Minnesota governor backs legislation prohibiting sport hunting of wolves

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Tim Walz says he supports legislation to ban the recreational hunting of wolves in Minnesota if the federal government succeeds in removing them from the threatened list.

An amendment to prohibit sport wolf hunting was added to a House environmental bill Tuesday. On Wednesday, the governor said that when he was in Congress he supported “delisting” wolves where populations had recovered, but not nationwide.

And while he said he supports managing wolf populations, he added he doesn’t think sport hunting is appropriate.

Minnesota held three wolf seasons before a judge restored federal protections 2014.

Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, says the issue is personal for her because she’s from the Wolf clan, and there’s a rule against hunting your own clan.