Board tackles wolves, celebrates safety

The Carlton County board appears on the verge of joining the chorus against wolves.

During its committee of the whole meeting Tuesday, the board advanced a resolution that would position the county as favoring wolves being federally delisted and hunted in the state.

The board packet included a sample resolution letter from Hunters for Hunters, the group that has riled anti-wolf sentiment during a series of public meetings throughout northeastern Minnesota. The group blames wolf predation for a subpar deer hunt last November.

Board member Gary Peterson raised the issue of a resolution, and the other board members agreed to advance it. Only Cloquet-based commissioner Tom Proulx expressed the possibility of voting against the measure later this month.

"If there are too many bears we manage them," Peterson said. "If there are too many beavers, we're spending money managing the beavers, and, yes, if there are too many deer we manage them. If there are too many wolves, we need to manage them."

Peterson was part of a statewide committee that helped create the state's wolf management plan, which outlines seasonal harvest goals should the gray wolf be federally delisted as an endangered species.

"No one on that committee wanted to eliminate the wolf," Peterson said.

Wolf numbers in the state have risen beyond 2,700, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, whose officials have repeatedly said wolf predation is only part of the reason for a declining deer population. Kelly Straka, the DNR's wildlife section manager in charge of wild game management (including both deer and wolves), told the Pine Knot last month that DNR data supports that wolves are fully recovered in the state. "We support the right for Minnesota to manage a wolf population," Straka said.

But the DNR is not involved in federal decisions on delisting animals from the list of endangered species, she said.

After the meeting the Pine Knot asked board chair Susan Zymslony if she had any concerns about taking a position that so closely aligns with hunters, possibly at odds with local tribal interests and constituents who may oppose hunting. She said she'd need to work with county coordinator Dennis Genereau on the language of the resolution, but declined further comment.

Peterson noted the state is already killing wolves, taking 20 wolves in Carlton County as recently as 2022, when 147 were killed statewide, he said. Wolves that threaten farmers' livestock herds are susceptible to trapping under federal guidelines.

"As taxpayers we pay for federal trappers to come in and trap wolves," Peterson said, arguing that a hunting season would conversely be a revenue builder.

Peterson also noted a threat to pets and said he's careful where he lets his own dogs run. The board is scheduled to address the resolution as soon as the next scheduled board meeting at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, provided county administration can produce the letter in time. Commissioners agreed the final resolution letter would be mailed to all of the county's federal and state lawmakers.

Jail contractors awarded for safety

The $75 million courthouse and jail project on County Road 61 in Carlton is 77 percent complete, according to jail administrator Paul Coughlin, and on schedule to open later in the summer.

The project took center stage to start Tuesday's committee of the whole meeting, at which members of Duluth-based Adolphson and Peterson Construction appeared to unveil a MN Sharp safety award flag now flying on the site.

The award is one of only 69 given in the past 20 years in the state by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"It is not something easily achieved," said Melvin Blumer, assistant superintendent and safety coordinator on the new jail site.

Blumer explained that to achieve the award, the contractor has to open the site to regular OSHA inspection. OSHA inspectors also interview random workers and foremen on the job site. The new jail site has gone more than 375 days without a lost time injury, and 140,000 working hours. More than 200 workers have appeared on the site, including numerous subcontractors.

Blumer called it a beautiful project, and Adolphson and Peterson project manager Carey Everson agreed.

"It's a lot of hard work," she said. "We have an absolutely fantastic group of subcontractors over there. They are taking such pride in what they're constructing and their commitment to the project and to safety is above and beyond."