State Rep. Parker Fairbairn this week introduced a resolution urging Congress to return control of wolf management back to the states. The resolution calls for support of a congressional measure that would return governing authority over wolf management to state governments, an action supported by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Department of the Interior but prohibited by a federal judge, several years ago.

“Regardless of how any one person feels about wolves, management of Michigan’s wolf population belongs within our state,” said Fairbairn, R-Harbor Springs. “We need to be able to apply local perspective to the management of Michigan wolves, especially in the Upper Peninsula, where the MDNR says the 2024 count found more than 750 animals in over 150 packs.”

Last year, the Department of Natural Resources announced that the number of wolves in the Upper Peninsula had reached the highest point in two decades – a level high enough for a season. When wolf populations are too high, other species suffer. The robust wolf population recently has contributed to an abnormal situation where whitetail deer have a massive overpopulation in the Lower Peninsula and a drastic underpopulation in the U.P.

If Congress approves the wolf management measure, the responsibility to manage wolf populations would return to state wildlife management experts in Michigan, and the other lower 48 states, just as with most other mammals, fish and birds throughout our country.

The resolution was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

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