Minnesota DNR Finalizes New Wolf Management Plan

Updated 12-21-22 to include comments from DNR officials.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released a finalized wolf management plan today that will guide the state’s approach to wolf conservation for the next 10 years.

The plan includes summary information about Minnesota’s wolf population and the history of wolves in the state.

Six goals in the plan are designed to support Minnesota’s vision for wolves. Those goals are to:

• Maintain a well-connected and resilient wolf population
• Collaborate with diverse partners to collectively support wolf plan implementation
• Minimize and address human-wolf conflicts
• Inform and engage the public about wolves in Minnesota
• Conduct research to inform wolf management
• Administer the wolf program to fulfill agency responsibilities and the needs of the public and partners

“We’re really fortunate in Minnesota to have a healthy, thriving wolf population, and it’s not a significant change in direction from what’s been going on in the past, but it’s updated to reflect the current attitudes and the information that we have on wolf population,” said Dan Stark, DNR Wolf Management Specialist.

“The language in the plan revision does not set an upper limit on the wolf population or its distribution,” explained Kelly Straka, DNR Wildlife Section Manager. “The plan does call for additional public engagement if the statewide population estimate exceeds 3,000 over multiple consecutive years or if wolves are expanding in distribution across the state and public concerns about negative impacts of wolves are increasing. Again, this plan supports healthy, robust wolves in Minnesota, and we are proud to continue our legacy of sound wolf conservation.”

This is the first update to the state’s wolf plan since 2001. The full plan can be found on the DNR website.