DNR officer academy under way

Eighteen conservation officer candidates are undergoing their initial 12 weeks of training at the DNR enforcement training center at Camp Ripley. Upon successful completion of the academy, conservation officer candidates will spend 16 weeks with veteran conservation officers before their first assignment.

Wolves to be removed from federal protection on March 12

Gray wolves will be removed from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act on March 12.

Until then wolves are protected as endangered, except in Minnesota where they are threatened. The removal of the wolf from the endangered and threatened species list applies to the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan and parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Rebounding from a few hundred wolves in Minnesota in the 1970s when listed as endangered, the region's wolf population now numbers about 4,000 and occupies large portions of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. In Minnesota, the population is estimated at 3,020, in Wisconsin it's 465, in Michigan it's 434 wolves and 30 are estimated to live on Isle Royale.

Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have developed plans to guide wolf management in the future. Issues such as protective regulations, control of problem animals, possible hunting and trapping seasons, as well as long-term health of the wolf population, will be governed by the appropriate state or tribe.