmosphere, and native plants attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators.

Put bluntly, wolves are good for the environment. And, in Minnesota, where winter temperatures have risen by an average of 7.3 degrees since 1895, we could really use their help.

That's why a conference committee of Minnesota lawmakers made a grave mistake by excluding legislation banning wolf hunting and trapping from a must-pass budget bill even though the provision passed the House of Representatives by a large, bipartisan majority.

ADVERTISEMENT

Legislators aren't the only ones dropping the ball. Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources should focus on saving our state's wolves, but instead caters to the hunters and trappers who want to kill more of them. The DNR's statistics about the health of Minnesota's wolf population are misleading, and it has the fundamentally flawed goal of keeping Minnesota's wolf population "stable," rather than ensuring the species grows and thrives.

The DNR's failings are particularly irresponsible because humans have spent centuries demonizing wolves and exaggerating the threat they pose. Today, hunters and their supporters argue that open wolf-hunting seasons are necessary to control wolf populations and protect livestock and humans.

But the science isn't there.

When left undisturbed, wolves cause very few livestock deaths. In fact, researchers have found that killing wolves leads to more attacks on livestock the following year, not fewer of them.

Wolves have humanlike communal behavior, living in small packs that consist almost entirely of family members who depend on one another to survive. Each pack member contributes to raising new pups, and research has found that packs who lose a single member to hunting are less likely to survive or reproduce. Wolf pups are particularly vulnerable: barely 30 percent survive their first year of life.

What's more, wolves are apex predators that have social and biological systems for regulating their territories. Intact wolf packs control their territories and hunt wild animals more effectively. Wolf hunting destroys this delicate balance, setting off a chain reaction that results in more wolf deaths and more livestock conflicts. An overlooked casualty of that chain reaction of cruelty is an ecosystem that relies on wolves to survive.

Our behavior toward wolves mirrors our behavior toward the environment. Depleting our natural resources created an uncontrollable climate crisis, and wolf hunting will unleash uncontrollable wolf killing.

Thankfully, public opinion is on the wolf's side. 86% of Minnesota residents said they would like to see the same number or more wolves in our state.

ADVERTISEMENT

The conference committee had a momentous opportunity to make Minnesota the national model for how to protect wolves – and the climate. We will work to revive the bill in the second year of this legislative session.

We know how to kill wolves. Now let's learn how to live with them, for our sake as much as theirs.

Dr. Maureen Hackett is the president and founder of Howling For Wolves, a Minnesota-based advocacy group focused on protecting the state's wolf population. An Air Force veteran and physician, Dr. Hackett has spent more than 11 years working to remove wolf hunting and trapping from state law.

ADVERTISEMENT