Group files lawsuit to overturn fish, wildlife act

LANSING (AP) — A group opposing wolf hunting has filed a lawsuit in the Michigan Court of Claims to overturn the state’s Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

Keep Michigan Wolves Protected said in a release last Thursday that the law violates the Michigan Constitution and contains language that could transfer decision-making authority on wildlife management to the Natural Resources Commission.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources declined comment last Thursday on the suit. The agency supports hunting as a means of limiting conflicts between people and wolves in areas of the Upper Peninsula.

Keep Michigan Wolves Protected director Jill Fritz says the lawsuit is necessary even though a federal judge in December overturned the Obama administration’s decision to drop wolves in the Great Lakes region from the endangered species list.