Officials at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources expect to finish writing a wolf management plan sometime early this year. Officials are revising a previous plan, using guidelines for wolf management that were set up by the legislature last session. The DNR has to come up with a plan before wolves can be removed from federal control.

Longtime wolf researcher David Mech has edited a new book about Minnesota's wolves. The Wolves of Minnesota: Howl in the Heartland takes a look at the history of wolves in the state, their biology, and their habits. Dr. Mech has been tracking wolves since the early 1960s. He says there's a history of animosity between wolves and humans.

David Mech is the best-known and most highly regarded wolf researcher in the world. He works with the Biological Resources Division, U. S. Geological Survey, and is also the author of The Way of the Wolf, The Arctic Wolf, and The Arctic Wolf: Ten Years with the Pack. The other other contributors have all studied Minnesota wolves and related wildlife populations for years.