LOCAL EXPERTS DISCUSS IMPACT AT BEMIDJI PUBLIC LIBRARY JUNE 13TH FROM 5-7PM

CONTACT: Joanna Dymond

218-751-7722

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GETS READY TO CUT GRAY WOLF FROM THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST. LOCAL EXPERTS DISCUSS IMPACT AT BEMIDJI PUBLIC LIBRARY JUNE 13TH FROM 5-7PM

Wolf Experts Barry Babcock of Laporte, Minnesota and Robert J. Shimek, of the White Earth Reservation will discuss how recreational hunting and trapping wolves will now become legal again if U.S. Fish & Wildlife Proposal becomes law after July 15th. The Service plans to turn management of the gray wolf back to the states and tribes after removing it from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The wolf is the most controversial species in North America. Hunted to near extinction many times, they have been brought back, and then hunted again.Despite the threats, a solution must be found to co-exist with the species and protect wolves for future generations.

Most of the 2600 Minnesota wolves live in the Northern part of Minnesota. An iconic animal, highly intelligent, the wolf is devoted to its pack of 5-7 wolves. They embrace a culture of cooperative living and raise their pups, coordinate hunting, form friendships, play together and take care of the elderly wolves, all sharing duties much like people.

The Bemidji Public Library wolf display and speakers are presented by Howling for Wolves, a nonprofit advocacy devoted to the implementation of solutions that protect wolves and increase tolerance for them. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Maureen Hackett, it is opposed to recreational hunting and trapping of wolves.

Barry Babcock will speak about how the wolf has a balancing impact on Minnesota’s deer herd and act as a potential check on CWD and depredation of livestock. He is the founder of the grassroots organization Jack Pine Coalition and a regular witness on wolf issues with the legislature in conjunction with the non-profit group Howling for Wolves. He is the author of Teachers in the Forest.

Robert J. Shimek of the White Earth Indian Reservation will speak about the importance of the wolf to the Anishinaabe culture and spiritual beliefs. An expert witness, Shimek, will discuss the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Proposal on the delisting of wolves and their current status in Minnesota State Government and how legal hunting and trapping seasons will impact the future of the wolf.